Building Workers for Manufacturing Jobs

by Larry Taitel

The mounting need for workers capable of stepping into manufacturing jobs has prompted the State of NJ to get involved in an effort to benefit both manufacturers and potential employees. This has the potential for long-term benefits for all of us who depend not only upon the health of our own manufacturing businesses but also the growth of industry in New Jersey.

The New Jersey Department of Labor & Workforce Development (LWD) and New Jersey’s Talent Networks are partnering in support of one of LWD’s highest priority projects: creation of a statewide Demand Credential List (DCL). Toward that end, I recently attended a “Credentials Roundtable meeting” where employers watched a presentation and then participated in discussions with regard to employee credentials for advanced manufacturing. It’s hoped that the feedback from these discussions will help the Labor Market Analysts design questions for a broader online survey that will further prompt numerous other companies in our state to provide additional input.

At the meeting, one of my colleagues who was presenting opined that most companies which are seeking candidates for manufacturing jobs are less focused on credentials than on attitude and competence. He stressed that most of us are looking for good and reliable people who can be trained in our respective companies’ specific processes. For the most part, I concur.

At Convertech, with more than three decades in manufacturing for the converting, printing and packaging industries, we have learned that the best machinists begin with basic skills. The other two main criteria are a desire to learn and reliability (as Woody Allan once observed, 80% of life is just showing up). Of course, job compatibility and actual job expectations must be measured in, too, but these factors should begin, for potential employees, at the education level.

There’s a clear need for manual experience before individuals can begin moving on to automated machinery. Despite the fact that we’ve entered the Computer Age, where CAD and programming have hastened and refined manual processes, manufacturing requires workers to walk before they can run. In short, we need to develop basics skills training in the area of machinists, tool and die, metal lathe, and so forth. These are the fundamentals that manufacturers require. Further, we need to develop training of core competencies and credentials.

One program that I believe would be enormously beneficial is a four-year apprenticeship program. This should start as early as 10th grade and conclude at the State College or County College level. Such a program would allow actual employers to offer genuine hands-on training to potential employees. Imagine what a serious win-win this could be for everyone involved as we begin to build workers for manufacturing jobs!

Can apprenticeship programs be enacted with college credits earned so parents can see an actual educational path (read: college path) for their children? Yes.

I, for one, don’t believe college is appropriate for everyone. But to satisfy the ingrained notions many hold that college is indeed mandatory in this day and age, adding real-world skills to early academic training might prove eye-opening to both parents and students alike. Indeed, it may signal to many young people that a potential career in manufacturing—where jobs are currently a plenty—may hold superior and more desirable prospects than that desired career in another industry where jobs are few and, quite possibly, less satisfying.

Larry Taitel is president of Convertech Inc. (Convertech.com)

Grateful acknowledgements to Mark Spaulding at Converting Quarterly for originally printing this op-ed.

Bioplastics Market Growing at 14.8%

The global market for bioplastics will grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 14.8% to become a $30.8 billion market by 2020, according to a new report, “World Bioplastics Market Opportunities and Forecast, 2014-2020,” from market intelligence company Allied Market Research.

According to the report, among the key factors propelling this growth are the rising environmental awareness among consumers and what it describes as the “substantial curiosity of packaging industries towards biodegradability,” which is responsible for the increasing adoption of bioplastics in rigid packaging applications. In fact, rigid plastic packaging applications are forecast to account for more than 40% of the market revenue by 2020.

Bioplastics are plastics derived from biomass: renewable feedstocks, such as corn, sugarcane and cellulose to name but a few. Not only is there a wide availability of renewable feedstocks, part of what is boosting the market across the globe is the fact that biobased plastics feature a smaller carbon footprint compared to fossil-based materials, allowing users to meet their sustainability goals more easily. On the negative side are the high production costs of bioplastics, which make them more costly to use. This so-called ‘green premium’ may well dampen market growth during the forecast period.

The consumption of “drop-in” bioplastics (Bio-PE, Bio-PET 30, Bio-PA) and others, says the report, will continue to dominate the overall bioplastics market through 2020. Drop-in bioplastics are non-biodegradable materials, derived from renewable raw materials offering identical technical properties to their fossil counterparts (PE, PET and PA, among others).

According to this study, Bio-PET 30 will be the fastest growing segment in the non-biodegradable drop-in market, as it delivers same performance as conventional PET with regard to re-sealability, versatility, durability, appearance, weight and recyclability.

Asia Pacific is predicted to become the fastest growing consumer during the forecast period. In terms of revenue and volume, polylactic acid (PLA) is projected to be the fastest growing segment in the overall biodegradable plastics market.

Supply Chain Outlook: Where Will 2016 Take Us?

Here's a good piece via Modern Material Handling by Bob Trebilcock:

Last week, I spent Monday and Tuesday at the Rosemont Hilton in Chicago with 100 or so senior supply chain executives, presenters and exhibitors at the first Supply Chain Outlook Summit. As a rule, I write a column with takeaways from each event I attend. What makes this one a little different is that, well, I hosted the event for Peerless Media and Supply Chain Management Review. I promise I won’t brag about how good the moderator was – after all, you may have attended and have seen me in action. 

The theme for the conference was The Future Of Supply Chain Management: What You Need To Know For 2016 And Beyond. We represented each of the functional areas of the supply chain, from procurement to final goods distribution, along with a look at the economy, technology, sustainability, and culture. Each of the presenters gave an overview of where they think their slice of the supply chain is headed next year. I don’t have room to write about them all here, but I think there were several key takeaways.

One is that the US economy is in better shape than we might think. That was the message from Brian Beaulieu, an economist and the CEO of ITR Economics. While it’s true that the economy is hardly ablaze, Beaulieu expects slow but continued growth for the next several years; more importantly, he sees the US leading the world economy. As to the next recession, expect it to be short-lived and mild. Which isn’t to say that Beaulieu sees Blue Skies into infinity: He expects significant issues late in the next decade as the country deals with the full impact of the baby boomers on Social Security and Medicare. One message he drove home that caught my attention is that for all the emphasis we place on China, the US still commands 22.5% of the world’s GDP, compared to 13.4% for China. That’s a lead Beaulieu does not foresee dramatically changing in the near future. 

Much has been written about the impact of e-commerce and the driver shortage on transportation costs. While those are true, Chainalytics’ Kevin Zweier reminded us that this is an age-old story. He shared a quote from the 2011 CSCMP State of Logistics Report: “Practically every truck manufacturer and nearly all employers complain of the great difficulty of securing drivers who are competent and who will work handling freight …” The twist? It was originally published in the publication Traffic World in 1916. So, while there may be nothing new under the sun, shippers will still face challenges next year, including rate increases from 3% for truckload and less-than-truckload shipments to 5% for parcel shipments. Expect continued downward pressure on ocean freight rates due to over-capacity.

Similarly, much has been written about the reshoring of manufacturing from low-cost countries like China back to Mexico and North America. The phenomenon is real, Rosemary Coates, executive director of the Reshoring Institute, told us. At the same time, Coates offered several pieces of sobering advice. For one, leaving China is not as simple as packing up your equipment and turning out the lights. You may have to buy out employee contracts; leave equipment, technology, molds, and other IP behind that will probably be used to compete against you; and once you set up shop in North America, you may find that your supply base is still off-shore, along with the skilled workers you need to operate your new plant. 

My last takeaway was how well many of the points made by presenters aligned with the challenges being faced by a panel of three Chicagoland supply chain executives. The roundtable was led by John Caltagirone, executive director of the Supply and Value Chain Center and Loyola University Chicago, and featured Tim Engstrom, VP Supply Chain Operations for Walgreen’s; Craig Espevik, Vice President, Operations for Yaskawa America, Inc.; and Fabio Pettenati, Vice President Supply Chain for Barilla America Inc. 

Each was grappling with different challenges – Engstrom discussed Walgreen’s approach to finding and developing new talent for its warehouses along with efforts to reduce packaging; Espevik explained how Yaskawa is managing manufacturing operations on a global basis; and Pettenati described what its like for a food producer dealing with volatile commodity prices. More importantly, each illustrated the importance that supply chain management is playing in the strategies their companies are undertaking to continue to lead in their industries. 

I, for one, left with a sense that it’s an exciting time to be in our industry. I’m looking forward to the future of supply chain management in 2016 and beyond.

Wanted: Manufacturing Machine Operator / Manual Lathe Machinist

Job Description: Convertech, a leading manufacturer of expanding shafts and chucks, is looking for experienced Manufacturing Machine Operators. Your experience running a manual lathe will make you a perfect fit for this Manual Lathe Machinist role. At Convertech, we produce a very custom product with very short lead teams and run a clean modern shop. If you are looking for an opportunity where you can grow your career with a dynamic company with great hours and low turnover rates, we want to talk to you!

Job Responsibilities: In the Manufacturing Machine Operator role, as a Manual Lathe Machinist, you will be responsible for setting up and operating a variety of manufacturing machine tools to produce precision parts and instruments. Additional responsibilities of the Manufacturing Machine Operator role include: • Setting up and operating manufacturing machines, such as lathes, cutters, shears, millers, presses, drills, etc., to make metallic and plastic work pieces

• Reading blueprints or job orders to determine product specifications and tooling instructions

• Measuring dimensions of finished work pieces to ensure conformance to specifications, using precision measuring instruments, templates, and fixtures

Job Requirements: Successful candidates for the Manufacturing Machine Operator must have manual lathe experience in a manufacturing environment. Someone with a strong attention to detail, a good attitude, and an eagerness to learn and grow would be a good fit for this role. Additional requirements of this Manufacturing Machine Operator role include:

• 7 – 10 years’ experience in a fast-paced manufacturing environment, running a manual lathe

Benefits: At Convertech, we are always looking for experienced people to join our dedicated team. We encourage a strong team environment and friendly atmosphere with great working hours! As a Manufacturing Machine Operator, you will work from 7:00 AM – 3:30 PM and will be eligible to receive a benefits package, including:

• Health insurance

• 401(k) retirement plan

• Profit Sharing

• Pension

• Generous vacation and sick time

Contact: admin@convertech.com

Recycling Reconsidered

Here's an interesting article from Eco-Insights blogger Robert Lilienfeld:

Recycling is not a new phenomenon. From the Sumerians who built the first-ever cities 4,000 years ago to modern Europe and America, virtually every civilization that has ever existed has tried recycling as a way to save its resources, and ultimately itself, from disappearing.

But it hasn’t worked once. Perversely, the reason is not because people didn’t try hard enough. The fact is, they tried too hard! By focusing so heavily on recycling and not on the primary reasons that resource availability and environmental problems arose in the first place, societies have consistently missed the real opportunities to sustain natural resources and thus their own human and financial resources.

So, let’s be honest. Recycling, for all its benefits, will never by itself prevent or remediate major environmental concerns such as climate change, habitat destruction, and loss of biodiversity. It is simply the icing on a very large, very thick, and very heavy, cake.

By the way, both the EPA through its Sustainable Materials Management program, and the G-7 in its latest Leadership Recommendations, all agree with this assessment.

What we really need to see is political dialogue relating to population growth and the concurrent increase and changes in consumption patterns. Thus, those of us in the packaging value chain must work harder to reverse the popular notion that a better environment starts with less packaging waste.

We also need to demonstrate that packaging’s critical role is to prevent waste of the far greater resources used to produce, transport and store the food and other goods contained within.

Again, recycling the packaging is merely the icing on the resource conservation/waste prevention cake.

Develop Custom Robotic Picking Applications

MotoPick™ is a user-friendly, highly advanced software package that allows for the development of machine vision-based, high-speed picking solutions. This powerful software can synchronize multiple robots equipped with vision to pick fast moving product off a conveyor and place it on an outfeed device, tray or box in an organized arrangement. MotoPick provides building blocks to create optimal solutions for up to ten robots and eleven conveyors. It also offers pattern-based distribution of product and dynamic load balancing among multiple robots.

MotoPick provides precise control and coordination of infeed and outfeed conveyors. If the advancement of either the infeed or outfeed conveyor falls behind, the speed of the opposite conveyor can be automatically decreased and even stopped until the operation is equalized.

Multiple cameras are available based on conveyor width, workpiece size, target accuracy, production volume and conveyor speed. MotoPick is designed to function with minimal additional hardware requirements.

Dog food packaging gets more personable

Here's an interesting article by Rick Lingle from Packaging Design:

Just Right by Purina’s custom dog food blend launched last year enhances the label on the bag packaging to make it even more personal—and more fetching for pet owners.

The pet food market is trotting along at a 3% CAGR for the period 2014-2019, according to a new report, which also points out that “the increase in pet humanization has led to growth in premium products, and clients are asking for customized and premium packaging solutions from vendors, which is positively affecting the sales in the market.”

Perfectly reflecting that trend is Just Right by Purina dog food that was launched last year (see Dog food gets personal with custom packaging published last October). As a pet listens to its owner’s voice, Purina listened to dog owners who wanted to make the packaging even more focused on the owner’s beloved pet. In doing so, the company expects the enhanced presentation will make the custom products even more fetching for consumers.

I virtually borrowed a friend’s dog, a 6-year old golden retriever named Riley, for which Just Right created custom artwork for this article that appears above. The bag copy reads: “This blend has been crafted to provide Riley with the complete, balanced nutrition he needs as a 6 year old golden retriever. Formulated by Rick and Purina in November 2015, it includes lamb as the primary protein source. This blend is a mix of high quality ingredients that promotes healthy skin and coat, promotes an active lifestyle and supports joint health and mobility.”

We reconnected with Brian Lester, director of marketing for Just Right by Purina, who discloses the reasoning and reality behind the refresh.

What’s changed from before and why?

Lester: Just Right’s recent packaging updates bring an increased focus to what matters to our consumers most—their dog. By listening to detailed consumer feedback, we discovered that we had the opportunity to further exceed their expectations for a personalized experience by emphasizing their unique dog on our packaging, and that’s exactly what we did. Our previous labels contained a 195x200 pixel image of the dog on the left side of the front label. Now, the image is 560x410 pixels and is centered across the full-width of the label, taking up nearly half of the label’s real estate.

To support this enhancement and provide a better personalization experience for our consumers, we also updated the photo upload process on our site. We’ve implemented Filepicker, which now allows consumers to upload photos directly from platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and Flickr, as well as from native files on their computer or mobile device. The tool also allows consumers increased ability to zoom, crop, and rotate their images directly on our site.

The revised labels also continue to include our existing personalization techniques, including dog’s name, owner’s name, unique blend name, product features/claims, and personalized feeding instructions.

What will be most obvious to customers about what’s new?

Lester: The greater emphasis on their dog’s photo should be incredibly apparent to existing consumers who are accustomed to the first generation of our label design. For new consumers, we believe that the increased focus on the unique dog photo will further convey our belief that every dog is unique and deserving of a personalized feeding experience. We’re giving our consumers’ dogs the same amount of prominence and real estate that most dog foods give to one “model” dog, demonstrating our commitment to each unique pet.

While our recent label revisions focused on enhancing the photo presence on the front of the package, we also want to emphasize that the label on the back of the packaging is just as personal as what is on the front. This back label details the personalized benefits of each dog’s blend and includes feeding instructions tailored to that individual dog. While the back label is remaining consistent in these revisions, we know that the information it contains is just as important to our community of highly involved dog owners as it is to us.