| Welcome to the newest monthly newsletter offering from MetalForming magazine and PMA. We hope you find it useful and interesting; please feel free to share your thoughts with us. |
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This regular column from MetalForming magazine provides an inside look at the management styles and techniques of metal forming and fabricating company executives. We’ll share some of their philosophies, their daily challenges and how they face them, and offer additional insights. We hope that you find these interviews useful and can take away some ideas to use at your own company.
Want to be interviewed for this column? E-mail editorial director Brad Kuvin. |
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| Perspectives on Business Management with Kent Djubek, President, Ajax MetalForming Solutions |
Ajax Metal Forming Solutions operates out of two facilities—its headquarters in the Minneapolis, MN, area, and from a new (in 2021) plant in the Raleigh, NC, area. The firm performs progressive and deep-draw stamping, as well as sheet metal fabrication using press brakes, turret presses and laser cutting machines. And it’s deep into providing value-added services including Kanban supply-chain management and rapid prototyping.
Ajax president Kent Djubek took the company’s reins from the Ajax family 4 years ago, having worked his way up through the ranks after starting there in 1990 on second shift “and with no prior experience running stamping presses,” he says. Now the company’s chief executive, he has set a course for continued growth by investing in at the new Raleigh plant and building out the firm’s Ajax Academy to help ensure a steady stream of skilled workers.
Djubek discusses what he and his management team look for in hiring the next-generation workforce, and, perhaps more importantly, how the company continues to identify those employees “that have that spark in their eyes and deserve opportunities to move up in the company and take on larger roles contributing to our growth and success,” he explains. |
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| Avoid or Reduce Your Energy Tax Burden |
| Did
you know your organization may be able to avoid or reduce your current
tax burden, or in many cases even recoup past taxes paid in error on
energy usage? |
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| Maintain Focus When Quoting |
This month’s Love Letter from Harbour Results reports the results of a survey on quoting trends during the height of the pandemic, and answers the question: “Is anyone still thinking about new business opportunities amongst all this chaos?”
Among survey results: The average hit rate on the number of quotes increased during the first half of 2021 compared to the first and second halves of 2020. “Early analysis of unvalidated data,” writes Jason Brewer, a director at Harbour Results, “suggests the average sales funnel (width) increased from 2.5 times in the first half of 2020 to approximately 3 times in the same period of 2021…Digging a bit deeper, we wondered if the more profitable participants in the Metalforming Insights survey are having a different experience.”
Check out the blog to get the rest of the story. |
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| Logopress ProgSim: Real Results from Real Tooling |
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| Nominate Women of Excellence in Metal Forming and Fabricating 2021 |
MetalForming magazine is looking to recognize women in leadership positions or on the shop floor, those who represent dedication to their company and the industry, and who demonstrate excellence in meeting their workplace responsibilities. We’re seeking nominations for our 6th Annual Women of Excellence in Metal Forming and Fabricating Awards, to run as a special section in our December 2021 issue.
Nominees should be employed by a manufacturer of metal parts and components or a supplier to the industry. Here's the nomination form. |
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| Ignite Safety—Not Flames |
October 3-9 is National Fire Prevention Week, and the latest article on the Federated Insurance Risk Management Corner
blog site encourages employers to observe it by conducting fire-safety
meetings. National Fire Prevention Week, the oldest continuously running
U.S. public health observance, has been promoted by the National Fire
Prevention Association since the early 1920s, to commemorate the Great
Chicago Fire, which started on October 8, 1871.
“Vigilant employees who know what to look for could be the reason a blaze doesn’t begin, and it all starts with educating your staff on hazardous fire risks,” says the Federated Insurance article. |
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| Content Strategy Drives Lead Growth & New Business Opportunities |
| Since 2003, TopSpot has specialized in digital marketing and website development for industrial manufacturers, fabricators, CNC shops, OEMs and more. Learn more about how TopSpot’s data-driven content development increased the industrial website's online leads by 221% within the first year. |
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| Tracking U.S. vs. Global Steel Prices Through September 13, 2021 |
“One year ago, U.S. manufacturers were paying $20/ton more for hot-rolled steel compared to their competitors in Europe. Today they are paying $753/ton more for the same product,” says Paul Nathanson, senior principal, Policy Resolution Group at Bracewell LLP.
“The price difference between the United States and China for hot-rolled steel is $1,310.00,” Nathanson continues. “The domestic steel industry’s capacity-utilization rate is now over 85 percent, the highest recorded in years. It’s pretty simple: the U.S. market needs more steel and the U.S. domestic steel industry doesn’t need protection, so it is time to end the Section 232 steel tariffs.” |
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| Reshoring Poised to Surge 38 Percent to Record High |
The pandemic has spurred a national push to strengthen the domestic supply chain, especially for essential products, driving reshoring numbers higher. This according to a recently released report from the Reshoring Initiative. Among the report’s key takeaways: - For the second year in a row, reshoring job announcements outpaced foreign direct investment (FDI)–62 percent vs. 38 percent. Companies are focusing on their home market.
- The number of companies reporting new reshoring and FDI also is set for a new annual record: 1800-plus companies.
- The jobs that are coming back in transportation equipment mostly are in electric-vehicle battery production.
“Reshoring continues to be key to U.S. manufacturing and economic recovery in 2021 and beyond,” says Harry Moser, founder and president of the Reshowing Initiative. “We see the administration applying tourniquets rather than addressing the underlying issue of U.S. manufacturing cost being uncompetitive. We call on the administration and Congress to enact policy changes to make the United States competitive again.” |
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| Addressing the Skills Gap from Another Perspective |
“The assumption has been that if you build training programs for technicians in robotics or advanced manufacturing skills, then there will be jobs for those people. But that’s not actually happening, and unless SMEs invest in those new technologies, those new jobs won’t come.”
So says MIT researcher Ben Armstrong in a recent Forbes interview, following the release of a report Armstrong recently co-authored titled, “Advanced Technology, Advanced Training: A new policy agenda for U.S. Manufacturing,”
“There are two sides to the equation,” Armstrong tells Forbes: “One is the training, but the other, and where we think the start should be, is SMEs investing in more advanced equipment and advanced approaches to manufacturing, which will lead to more productive and higher-paying jobs.” |
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Event
Stamping Presses
Cutting