Category Archives: Monday Manufacturing Round Up

Monday Manufacturing Round-Up: May 19th, 2014

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Monday Manufacturing Round-Up

Today our links take a quick look around the manufacturing world of the Jeep Wrangler, Tesla’s plans for their battery manufacturing, and women in manufacturing. Here are today’s stories:

  • The Pittsburgh Business Times is reporting that Jeep is strongly considering making the next generation of Wranglers from aluminum. Jeep is closely monitoring the success of the new Ford F-150 that is being made with aluminum bodies.
  • Tesla has big plans for a battery manufacturing plant planning to break ground next month, and finish in 2020, but the Wall Street Journal isn’t so sure that it can be done. If Tesla were to be successful, they would be able to churn out as many lithium ion batteries as all of the current plants create today.
  • Women in Manufacturing has announced the date and location of this year’s, Women in Manufacturing Summit. The annual two-day summit aims to retain women currently in the manufacturing world, and attempt to attract more women into manufacturing.
  • The National Association of Home Builders blog, Eye on Housing, takes a look at the most common remodeling projects of 2013.

That’s it for the short list of links today. Here’s to a productive start to your week.

Monday Manufacturing Round-Up: March 31st, 2014

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Monday Manufacturing Round-Up

Heading into the last day of the month, and the last second stretch to finish up tax filings, accountants across the country are making their final push to make it through another busy season. As for the rest of the country, job creation numbers have looked good so far in this first quarter, but some say that the job numbers aren’t the biggest determinant of a recovered economy. On to the links:

There are some of the biggest headlines in manufacturing for March 31st, 2014. Here’s to a productive start to your week!

Monday Manufacturing Round-Up: March 10th, 2014

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Monday Manufacturing Round-up

As most of the US is slowly melting from our un-expected extended winters, and starting to look a little more like spring, economic news has been good so far. As spring continues to come, and collegiate basketball craziness increases, there’s some decent news for potential home buyers in this upcoming housing sales season. On to the links:

That does it for this morning, here’s to a productive start of your week.

Monday Manufacturing Round-up: February 24th, 2014

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Monday Manufacturing Round-Up:

Well after a two-week surprise hiatus (a lot of steel receiving and out of the state sales calls) we pick back up in the last week of February to take a look at a couple different manufacturing and housing related articles. Some include OSHA regulation changes for the concrete industry, housing news, and tax graphs. On to the links:

That does it for today’s links. Here’s to a productive start to your week!

Monday Manufacturing Round-Up: February 3rd, 2014

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Monday Manufacturing Round-Up:

As the second month of 2014 begins, a new champion in the NFL has been crowned (and an entire city didn’t sleep for a night), and we move forward into the thick of things with disappointing numbers in public construction. Manufacturing stocks are on a bit of a downward slope as well, while some car manufacturers are seeing better numbers than expected. On to the links:

  • January was not a great month for manufacturing in the US. Reuters is reporting, that the ISM index is showing its lowest ratings since May 2013. A decrease in public construction hasn’t helped, however private construction has stayed steady through the month.
  • While January may have been a little more tough than what was hoped for, Housing Wire has a break down of where the construction industry has struggled, and flourished. Even though there was a slight increase in overall business in December, the levels of building spending is equivalent to the levels that we saw in March of 2009.
  • If you’re looking to increase the value of your home, while lowering your electricity bill, installing solar panels is one way to achieve both goals. However, some older houses have some limitations as to what kind of additions you can make. Renewable Energy World has a list of guidelines to consider when thinking about making solar panel additions to your home.
  • The one industry that has outpaced others in our economic recovery, the automotive industry, has companies with mixed reviews. Chrysler’s sales numbers grew in January, while GM and Ford took a slight decrease.
  • And finally, Manufacturing.net has a story of a local brewery fighting to use drones to deliver beer to fisherman on Minnesota lakes. That is customer service at its finest.

As always, a happy and productive Monday to you all, and congratulations Seattle!

Monday Manufacturing Round-UP: January 27th, 2014

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Monday Manufacturing Round-Up:

Our last Monday of the month brings us stories from all across the country ranging from housing numbers, to Millennial housing traits, to a story of cabinet makers finding a way to be more productive. Most places across the country are still pretty cold, and some (especially out here in Oregon) are a lot less rainy than usual (not that we’re complaining about it). On to the links:

  • Bloomberg Business Week is reporting that individual housing sales numbers were less than expected for December. A decrease in sales isn’t out of the usual for that time of year, as general inventory isn’t as high as other parts of the year due to bad weather, so no need to hit the panic button.
  • The Millennial generation gets pegged with a lot of tags, but Housing Wire is saying that blaming them for stalling the housing market is one that is unfounded. Those in the 30-34 age range have the lowest home owner percentages in recorded history. But, put your pitch forks and flaming brooms away, the 30-34 year olds were heavily affected by the housing collapse.
  • Michigan is looking to make some changes to the scrap metals industry in attempts to lower the copper theft rates. Some say that the changes are needed, some say that the proposed waiting periods will dramatically hinder scrap companies ability’s to do business.
  • Paul Downs writes an account of a cabinet maker taking time to become more efficient. An interesting read focuses the importance of taking time to talk things out with your sales and production crews, and to write ideas down to keep them fresh in your mind.
  • Lastly, farmers across the country are trying to get a head start in taking advantage of potential future bans on trans fats. Canola is being planted across the country, as a potential replacement for the trans fat oils that may soon be kicked out the door.

As always, a happy, productive Monday to you all!

Monday Manufacturing Round-Up: January 20th, 2014

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Monday Manufacturing Round Up:

As we get into the third week of January, some would say that the New Year is really official, as we now have the Super Bowl match up set. All joking aside, our Manufacturing Round-Up mixes in a bit of numbers from last year and attempts to see what this year has in store for us. Hopefully you’re all staying warm and out of the fog, but luckily, the evenings seem to have a little more light every day getting us closer to summer, and construction season! On to the links:

  • Architect Magazine takes a look back towards a disappointing December for job growth. The one sector that had solid job growth numbers for December was residential construction. With the consistency of job growth, maybe the housing market is really back?
  • While jobs seem to continue to be available in construction, Intel has announced, unfortunately, plans to cut 5,000 jobs in 2014. With the influx of sales and usage of mobile devices, sales of processing chips have been down, really hurting Intel.
  • Keeping with the tech industry, is 2014 finally the year of the 3-D printer? That’s the question the New York Times is asking. With Adobe announcing the integration of 3-D printing in their newest version of Photo Shop, we may very well see a large spike in consumer usage of 3-D printing.
  • California is seeing a decline in housing sales. With prices increasing, and the number of short-sales and foreclosures diminishing, the housing sales numbers to our Southern neighbors were down from 2012.
  • This past weekend, the Disciples of Dirt, a local mountain biking club dedicated to community out reach and preservation of trails had their annual All-Comers Meet. Gear-heads from all across Lane county met just south of Eugene to enjoy a gathering of trail riding, and appreciation for the trail and general maintenance of former logging areas the club performs.

As always, a happy Monday morning to you, and here’s to the start of a productive week.

Monday Manufacturing Round-Up: January 13th, 2014

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Monday Manufacturing Round-Up:

As we get into the second, full week after the holidays (those four-day weeks sure screw up your perception of the length of a week!) things continue to look up for the construction industry. Bigger companies are starting to see the potential in alternative energy sources, and recent trends in migration within our country may see our corner of the country begin to be more populated. On to the links:

As always, a happy monday to you, and here’s hoping you get a productive week started off right!!