The Bi-Weekly Newsletter of the Council of Industry
February 25, 2021
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Manufacturing Industry News |
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A Look into Marlboro High School's Engineering Program |
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Suspension bridges made from pasta in Thomas Fassell's Engineering & Robotics class -Credit: https://twitter.com/MHSEngineering1 |
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Marlboro High School offers an elective engineering program with three course levels. Thomas Fassell, who has taught the program for more than ten years, teaches freshmen through seniors at the school. The structure of the program differs from a traditional instruction model. After the first year course, Engineering & Robotics, Fassell modifies the courses to best suit his students’ interests within the field. He actively seeks student feedback to structure a program that teaches necessary areas of study while keeping students engaged in the work they do. For levels two and three, Fassell teaches Raspberry Pi and Advanced Robotics.
Keep up with the Engineering & Robotics class at Marlboro on Twitter,
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For information on advertising in this and other CI publications
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10 Questions To Check Your Company’s Post-Pandemic Readiness |
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As vaccine deployment accelerates, is your company simply surviving or is it ready to thrive and maximize value in a new business environment?
Tony Fareed of Council Associate Member 360Accel wants your company to be prepared for a post pandemic boom. He provides 10 questions to ask yourself that will get you thinking the right way.
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Innovation Freeze: Why Major Companies Are Losing Their Markets and Talent |
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Despite the unprecedented changes in our economy and workplaces in the past year, innovation is actually down in most industries. This is problematic for the economy as a whole, but it’s especially bad for the many businesses who have fallen prey to the innovation freeze. That’s because many of these companies have been operating under the false premise that no one else is innovating either.
Innovation has suffered despite many companies' success in shifting to remote work, with patents being the most obvious sign of regress, writes Barry O'Reilly. He outlines seven ways that companies can encourage innovation, whether in terms of organizational design, technology spending or better onboarding.
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The Reshoring Initiative – A Looks at the Good, the Bad, and the 'Needs Work.' |
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Since 2010, companies have brought over 700,000 manufacturing jobs to the U.S., the sum of reshoring by U.S. companies and FDI (foreign direct investment) by foreign companies. This surge is responsible for about half of the 1.4 million manufacturing employment increase from the March 2009 Great Recession valley to the December 2019 pre-COVID-19 peak. At a given level of U.S. goods consumption, the only ways to increase manufacturing are to export more or import less, i.e., reshore/FDI. Importing less is far easier due to the economic advantages of selling locally.
Balancing the goods trade deficit will increase U.S. manufacturing by 40%, or five million jobs, President Joe Biden’s goal. Reaching this goal in even 20 years will require increasing the rate of annual reshoring/FDI from the Obama and Trump averages of 56,000 and 144,000, respectively, to about 450,000. President Biden’s humanitarian and ecological goals will all be much more affordable if this rate of reshoring occurs.
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More than 77% of SMMs Expect to Continue Struggling to Identify Talent |
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Despite a dramatically altered labor market, manufacturers consistently suggest that they have trouble attracting and retaining sufficient workers. More than 77% of small and medium-sized firms expect to continue struggling to identify talent in 2021 and beyond, according to a new survey from The Manufacturing Institute and BKD, a national CPA and advisory firm.
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Why Employers Are Struggling to Recruit |
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Job openings have hit a five-month high, per the US Labor Department, and Indeed reports job postings on its site have recovered to pre-pandemic numbers, but many employers are finding it difficult to fill roles that do not involve remote work. "There's this huge gap between the kinds of conditions under which people are prepared to work and the kinds of conditions that they actually find in the jobs that are available," ZipRecruiter labor economist Julia Pollak said.
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Some Tips on Recruiting Skilled Production Workers |
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“In factories across the country, fixed locations, tight margins and higher competition make growing the blue-collar workforce incredibly difficult," explains Heather Salerno, senior vice president of marketing for Appcast.
To illustrate her point, Salerno references a study her company did showing the number of clicks on manufacturing job ads that converted into applicants has dropped by 16.5%. The cause of this downturn is most likely due to the pandemic drastically disrupting operations at the turn of Q2, explains Salerno. Nevertheless, she advises industrial recruitment managers to review their recruiting efforts. She also suggests examining job ads to devise ways to increase the odds of turning applicants into employees.
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The Troubling Trend of Ghosting (Cutting Off Communication) in Recruitment |
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A report by Indeed found 77% of job applicants have been ghosted by potential employers since last February, with 10% experiencing ghosting even after receiving a verbal offer. In addition, 28% of job seekers said they ghosted an employer last year, up from 18% in 2019, with the most common reasons for doing so being offered another position or deciding the role wasn't right.
The report said: "Some employers say candidates are cutting off communications early in the hiring process—after an initial phone screen or interview, for instance. But others take it further, with one-quarter of employers reporting new hires 'no-showing' on their first day of work."
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Provide More Meaningful Performance Feedback |
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Most employees yearn for more meaningful performance feedback—and are just not getting enough. Let’s Grow Leaders Shares a few of their tools for giving meaningful performance feedback—even the tough kind.
1. Set clear expectations (communicate what success looks like.)
2. Check for understanding (confirm shared expectations.)
3. Plan a two-way conversation (help them reflect on the behavior and make a plan using the INSPIRE method.)
4. Escalate the conversation as needed (address patterns and gain commitment to change using the A.R.T. method.)
5. Ditch the “Diaper Drama” (avoid this tempting mistake and speak with candor.)
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OSHA Proposes HazCom Standard Changes |
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The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed a new rule to update its Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) to bring it into alignment with the latest version of the United Nations Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS).
OSHA’s proposed modifications to the standard include codifying enforcement policies currently in OSHA’s compliance directive, clarifying requirements related to the transport of hazardous chemicals, adding alternative labeling provisions for small containers and adopting new requirements related to preparation of Safety Data Sheets (SDS).
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Marijuana Legalization Poses Challenges for All Employers: FMCSA Drug Clearinghouse Posts Scary Numbers |
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More than 56,000 commercial driver violations were reported to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse during 2020—the first year of its existence—that it gathered from fleets operating in interstate commerce. A total of 182,124 truck and bus employers have signed up with the clearinghouse over the past year.
Of the total driver violations reported, the largest number—29,500—stemmed from drivers who tested positive for marijuana. The second highest number was for cocaine, 7,940, followed by methamphetamine, 5,187 and amphetamine, 5,953. (Opioid drugs are not reported as a group but individually by pharmaceutical trade names. That total appeared to be 5,389).
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What's Happening in Your Association |
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One Last Chance to Place Your Ad in HV Mfg |
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The Council of Industry's spring edition of HV Mfg will publish in April. The deadline to place an ad is March 5.
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Human Resource Management Issues
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Date(s): March 23 and March 24, 2021
Time: 8:30 am - 12:30 pm
Location: Online
Instructor: Jackson Lewis, P.C.
Cost: $225 individual attendee, $200 each for two or more from the same company, $400 for non members
Description:
This class identifies and explains key legal issues that a manager may have to address in the workplace today. It helps current and future managers realize their responsibility to understand and enforce the employment laws that speak to these issues which can minimize their chances of ending up in court.
This course will cover:
- Employers’ rights and obligations
- Employment laws
- Regulations governing business
- Hiring
- Performance & discipline issues
- Affirmative action
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Environmental Health and Safety Essentials |
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Date(s): March 23 and March 24, 2021
Time: 8:30am - 12:30pm
Location: Zoom Network
Instructor: HRP Associates
Cost: $225 individual attendee, $200 each for two or more from the same company, $400 for non members
Description:
The Council of Industry offers this course to provide front-line supervisors with Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) essentials applicable at most manufacturing operations.
This core course is broken into two sessions with session one providing an overview of safety and environmental regulations which all managers should understand to better monitor and manage facility risks, hazards, and environmental and safety obligations.
Session two will consist of interactive break out groups, that will require learners to apply regulations learned in session one to real manufacturing scenarios.
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The Manufacturing Matters Podcast |
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Manufacturing Matters Podcast: Dan Arnoff, Vice President Global Logistics, Arnoff Moving and Storage
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Arnoff Moving and Storage has grown from the part time business of a Dairy farmer with a truck to the region’s premier moving, storage, rigging and fulfillment services company. We learn from the 5th generation to work in the business how that came about and how eCommerce is changing the industry.
In this episode, Harold King speaks with Dan Arnoff, Vice President of Global Logistics for Arnoff Moving and Storage about this Dutchess County institution’s growth and evolution from part time business to cutting edge logistics company.
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Be a Guest on the Podcast! |
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The Council of Industry extends thanks to all Manufacturing Matters guests and listeners for their support. With more than 40 episodes released, we've documented countless conversations with local manufacturers.
In 2021, we're looking to introduce new faces to the podcast. If you or someone you know is involved in the Hudson Valley manufacturing sector and would like to be a guest on Manufacturing Matters, please contact Johnnieanne Hansen at [email protected].
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