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More from Vicki Bell
- From The Fabricator
Award-worthy and then some
- By Vicki Bell
- Oct 28, 2011
- Punching and Other Holemaking
- Blog Post
It was a typical October day in Orlando, Fla., sunny, warm, and crowded with tourists from all over the world (at least it seemed so during my time at the Orlando airport October 26). I flew in to attend the Laser Institute of America's annual awards luncheon, at which Dr. Berthold Leibinger...
- From The Fabricator
Foreign fabricators setting up shop in the U.S.
- By Vicki Bell
- Oct 24, 2011
- Assembly and Joining
- Blog Post
The October "Stamping News Brief" featured an item about South Korean auto parts maker GNS Automotive buying the former Walway Enterprises of Holland, Mich., in December 2009 as part of its plan to better serve its main customer, General Motors, and move up the value chain from a Tier 2 to Tier 1...
- From The Fabricator
Welding students preserving the past for the future
- By Vicki Bell
- Oct 5, 2011
- Assembly and Joining
- Blog Post
Earlier today I made the final edits to an article to be published next week (Oct. 11) on thefabricator.com. Written by welding instructor and quality manager Carl Smith, a frequent contributor to the Web site, this article, "Don’t junk it; make it better," is about welding to extend equipment...
- From The Fabricator
Defending Chinese-made products
- By Vicki Bell
- Sep 29, 2011
- Shop Management
- Blog Post
Ricky Nelson had it right. You certainly can't please everyone, and it's foolish to try. If we editors had to please everyone every time we write something, nothing would ever be published. Someone somewhere will find fault, perhaps deeming it factually or politically incorrect or personally...
- From The Fabricator
'The devil is in the details'
- By Vicki Bell
- Sep 21, 2011
- Shop Management
- Blog Post
Earlier this month President Obama delivered a speech about the proposed American Jobs Act to Congress. His speech included these remarks: "... we're going to make sure the next generation of manufacturing takes root not in China or Europe, but right here, in the United States of America. If we...
- From The Fabricator
More about the future of U.S. manufacturing
- By Vicki Bell
- Aug 31, 2011
- Bending and Forming
- Blog Post
I devoted last week's blog post to one "Stamping News Brief" reader's comments regarding the current state and future of manufacturing in the U.S. He expressed his concerns about governmental rules and regulations that are "strangling" his business and said things could turn around if the...
- From The Fabricator
Manufacturing could come roaring back, if
- By Vicki Bell
- Aug 24, 2011
- Shop Management
- Blog Post
The August issue of "Stamping News Brief" featured an article written by Michele Nash-Hoff, the author of the book Can American Manufacturing Be Saved? Why We Should and How We Can. In the article, which was published on huffingtonpost.com, Nash-Hoff noted that "after dominating the globe for over...
- From The Fabricator
Wanted: Business leaders to run the country
- By Vicki Bell
- Aug 10, 2011
- Shop Management
- Blog Post
Several readers e-mailed their thoughts to me regarding the lead item in yesterday's "Fabricating Update" that featured another reader's comments about businesses being in business to make a profit. And then there was the anonymous caller who wanted to call attention to a mistake in the item. ...
- From The Fabricator
Racing to find skilled workers
- By Vicki Bell
- Aug 3, 2011
- Shop Management
- Blog Post
If there's one topic that weaves its way into more articles and blog posts on thefabricator.com than almost any other, it's the dearth of skilled labor. Despite high unemployment, many manufacturers continue to struggle to find workers with the right skills. In his article "Fabricator finds path...
- From The Fabricator
What's your job satisfaction number?
- By Vicki Bell
- Jul 27, 2011
- Shop Management
- Blog Post
Among the most popular articles on thefabricator.com is a series about Job Satisfaction that was written early in 2003. In December 2002, we surveyed “Fabricating Update” readers about how satisfied they were with their jobs. We asked them to rate their job satisfaction for the year on a scale...
- From The Fabricator
Suppressing wages?
- By Vicki Bell
- Jul 13, 2011
- Shop Management
- Blog Post
The July "Fabricating Update" e-newsletter featured reader comments about wages and whether employers are suppressing them to boost profits. These comments were inspired by a quote in the June issue from a reader reflecting on a potential manufacturing renaissance: "It is great that the companies...
- From The Fabricator
'A small bit of good news'
- By Vicki Bell
- Jun 29, 2011
- Finishing
- Blog Post
Among the headlines on msnb.com today was one that stood out as some very positive news for manufacturing: 'Manufacturing companies returning to U.S.' The linked article title, “Surging China costs forces some U.S. manufacturing companies back home," had me fist pumping a la Maria Sharapova at...
- From The Fabricator
Vacation or not?
- By Vicki Bell
- Jun 22, 2011
- Shop Management
- Blog Post
The July issue of "Stamping News Brief" featured an item about a recent study from CareerBuilder, which showed that financial constraints and demanding work schedules have some workers foregoing vacation plans this year. Twenty-four percent of full-time workers reported they can't afford to take...
- From The Fabricator
'Think globally, act locally'
- By Vicki Bell
- Jun 16, 2011
- Manufacturing Software
- Blog Post
Last week I had the pleasure of attending Hexagon 2011 in Orlando, Fla. Held June 6-9, the conference hosted more than 2,500 attendees from 65 countries. Customers, partners, and members of the press were treated to keynotes, informational sessions in Geosystems; Intergraph Process, Power & Marine...
- From The Fabricator
Metal fabricating by the numbers
- By Vicki Bell
- Jun 1, 2011
- Shop Management
- Blog Post
Did you happen to see the mentalfloss.com article posted May 31 on cnn.com about 10 interesting numbers in the U.S.? Among the numbers listed were 2.3 (milligrams of B1, the amount recommended during World War II for very active men after the Selective Service discovered that about one in seven...
- Podcasting
- Podcast:
- The Fabricator Podcast
- Published:
- 03/26/2024
- Running Time:
- 67:51
This week on The Fabricator Podcast, Jason Becker, host of the Arc Junkies Podcast and owner of Underground...
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