We have spent a lot of time talking about interconnectivity, data gathering, assessment, and analytics over the past month, however there is another side to digital progress we can’t overlook. As manufacturing operations increasingly become

Ever hear of the Luddites?

I, Machine, take you, Data, to be my wedded partner, ‘til death do us part. 

Math has never been my strong suit, but lately, even I am starting to think something isn’t adding up when it comes to manufacturing employment data.

This week’s MakingChips manufacturing news story, The Great Robot Takeover: Fact or Fiction, provided a surprisingly comprehensive look at the past, present, and future of incorporating robots into manufacturing processes as well as the emotional

I learned two shocking new things about our industry this week. The first came from our MakingChips featured manufacturing news article from Industry Week which focused on newly released data by SCORE, mentors to America’s small business.

You’re busy. Your employees are busy. Manufacturing is busy. Now I’m here asking you do add something else to your plate? Well trust me, this is important...

As you know, times they are a’changing for all of us here in the metalworking nation. Welcome to the fourth industrial revolution, or “4IR” as it is being called.

My youngest child is graduating high school on Sunday and it got me wondering how much a high school diploma is actually worth these days? There are wildly differing reports and, like most things, it seems to depend on a number of factors such as

Manufacturers are not traditionally known for being the most open organizations. This is often tied to the fact that many of their customers have parts that are proprietary or connected with the government or military. But, this NDA-culture has

Why do manufacturing companies need marketing automation? Because in the age of Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Netflix all of us expect fast, personalized service, great products, and an easy to use experience from any company we work with, including

As Jim and Jason always say on the MakingChips Podcast, “If you’re not making chips, you’re not making money!” We all know it’s true, yet few shops have formal systems for increasing their spindle uptime. 

According to this week’s MakingChips news story, lawmakers will soon be voting on the new US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), pronounced “oooze meck ahh” according to Jason, or simply called “the new NAFTA” by most news outlets. The trouble is, when

It seems to me that following manufacturing news too closely is a bit like taking Nick’s mom up on her decade’s long offer of, “If you need a reason to cry, I’ll give you one.” It’s important to know what’s going on, but it’s also necessary to

Listen up mom and pop, if you have dreams of raising kids who will take over the family manufacturing business someday, you’re in luck. Comparatively speaking, kids are much more likely to want to follow in your well-laid footsteps than go