Page 6 - MetalForming-Feb-2018-issue

Editorial
Brad F. Kuvin
Tax Cuts, Millennials, and a New Paradigm for Metalformers
Much of the enthusiasm regarding a surging U.S. manufacturing economy swirls around tax reform, including a reduced corporate-tax rate and rules quickening the write-off of capital-equipment investments. As the calendar turned to welcome a new year, evidence of the surge sprung from everywhere. Examples:
• The Institute for Supply Management (ISM), in its year-end factory-activity survey, dubbed 2017 the best year for manufacturing in the United States since 2004, and expects the trend to persist into 2018.
• The December Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) Business Conditions Report shows that 48 percent of metalforming companies expect economic activity to improve through Q1 2018, up from 30 percent in November.
“Manufacturers feel optimistic entering the new year,” says PMA president Roy Hardy. “Metalforming companies believe that changes to the U.S. tax code will bring more certainty and stability, better positioning them to invest in their businesses, add more workers, and compete in the global market.”
Jerry Zeitler, president of Cleveland, OH-based metal stamper Die-Matic Corp, echoes those sentiments. A recent U.S. News and World Report article quotes Zeitler, noting “a sweeping Republican tax overhaul will encourage him to take a bigger bite next year out of his $3 million wish list of new equipment.” The company expects to invest $600,000 on
equipment in 2018, up from about $450,000 in 2017.
Yet, the skilled-labor shortage threatens many companies’ ability to meet an expanding market. Help is on the way, how- ever—from (drum roll please) millennials. Yes, it’s time to stop complaining, as so many do, about the reportedly poor work ethic of millennials and learn to embrace them. Make no mis- take: Millennials, who by 2020 will comprise nearly half of the U.S. workforce, will lead manufacturers into a new era of connectivity and digitization. The shortage of traditional skilled labor requires manufacturers, especially growing ones, to turn to technology and
software to increase efficiency and productivity.
It’s time for metalforming-company leaders to consider a transition in how they work
and how they staff their shops. “Smart” manufacturing will become more than a buzzword and more of a governing strategy. Smart manufacturing emphasizes automation and con- nectivity throughout the metalforming facility, and evidence suggests that it’s the millennials who will usher in this new age.
This paradigm shift ushers in the era of Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things (IoT), and leads me to promote our upcoming conference titled, IoT for Metalformers and Fabri- cators. This one-of-a-kind event promises to educate floor supervisors, manufacturing engineers and managers, IT directors, and others working in metalforming and fabricating plants on the coming wave of digital manufacturing and plant-floor connectivity. Case studies will describe how metalformers and fabricators leverage IoT technology to improve OEE and drive quality and productivity improvements. In addition, attendees will receive a roadmap for planning and executing an IoT plan.
I hope you’ll join us for this important event, April 18-19 in Nashville: www.metalform- ingmagazine.com/IoT.
Publisher/Editorial Director bkuvin@pma.org
“Millennials, who by 2020 will comprise nearly half of the U.S. workforce, will lead manufacturers into
a new era of connectivity and digitization.”
4 MetalForming/February 2018
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