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Recent Supply Chain Disruptions: Re-shoring Work to a Disrupted Workforce the Next Challenge, but Surmountable |
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
No doubt about it, with the Crash of 2008 and the Covid-19 Crisis of 2020 most businesses have been forced into deep introspection about their products and services, their supply chains, maintaining their current and future workforce needs...even their survival and the evolving needs of an impacted consumer base. Any one of these topics would be plenty, but all at once while against the headwinds of an uncertain, but improving and evolving, economy and society is daunting.
Each one of these topics impacts the others. For example, changing a product or service may require adjustments or changes to the mix of suppliers and logistics, and may even influence decisions to perform tasks in-house or outside. Changing products or services, and potentially the tasks requiring workers to perform them, will determine what skills incumbent and new workers will need. It will require a reassessment of current worker selection practices, core skill development and task-related training. Most operations should consider to:
- Re-determine products/services;
- Determine tasks required to deliver products and services;
- Define task procedures for best practice performance;
- Develop “job performance aids” (e.g. process documents, quality documents);
- For non-process document driven tasks, define the best practice to complete the job data set
- Develop structured on-the-job training materials so they are ready before new processes begin;
- Define related technical instruction to build worker core skills for mastering task-based training;
- Determine which tasks to be performed in-house and which off-site;
- For in-house work, assess current workforce for core skills learned and mastered so the foundation upon which to master tasks is confirmed;
- Remediate deficient levels of core skills;
- Deliver structured on-the-job training for incumbent workers
- Apply same worker development process and standards to new-hire workers
- (For supplier-performed tasks) Supply assessment and structured on-the-job training materials along with engineering and quality documents to dramatically expedite the adjustment to high quality vendor performance
- Monitor, measure performance, continuously improve and maintain data for new changes.
You may be thinking this approach is too daunting to attempt. That is why many businesses get caught flat-footed when disruptions occur. If you might have convinced yourself, or have been convinced by others, that this approach is too time and labor intensive to warrant its consideration, that would be a shame. Ad hoc, disjointed, unfocused and unnecessarily too costly strategies are the only alternative. Anything between is half as effective. Read More
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Thinking Past the Assessment – Unfinished Goals and Unrealized Expectations |
by Stacey Lett, Regional Director of Operations - Eastern U.S. - Proactive Technologies, Inc.
Literally speaking, an “assessment” is the process of measuring the value, quality and/or quantity of something. There are many types of assessments, and methods for assessing. In theory, it is the process of evaluating one thing against a set of criteria to determine the match/mismatch.
There are assessments for risk, for taxes, vulnerability. There are psychological, health, and political assessments. There is a group of educational assessments that measure a variety of outcomes such as educational attainment – assessments of course content mastery, assessment of grade level attainment, assessments of Scholastic Aptitude Tests (“SAT”) that compare a student to their peers nationally and a variety of college readiness exams.
"Determining that you, indeed, hired the right person for the job will not automatically ensure the person is successful in learning and mastering the job. The most important step in the employment process is seeing to it that the individual’s core knowledge, skills and abilities are applied in learning and mastering the tasks which they were hired to perform. That is where the money is made. "
Educational assessments have been adapted for use in workforce development and employment, used to assess a prospective employee’s suitability for a job opening. They often measure more of what, if anything, a student learned and retained before graduating than how they match the employer’s actual job opening. Psychological assessments have been adapted to measure a prospective employee’s sociability to the workplace, morphing into a new category called “psychometric assessments. ”
We have seen a growth in the employment assessment industry over the past 2 decades – particularly after 9-11. There are assessments for cognitive tests, physical abilities, “trustworthiness,” credit history, personality, criminal background and more. When used improperly, the methods have been challenged in court for their appropriateness and intent. Read More
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Pairing Structured On-the-Job Training with Related Technical Instruction Just Makes Sense |
by Frank Gibson, Workforce Development Advisor, retired from The Ohio State University – Alber Enterprise Center
I have for worked with educational institutions for many years, trying to reach out to employers with the latest and best courses and seminars they had. It is what we did with good intentions, but in many cases this was a difficult sale at best. Their products were often already built…before they precisely knew the needs of the employer. If the employer engaged them for our services, when delivered it was more of an underwhelming experience for the customer than I felt comfortable with. Often it didn’t lead to follow-on work.
An employer’s operation is driven by accounting for the bottom line. Accountants are quick to dismiss core and technical instruction as a cost. That is what they were taught in college, and truthfully there is no evidence that attending a course improves work performance in most cases. Sadly, that level of "job relevance" or content validity was considered less important than the power of the institution's name that was promoting the products or services.
When I became familiar with Structured On-The-Job Training (SOJT), I appreciated SOJT because SOJT built from the bottom up. The training delivery structure was designed around the actual tasks the employee is expected to master, for which the employer hired the individual in the first place. Structuring the best practices into training delivery so that workers can learn faster how to perform each task and to standardize the delivery between each shift's trainers and each trainee gets to the company’s bottom line. It is seen as an investment that can be defended to accountants, unlike core and technical instruction. Read More
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Replicating Your Best Performers |
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
One project I was involved with sought to establish a structured on-the-job training program for a “CNC Operator” position and establish an apprenticeship. It consisted of around 40 different machines; manual and NC-operated of several brands, controller types and purposes. When I analyze a job – task by task – I first contact the resident “subject matter expert.” It is my experience that in lieu of accurate standard process documents that everyone can use when assigned a machine, each operator keeps their own setup and operation notes. They are usually reluctant to share them.
As analysts, we assume that if the subject matter expert is assigned to us, it is a reflection of management’s confidence in the operator’s consistently high level of performance. We also learn a lot about the sub-culture that has arisen at the organization, bordering on “work performance anarchy.” Despite the connotations, this is a useful revelation. This lack of vital information sharing that has been going on can be eliminated. The collective wealth of task-specific information can be screened, validated, standardized and revision-controlled to be shared with all who are asked to perform the tasks.
This highlights several other preexisting issues in addition to the obvious. First, if the company is ISO/AS/TS certified, an auditor would be appalled and likely “gig” the company for the use of uncontrolled “process documents.” Notes in toolboxes and lunchboxes are not revision controlled. If the company has even questionable process documents that they claim drive their “high level of quality performance” the existence of operator notes are a strong contradiction. A client visiting the site may have serious doubts about the practices, as well.
The next issue is, “what role do these notes play in the training of new-hires and cross-training incumbents?” Does the trainee even know these are available? My experience has been that each trainee is on their own to create their own notes…if they even think it is necessary. So now we have multiple sets of notes for each machine, seldom compared and standardized, AND the company’s process documents if they exist. This is a recipe for incidents of scrap, rework and equipment damage at a minimum.
It also appears that each trainee is on their own to learn the safe performance of each task. It is not enough to provide general safety knowledge learning. When a trainee is taught a task for the first time, that is when they should be shown how to apply the general safety knowledge to the safe performance of that task. Once a pattern is established, the trainee will be able to better apply the safety knowledge to the safe performance of all tasks. If ways to avoid a safety incident are known, shouldn’t that knowledge be shared with each trainee so that no one has to be hurt when the odds of an incident are known and avoidable? Read More
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IN THIS ISSUE:
Proactive Technologies, Inc. Worker Development News
Industry News
Financial News
International News
International Trade News
Education and Workforce Development News
Training and Organizational Development News
Quality News
Science
Cyber and IT News
Human Resources Management News
Environmental, Health & Safety News
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U.S. Department of Commerce - Bureau of Economic Analysis |
Gross Domestic Product Fourth Quarter and Year 2021
Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 7.0 percent in the fourth quarter of 2021, following an increase of 2.3 percent in the third quarter. The increase was revised up 0.1 percentage point from the “advance” estimate released in January. The acceleration in the fourth quarter was led by an upturn in exports as well as accelerations in inventory investment and consumer spending. In the fourth quarter, COVID-19 cases resulted in continued restrictions and disruptions in the operations of establishments in some parts of the country. Government assistance payments in the form of forgivable loans to businesses, grants to state and local governments, and social benefits to households all decreased as provisions of several federal programs expired or tapered off. Read Report
Personal Income and Outlays, January 2022
Personal income increased $9.0 billion, or less than 0.1 percent at a monthly rate, while consumer spending increased $337.2 billion, or 2.1 percent, in January. The increase in personal income primarily reflected an increase in compensation of employees that was partly offset by a decrease in government social benefits. The personal saving rate (that is, personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income) was 6.4 percent in January, compared with 8.2 percent in December. Read Report
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U.S. Department of Commerce - Bureau of the Census |
Advanced Report on Durable Goods Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders
New orders for manufactured durable goods in January increased $4.3 billion or 1.6 percent to $277.5 billion. January 2022: +1.6° % change; December 2021 (r): +1.2° % change. Read Report
Household Pulse Survey
What is the Household Pulse Survey?
The U.S. Census Bureau, in collaboration with multiple federal agencies, is in a unique position to produce data on the social and economic effects of coronavirus on American households. The Household Pulse Survey is designed to deploy quickly and efficiently, collecting data to measure household experiences during the coronavirus pandemic. Data will be disseminated in near real-time to inform federal and state response and recovery planning. Read Data
Small Business Pulse Survey
The Small Business Pulse Survey (Business Pulse) measures the effect of changing business conditions during the Coronavirus pandemic on our nation's small businesses. Business Pulse complements existing U.S. Census Bureau data collections by providing high-frequency, detailed information on the challenges small businesses are facing during the Coronavirus pandemic as well as their participation in federal programs such as the Paycheck Protection Program. Read Report
Monthly State Retail Sales
The Monthly State Retail Sales (MSRS) is the Census Bureau's new experimental data product featuring modeled state-level retail sales. This is a blended data product using Monthly Retail Trade Survey data, administrative data, and third-party data. Year-over-year percent changes are available for Total Retail Sales excluding Nonstore Retailers as well as 11 retail North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) retail subsectors. These data are provided by state and NAICS codes beginning with January 2019. The Census Bureau plans to continue to improve the methodology to be able to publish more data in the future. Access Tables
Economic Indicators
A composite of many of the requested domestic facts and figures. Visit Table
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U. S. Department of Labor Statistics |
Consumer Price Index
In January, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers rose 0.6 percent, seasonally adjusted, and rose 7.5 percent over the last 12 months, not seasonally adjusted. The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.6 percent in January (SA); up 6.0 percent over the year (NSA). Read Report
Producer Price Index
The Producer Price Index for final demand increased 1.0 percent in January, as prices for final demand services rose 0.7 percent, and the index for final demand goods moved up 1.3 percent. Final demand prices advanced 9.7 percent for the 12 months ended January 2022. Read Report
Job Openings and Labor Turnover
The number of job openings was little changed at 10.9 million on the last business day of December, the
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Hires and total separations decreased to 6.3 million and
5.9 million, respectively. Within separations, the quits rate was little changed at 2.9 percent. The layoffs
and discharges rate was little changed at 0.8 percent, a series low. This release includes estimates of the
number and rate of job openings, hires, and separations for the total nonfarm sector, by industry, by four
geographic regions, and by establishment size class. Read Report
Unemployment Rate for States
Unemployment Rates for States, Seasonally Adjusted. Read Report
Job Creation - Employment Situation Summary
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 467,000 in January, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 4.0 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment growth continued in leisure and hospitality, in professional and business services, in retail trade, and in transportation and warehousing. Read Report
Civilian Labor Participation Rate
For a 20 year chart of the U.S. Civilian Labor Participation Rate. Read Report
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Cornell Law School - U.S. Private Sector Job Quality Index |
U.S. Private Sector Job Quality Index
The release of the Employment Situation Report for January 2022 by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the U.S. Private Sector Job Quality Index (JQI)® has been revised to a level of 79.80, down by 0.27% from its revised level one month earlier and reflecting a slightly higher proportion - relative to the prior month - of U.S. production and non-supervisory (P&NS) jobs paying less than the mean weekly income of all P&NS jobs (“Low Quality Jobs”), relative to those jobs paying above such mean. The JQI remains heavily impacted by the extraordinary disruption in the number and composition of private sector production and non-supervisory jobs since the beginning of the U.S. impact of the COVID19 global pandemic, with regard to which the following additional special factors should be noted: Read Report
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Manufacturing Leaders Welcome White House STEM Policy Push |
IndustryWeek
National Association of Manufacturers President and CEO Jay Timmons and Manufacturing Institute President Carolyn Lee released the following statement on the administration’s announcements on semiconductor production and new policy efforts to attract STEM talent to the United States:
“These immigration policies will also undoubtedly sharpen America’s competitive edge and help us outpace and out-innovate the rest of the world. Read Article
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Barra: Chip Constraints Will Ease in Second Half |
IndustryWeek - Geert De Lombaerde
On the heels of GM’s fourth-quarter results, its CEO teases announcements of a third EV truck plant and a fourth battery factory.
General Motors Corp. executives and their suppliers think their access to semiconductors will continue to improve and no longer be a production constraint come mid-summer, CEO Mary Barra said Feb. 1.
Speaking to analysts and investors after GM reported a fourth-quarter profit of $10.0 billion – with adjusted margins climbing to 11.3% from below 8% in late 2020 – Barra and CFO Paul Jacobson said the company’s chip outlook has them (barring a nasty COVID surprise or natural disaster) eyeing global production growth of 25% to 30% for 2022, with much of that growth coming from July on. Read Article
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US Private Hiring Slumps in Ominous Labor Market Sign |
IndustryWeek
Private payroll services firm ADP estimated that the U.S. lost 301,000 jobs in January, including 21,000 manufacturing jobs.
U.S. private companies shed jobs last month for the first time since December 2020 as the Omicron coronavirus variant again complicated business -- a potential harbinger of bad news for the upcoming government employment report.
Data from payroll services firm ADP released Wednesday said private employment declined by 301,000 in January, far worse than analysts expected, which the survey blamed squarely on the new virus strain. Read Article
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Building a Diverse Supply Chain Takes Work—But It’s Worth It |
IndustryWeek - James D. White, Krista White
The former CEO of Jamba Juice shares lessons in fair trade practices that can be applied across industries.
In this excerpt from his forthcoming book, Anti-Racist Leadership: How to Transform Culture in a Race-Conscious World,former Jamba Juice CEO James D. White—along with Krista White, who has joined him in his work—shares approaches on how diversity and inclusion can strengthen your supply chain.
Given today’s supply chain challenges, leaders have to be proactive in building diversity and inclusivity into their supply chains, as well as in helping suppliers and partners grow to scale. In recent years, more companies have discovered that building a fairer and more equitable supply chain benefits the broader global community, as well as brings a deeper perspective of ideas, and addresses the growing demand among consumers who patronize brands which support relevant social issues. Many of these companies have established models that others can emulate. Here are a few ways a company can create a fully diverse and inclusive supply chain. Read Article
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JQI Falls As More Service Workers Return to Work |
Coalition for a Prosperous America
WASHINGTON — The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) today announced that the U.S. Private Sector Job Quality Index (JQI) fell to 79.80 in December, down 0.27% from the previous month, reflecting faster growth in low-wage jobs in the month. The fall in the JQI was driven by substantial growth in low-wage jobs in food services and accommodation as businesses hire aggressively to meet the needs of consumers who are increasingly patronizing restaurants, travel, and accommodation services as fear of Covid subsides. There were also smaller increases in employment in manufacturing, construction, and professional/business services, which tend to be high-quality, high-wage sectors.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today that the U.S. added 467,000 workers to payrolls in January. Job growth continues to be strong, although the labor force participation rate, at 62.2% is still 1.2 percentage points (3.1 million people) below the level of February 2020. The manufacturing workforce grew by 13,000 jobs in January and by 375,000 jobs over the last twelve months. Read Article
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Peloton Changes CEO, Cancels Plans for Ohio Plant |
IndustyWeek - Staff
The exercise-bike company killed plans to build a 2,000-worker factory in Northwest Ohio.
Peloton Inc. announced February 8 it would change CEOs and downsize dramatically, cutting 2,800 employees and cancelling plans to build a factory for its exercise equipment in Western Ohio.
In a pair of statements, the company revealed plans to substantially downsize amid a reorganization of its executive board, including the replacement of co-founder John Foley as CEO. Foley will step down from his position to become Peloton’s Executive Chair, and he will be replaced as CEO by Barry McCarthy, a former Spotify executive. Read Article
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Mystifying Manufacturing Numbers: What Should We Make of Them? |
IndustryWeek - Stephen Gold
Labor shortages and supply chain issues have set askew the usual signposts.
Business management guru Tom Peters once wrote, “If you’re not confused, you’re not paying attention.” Well, American manufacturing leaders are paying attention to the increasingly complex circumstances they face—and they are quite confused. The latest data on manufacturing are mystifying in their extremes. Where is the light at the end of the tunnel? Following are a selection of numbers that help highlight the current state of U.S. manufacturing.
44.2. The median age of manufacturer worker in the U.S. today. While that’s comfortably within the range of other sectors—the median age of workers in retail is 37.7 years while the median age of truckers is 46.4--the number continues to increase. According to SHRM, the median age of manufacturing workers in 2000 was 40.5. This is part of the challenge we face: with 2.5 million Boomers preparing to drop out of the manufacturing workforce in the coming years, the need for new talent becomes more pressing. Read Article
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Digging Into the Shifting Sands of Supplier-OEM Leverage |
IndustryWeek - Geert De Lombaerde
‘Bring a bigger bat’ won’t work during this supply chain crisis, says one CEO.
[Editor’s note, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released the Producer Price Index, a monthly read on what suppliers are charging their customers, after this story was posted. With a 1% gain in January, the PPI continues to rise, putting inflationary pressure on manufacturers.]
The world economy’s supply chain snarls continue having far-reaching effects. Some corporations are investing in new manufacturing and/or logistics capacity closer to home to lower their risk profiles. For others, investments in automation are gathering steam as recruiting and retention challenges force the hands of hiring managers. Read Article
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Boom Supersonic Chooses North Carolina for New Assembly Plant |
Assembly Magazine
GREENSBORO, NC—Boom Supersonic will manufacture its new Overture supersonic passenger aircraft at a new assembly plant located at the Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTI) here.
Through 2030, the Overture Superfactory campus at PTI will bring an investment of more than $500 million and create 1,761 jobs with an average salary of $68,792.
The Overture aircraft will be capable of flying at twice the speed of today’s fastest passenger jets: Overture flights will reduce travel time from New York to London to less than four hours. Overture will be 205 feet long, carry 65 to 88 passengers, have a cruising altitude of 60,000 feet and a range of 4,888 miles. The company plans to have Overture ready to enter service in 2029. Read Article
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How Much of Rulemaking is Done by Contractors? |
Brookings Institution - Rachel Augustine Potter, Associate Professor of Politics - University of Virginia
Contractors are a mainstay of the federal government. While private sector contractors played critical and highly visible support roles for the Department of Defense and the Department of State in Iraq and Afghanistan, they also play quieter but still important roles assisting the Department of Education collect student loan repayments, the U.S. Agency for International Development run development programs, the Department of Energy manage its national labs, and the Environmental Protection Agency clean up hazardous waste sites, among numerous other tasks. In fiscal year (FY) 2020 alone, the U.S. government spent about $400 billion on service contracts, and by one estimate, there are roughly three contract employees for every one civil servant employed by the federal government.
Contractors also play an important but largely unexamined role in helping agencies write rules. There are two reasons why it is important to understand what is happening here. First, rules are legally significant, so anything—or anyone—that influences them has impact. Once agencies follow the cumbersome notice-and-comment process the resulting rules carry the same force and effect as laws passed by Congress. Second, rules are politically significant. Rulemaking was central to former President Trump’s political agenda, and it continues its prominent role in President Biden’s administration. Read Article
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Only Nine Percent of Plastic Recycled Worldwide: OECD |
IndustryWeek - Agence France-Presse
According to the France-based organization, almost half of the 460 million tons of plastic used in 2019 wound up in landfills.
Less than 10% of the plastic used across the world is recycled, the OECD said Tuesday, calling for "coordinated and global solutions" ahead of expected talks on an international plastics treaty.
A new report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development report found that 460 million tons of plastics were used in 2019, the number nearly doubling since 2000.
The amount of plastic waste had more than doubled during that time to 353 million tons, the Paris-based OECD said. Read Article
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Classes alone will not close the "skills gap," but structured on-the-job training can...every time! |
Under-capacity of workers is an enormous source of untapped value and unrealized return on worker investment. In addition, standardizing expert task performance -between workers and shifts - can add to worker ROI through lower scrap and rework.
- Increased worker capacity, productivity, work quantity, work quality and compliance (specifications, ISO/AS/TS programs and safety mandates);
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Higher return on worker investment! You would be surprised how small of an investment is needed to unlock enormous returns.
If budgets are tight, Proactive Technologies can be an extension to your training department, with our technical implementation support - included with every project!
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Price Controls, Black Markets, And Skimpflation: The WWII Battle Against Inflation |
NPR Planet Money – Greg Rosalsky
With inflation surging right now, U.S. leaders are naturally thinking about how to fight it. In modern times, that responsibility has mostly fallen to the Federal Reserve. The Fed can (and likely will) raise interest rates to cool down the economy, which should — theoretically — lower demand for goods and services and reduce upward pressure on prices. This will also likely bring pain to many Americans as the economy is forced to slow down.
Back during World War II, the United States took a radically different approach to fighting inflation. And the mess that ensued might explain why the Biden Administration, and most other policymakers, are reluctant to try it out again. Planet Money just released a great episode that delves into this history with some different details (and cool archival sounds!), and you should check it out. Read Article and Hear Podcast
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Talent Shortage Turns Audits into Tactical Issue |
CFO Dive – Robert Freedman, Senior Editor
Delays mean companies can face hurdles raising capital, securing financing or making financials available to buyers interested in an acquisition.
The spring is always a difficult time to schedule an audit as companies prepare their calendar year-end financials but this year the time crunch will be magnified by talent shortages, an audit specialist says.
“Let’s say you were doing a fundraise and you wanted to get that audit done by March 31 or April 30,” Stacy Dow, partner at technical accounting firm RSM, told CFO Dive. “That would be very difficult. Most of the firms would probably say that’s something that would have to wait until after April, and if it needed to be done sooner, likely that would mean you would have to pay more for it. Firms would have to reevaluate how they’re deploying their resources.” Read Article
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We Need to be Better at Industrial Policy |
Coalition for a Propsperous America – Amanda Mayoral, CPA Economist
Industrial policy is critical to competing in a global economy and maintaining our national security. In the world of U.S. economic policymaking, we need to stop wasting time debating whether to “do” industrial policy and rather debate how to improve it. Industrial policy has been a key part of American policy at every level of government and will continue to be so. The U.S. has many industrial policy tools in our arsenal. In recent years however, our approach to international trade and U.S. industry has largely been to take a blind eye to the advantages given to foreign competitors, to the detriment of our firms and workers. This article outlines several cases of successful U.S. industrial policy. Being better at industrial policy requires a look at what went right as well as what went wrong to learn and improve our industrial policies. Read Article
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Supplier Goodwill toward OEMs Has Run Dry |
IndustryWeek – Paul Ericksen
Years of being treated as the OEMs’ personal slush fund has drained their trust.
In a recent column, my colleague Eamon McKinney discussed the escalating loss of goodwill between Chinese suppliers and their U.S.-based original equipment manufacturer customers. He also pointed out that this has resulted in a loss of leverage that OEMs previously had over those Chinese suppliers due to lack of supply, with suppliers now having the ability to select from a variety of customers and to enforce price increases on available goods.
This led me to think about goodwill between OEMs and their U.S.-based suppliers, and whether the leverage between them has also shifted. Read Article
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Financial Markets Fueled Colorado’s Fires |
Brookings Institution – Joseph W. Kane, Fellow – Brookings Metro; Adie Tomer, Senior Fellow – Brookings Metro
Even by recent standards of the destruction wrought by climate change, December’s wildfires in Boulder County, Colo. Were especially haunting. In just a few hours—in some cases, minutes—fires engulfed entire homes and then whole neighborhoods. Families had little time to collect their belongings, if they could get back home at all. The fires caused at least $513 million in damage and destroyed 1,100 buildings. Many households may be underinsured or unable to recoup their losses.
Described as an “urban firestorm” by scientists, the Colorado wildfires were notable not only because of their unprecedented ferocity, but also because of their location along the wildland-urban interface (WUI) where cities like Boulder are located. This vulnerable WUI is decades in the making, as developers, policymakers, and other leaders across the greater Denver region have demanded—and invested in—sprawling growth. As just one example, in nearby Jefferson County, every 1,000 new residents has resulted in 470 acres of natural land lost in recent years. Read Article
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DOJ Arrests New York Couple and Seizes $3.6 Billion in Bitcoin Related to 2016 Hack |
NPR All Things Considered – Ryan Lucas
The Justice Department has seized around $3.6 billion in cryptocurrency tied to the 2016 hack of a virtual currency exchange, and arrested a New York couple charged with conspiring to launder billions of dollars’ worth of the stolen bitcoin.
The seizure — the largest ever for the department — and arrests stem from the 2016 breach of the Bitfinex exchange. At the time of the hack, the stolen funds were worth around $71 million, but the value has since soared to around $4.5 billion, officials said. Read Article and Hear Podcast
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Owned: A Tale of Two Americas |
PBS – Independent Lens
Is the “American Dream” of home ownership a false promise? While the government’s postwar housing policy created the world’s largest middle class, it also set America on two divergent paths – one of perceived wealth and the other of systematically defunded, segregated communities. View Video
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SPAC Industry Promotes Myths in a ‘Deep Fraud,’ Former SEC Official Says |
CFO Dive – Jim Tyson, Senior Reporter
Dive Brief:
Several ‘myths’ about the legal underpinnings for special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) have influenced the perceived costs, benefits and risks of the so-called blank-check companies and distorted capital markets, according to John Coates, acting director of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Corporation Finance Division from February until October 2021.
SPAC promoters have made many groundless claims, including that the SEC changed SPAC accounting rules last year and that traditional initial public offerings (IPOs) are slower than SPACs to complete the SEC registration process and, unlike SPACs, cannot provide projections, according to Coates, a Harvard Law School professor.
“By repeating continuously these myths, the professionals repeating them are attempting to make [it] more likely that they will generate rents in future SPAC deals,” Coates said in a paper. Read Article
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Gensler Aims to Boost SEC Incentives for Whistleblowers |
CFO Dive, - Jim Tyson, Senior Reporter
Dive Brief:
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler aims to revise rules altered by the Trump administration and strengthen the incentives offered to whistleblowers to expose financial wrongdoing.
A proposal announced on Thursday would eliminate the SEC’s authority to consider reducing a potential reward while allowing consideration of an increase. In addition, the SEC could pay whistleblower awards for actions brought by other agencies such as the Justice Department.
The amendments “would help ensure that whistleblowers are both incentivized and appropriately rewarded for their efforts in reporting potential violations of the law to the commission,” Gensler said in a statement. Read Article Read Article
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Mazars Exit Could Leave Trump Org. in Breach of Loan Agreements |
CFO Dive - Robert Freedman, Senior Editor
Separate from any findings by prosecutors, the breached loan agreements could pose a big financial hit to the company, a former assistant attorney general says.
The disclosure this week by the accounting firm Mazars USA that it has cut ties with the Trump Organization could leave the company in breach of loan agreements, says Tristan Snell, a former assistant New York attorney general who helped lead the prosecution of Trump University for fraud.
The accounting firm said in a February 9 letter that, after reviewing findings by the New York Attorney General, its own investigation and information provided by internal and external sources, it can no longer stand behind financial statements it signed off on over the last 10 years and has reached a point in which it has a non-waivable conflict of interest with the company. Read Article
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Ex-Goldman Banker: 'Bribes' Made 1MDB Business Possible |
BBC
Tim Leissner said the 1MDB deal was made possible by "bribes and kickbacks"
Former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner, once hailed for bringing the bank lucrative Malaysian business, has told a court that "bribes and kickbacks" made the deals possible.
Mr Leissner was testifying in the trial of his former colleague, Roger Ng.
Prosecutors say the two men helped divert billions from Malaysia's 1MDB sovereign wealth fund to be used in bribes for politicians and others. Read Article
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Investors Bought a Record Share of Homes in 2021 |
The Washington Post - Kevin Schaul and Jonathan O'Connell
An analysis of 40 major metro areas revealed unequal levels of investor activity, with southern cities and Black neighborhoods disproportionately affected.
Last year, investors bought nearly one in seven homes sold in America’s top metropolitan areas, the most in at least two decades, according to the realty company Redfin.
Those purchases come at a time when would-be buyers across the country are seeing wildly escalating prices, raising the question of what impact investors are having on prices for everyone else. Investors were even more aggressive in the final three months of the year, buying 15 percent of all homes that sold in the 40 markets. Read Article
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Former Ass't Treasurer Gamed Company's FX Transactions, SEC Says |
CFO Dive - Robert Freedman, Senior Editor
Dive Brief:
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) hit healthcare products company Baxter International with an $18 million fine for inadequate controls over its foreign currency exchange process, which the agency says led the company to inflate its earnings $517 million over nine years.
Separately, the SEC fined the company’s former assistant treasurer $100,000 for allegedly manipulating Baxter’s currency transactions with the sole purpose of increasing the company’s earnings or avoiding losses, and the former treasurer $125,000 for failing to act against the improper transactions.
The SEC credited the company’s leadership with acting quickly when it learned what was going on. "Baxter’s self-reporting and substantial cooperation in working with the staff in this complex investigation was an important consideration in assessing the appropriate sanctions for this case," said Paul Montoya, the agency’s associate regional director in Chicago. Read Article
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Financial Book Reviews For Our Time |
Red-Handed: How American Elites Get Rich Helping China Win
By Peter Schweitzer
Peter Schweizer says that, in a quarter-century as an investigative journalist, this is the scariest investigation he has ever conducted.
That the Chinese government seeks to infiltrate American institutions is hardly surprising. What is wholly new, however, are the number of American elites who are eager to help the Chinese dictatorship in its quest for global hegemony.
Presidential families, Silicon Valley gurus, Wall Street high rollers, Ivy League universities, even professional athletes—all willing to sacrifice American strength and security on the altar of personal enrichment.
In Red-Handed, six-time New York Times bestselling investigator Peter Schweizer presents his most alarming findings to date by revealing the secret deals wealthy Americans have cut to help China build its military, technological, and economic might. Equally as astonishing, many of these elites quietly believe the Chinese dictatorial regime is superior to American democracy.
Schweizer and his team of forensic investigators spent over a year scouring a massive trove of global corporate records and legal filings to expose the hidden transactions China’s enablers hoped would never see the light of day. And as Schweizer’s past bombshells like Profiles in Corruption, Secret Empires, and Clinton Cash all made clear, there are bad actors on both ends of the political spectrum.
Exhaustively researched, crisply told, and chilling, Red-Handed will expose the nexus of power between the Chinese government and the American elites who do its bidding.
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Mexico, Latin America, South America and the Caribbean |
Peru Grapples with Disastrous Oil Spill after Tonga Eruption
DeutscheWelle
A major oil spill off the coast of Peru has reached the nation's shorelines, with the government calling it the biggest "ecological disaster" in recent years. The crisis was caused by waves from a volcanic eruption. Read Article
Deforestation Threat to Amazon Indigenous Areas if Protected Status Changed - Report
BBC News - Georgina Rannard
Brazilian company Vale operates huge mines in the Amazon. Areas of Amazon rainforest with a combined area the size of England could be threatened by new mining and deforestation, a new report claims.
It is currently illegal to mine in these protected indigenous territories of the Amazon.
But Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro wants to change this to allow more exploitation for economic development. Read Article
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Canada, Europe and Great Britain |
Storm Eunice: Record Wind Gust Amid Disruption
BBC News – Christy Cooney
Around 200,000 homes have been left without power and the transport network continues to be severely affected as Storm Eunice lashes the UK.
High winds led to school closures, flight cancellations, and stay-at-home warnings across the country.
One person has died in Ireland and a number of people have been injured in the UK. Read Article
Italy: New Etna Eruption Spews Ash and Closes Airport
Deutsche Welle
Mount Etna, one of Europe’s most active volcanoes, belched a pillar of smoke 12 kilometers high. The incident follows a spectacular eruption just days prior.Mount Etna blasted a massive 12-kilometer-high (7.5-mile) pillar of volcanic ash into the sky over the Italian island of Sicily on Monday.
A tower of volcanic ash rose miles into the skies above Sicily, blanketing the countryside and disrupting air traffic
Scientists from Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) in Catania say activity centered on a lava flow on the mountain’s southeast slope.
Ash from the eruption blanketed nearby towns according to Italy’s civil protection agency but there have been no immediate reports of injuries or property damage.
Earlier Monday, authorities issued a warning for aircraft in the area. Read Article
Germany Wants to Keep Fuel Motor Cars, but Get Rid of Gasoline
IndustryWeek – Agence France-Presse
Germany’s transport minister says carbon-free synthetic fuel alternatives should be considered alongside electric and hydrogen vehicles.
Automaking powerhouse Germany is opposed to a ban on internal combustion engines from 2035 provided they work on synthetic fuels, the country’s transport minister said Monday.
The European Commission proposed last year a ban on the sale of new cars with internal combustion engines from the middle of next decade, but the debate is far from over. Read Article
Canadian Lawmakers Extend Emergency Powers Act for Truck Protests
NPR – The Associated Press
TORONTO — Canadian lawmakers voted Monday night to extend the emergency powers that police can invoke to quell any potential restart of blockades by those opposed to COVID-19 restrictions.
Lawmakers in the House of Commons voted 185 to 151 to affirm the powers.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said earlier that the powers were still needed despite police ending the occupation of the nation’s capital by truckers over the weekend and police ending border blockades before that. Read Article
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China Factory Activity Edges Down in January Amid COVID Outbreaks
IndustryWeek – Agence France-Presse
The Purchasing Managers’ Index in the world’s second-largest economy inched down to 50.1, just above the 50-point mark separating growth from contraction.
Factory activity in China edged down in January, official figures showed Sunday, but slightly exceeded expectations as businesses struggled with sporadic disruptions due to coronavirus outbreaks.
The Purchasing Managers’ Index – a key gauge of manufacturing activity – in the world’s second-largest economy inched down to 50.1, just above the 50-point mark separating growth from contraction. Read Article
Xi Urges Hong Kong to Control Surging COVID-19 Cases
NPR – The Associated Press
HONG KONG — Hospitals in Hong Kong were struggling on Wednesday to keep up with an influx of new coronavirus patients amid record numbers of new infections as the city’s leadership doggedly sticks to its “zero-COVID” strategy, and China’s leader Xi Jinping said it was the local government’s “overriding task” to control the situation.
Hong Kong is facing its worst outbreak of the pandemic, topping 2,000 new COVID-19 cases per day this week. The city government has already instituted strict rules, banning gatherings of more than two households. Read Article
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Asia, India and Australia |
A 16-Year-old from India has beaten World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen
NPR – Bill Chappell
At just 16 years old, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa is now the youngest chess player ever to defeat Magnus Carlsen in his long reign as world champion. The two faced off in an online tournament that had featured 16 elite players.
Praggnanandhaa is a grandmaster from India who is commonly referred to simply as Pragg. The chess prodigy said after the game that he was glad to improve on his play from the tournament’s first day — and to avoid a draw in his game against Carlsen, which included 39 moves. Read Article
Cambodia Determined to Implement China-style ‘Great Firewall’ Despite Glitches
DeutscheWelle
Cambodia is looking to imitate China's internet restrictions but it has already run into technical issues. The government says it wants to tackle cybercrime but activists argue it's an attempt to muzzle free speech.
Cambodia has run into some glitches as it attempts to implement internet restrictions
A controversial scheme to route all internet traffic through a Chinese-style 'firewall' was delayed in Cambodia this week just as it was supposed to go live, giving pro-democracy activists some respite in their efforts to maintain online freedoms. Read Article
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Africa, Middle East, Eastern Europe and Russia |
Will EU-AU Summit Reshape Europe-Africa Relations?
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH – African Business
President Macron wants to reshape relations between Europe and Africa, but can the February AU-EU summit go beyond mere declarations of intent?
The sixth summit of European Union (EU) and African Union (AU) heads of state and government taking place today and tomorrow in Brussels aims to “completely overhaul” the EU-Africa relationship, according to President Emmanuel Macron of France.
Issues that are likely to be contentious at the summit include the waiver of patents on Covid-19 vaccines demanded by African countries to help increase production on the continent and help assure supplies, migration and allocation of special drawing rights (SDRs).
We report further below on the demands likely to be put forward by African leaders at the summit and voices that are critical of what is seen as a still very unequal partnership between the two continents. Read Article
Kuwait Airways Raises Airbus Order to 31 Jets in $6 Billion Deal
IndustryWeek - Agence France-Presse
The deal comes after what the airline labelled occasionally "heated" negotiations following probes over allegations of kickbacks surrounding the initial order.
Kuwait Airways announced Monday an expanded $6 billion deal with Airbus for 31 planes, restructuring an agreement reached in 2014.
The deal comes after what the airline labelled occasionally "heated" negotiations following probes over allegations of kickbacks surrounding the initial order. Read Article
Russian Painting Vandalised by ‘Bored’ Gallery Guard Who Drew Eyes On It
The Guardian - Sian Cain
Anna Leporskaya’s Three Figures sent for restoration after guard doodled on it with a ballpoint pen on his first day
A valuable avant garde painting has been vandalised by a “bored” security guard who drew eyes on faceless figures in the artwork on his first day working in a Russian gallery.
Anna Leporskaya’s Three Figures was painted between 1932 and 1934, and had been insured for 75m roubles (A$1.4m, £740,000). It was on display as part of an abstract art exhibition at the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Center in Ekaterinburg when the guard drew eyes on it using a ballpoint pen. Read Article
Around the Halls: Implications of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine
Brookings Institute - Pavel K. Baev, Jessica Brandt, Vanda Felbab-Brown, Jeremy Greenwood, Samantha Gross, Daniel S. Hamilton, Bruce Jones, Marvin Kalb, Patricia M. Kim, Suzanne Maloney, Amy J. Nelson, Thomas Pickering, Bruce Riedel, Natan Sachs, Constanze Stelzenmüller, Caitlin Talmadge, Shibley Telhami, David G. Victor, and Andrew Yeo
In the early morning of February 24, Russia launched a full-scale military assault on Ukraine, bombing major cities such as Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Odesa and invading from Russia, Belarus, Crimea, and the Black Sea. The attack followed months of troop buildups, Russian ultimatums to the United States and NATO, negotiations with the U.S. and European leaders, and U.S. warnings of Russian invasion plans, and was preceded by Moscow’s recognition of two separatist enclaves in eastern Ukraine as independent.
Below, Brookings experts analyze the implications of the invasion, for Europe, Russia, international order, U.S. foreign policy, and much more, and offer policy recommendations for the United States, European, and other governments. Read Article
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Proactive Technologies' Project Partners |
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Frank J. Gibson Consulting |
"One thing is certain... nothing is certain!"
The rate of change affecting work, the worker, management and the educational institutions that service all three has been accelerating - made worse by the unexpected Covid-19 pandemic. The economy, the consumer, supply chains and operational strategies have all been disrupted in the short-term, casting doubt on the long-term.
Rapid adaptation is the key to survivability, sustainability and growth. Sometimes an experienced outside advisor can help facilitate needed improvements to take the worry out of change and the fear out of growth. Frank J. Gibson Management and Workforce Excellence Advisor
- Business Development & Growth
- Workforce Development and Optimization
- Training and Cross-Training
- Local,/Regional Workforce Development Projects and Community Development
- Facilitated Problem Solving
- Process Improvement Cross-Functional Leadership Coaching and Mentoring
- Internship and Apprenticeship Projects
- Strategic Doing/Strategic Planning
Copyright © 2022 Frank J. Gibson
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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PTI Systems
International, Inc.™
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- Affiliated with Proactive Technologies, Inc. for projects outside the United States;
- Workforce development partner for employers, and education/ training providers who support employers, to ensure every worker can be trained to full job mastery;
- Experienced with governmental, IDB, GIZ and economic development agency sponsored projects;
- Experienced in assuring multinational employers expanding to the U.S. have the skilled workforce they need.
- PTI Systems International sets-up complete worker development and performance management systems, and provides technical implementation support;
- We provide strategies for our project's transition to local management.
- Speakers for seminars and conferences.
Don't complain about a "skills gap," deliberately develop every worker to full job mastery!
© 2018-22 PTI Systems International, Inc.™
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“It’s not enough to do your best; you must know what to do & then do your best.”
American engineer, statistician,
professor, author, lecturer, and
management consultant
1900 - 1993
“I shall not do more than I can, and I shall do all I can to save the government, which is my sworn duty as well as my personal inclination. I shall do nothing in malice. What I deal with is too vast for malicious dealing.”
American lawyer and statesman, 16th president of the United States
1809 – 1865
“Markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent."
English economist, whose ideas fundamentally changed the theory and practice of macroeconomics and the economic policies of governments
1883 - 1946
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U.S. Department of Commerce - Bureau of Economic Analysis |
U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services, December, 2021
The U.S. monthly international trade deficit increased in December 2021 according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and the U.S. Census Bureau. The deficit increased from $79.3 billion in November (revised) to $80.7 billion in December, as imports increased more than exports. The previously published November deficit was $80.2 billion. The goods deficit increased $3.2 billion in December to $101.4 billion. The services surplus increased $1.8 billion in December to $20.7 billion. Read Report
U.S. International Transactions, Third Quarter 2021
The U.S. current-account deficit, which reflects the combined balances on trade in goods and services and income flows between U.S. residents and residents of other countries, widened by $16.5 billion, or 8.3 percent, to $214.8 billion in the third quarter of 2021, according to statistics released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). The revised second-quarter deficit was $198.3 billion.
The third-quarter deficit was 3.7 percent of current-dollar gross domestic product, up from 3.5 percent in the second quarter.
The $16.5 billion widening of the current-account deficit in the third quarter reflected a reduced surplus on services and expanded deficits on secondary income and on goods that were partly offset by an expanded surplus on primary income. Read Report
New Foreign Direct Investment in the United States
The statistics on new foreign direct investment in the United States provide information on the acquisition, establishment, and expansion of U.S. business enterprises by foreign direct investors. Read Reports
BEA International Trade and Investment Country Facts
BEA Releases Prototype Trade in Value Added Statistics
These new prototype statistics can help answer questions such as:"Global Value Chains." Access Site
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U.S. Department of Commerce - Bureau of the Census |
Monthly Wholesale Trade
December 2021 sales of merchant wholesalers were $634.6 billion, up 0.2 percent (+/- 0.4 percent)* from last month. End-of-month inventories were $790.8 billion, up 2.2 percent (+/- 0.4 percent) from last month. December 2021: +2.2 % change in Inventories; November 2021 I: +1.7 % change in Inventories. Read Report
Manufacturing and Trade Inventory and Sales – December, 2021
U.S. total business end-of-month inventories for December 2021 were $2,206.7 billion, up 2.1 percent (+/- 0.1 percent) from last month. U.S. total business sales were $1,717.2 billion, down 0.7 percent (+/- 0.1 percent) from last month. December 2021: +2.1 % change in Inventories; November 2021 (r): +1.5 % change in Inventories. Read Report
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Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development |
U.S. Data versus the World
Find, compare and share the latest OECD data: charts, maps, tables and related publications. Access Data
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International Trade in Services
Trade in services records the value of services exchanged between residents and non-residents of an economy, including services provided through foreign affiliates established abroad. This indicator is measured in million USD and percentage of GDP for exports, imports and net trade. Services include transport (both freight and passengers), travel, communications services (postal, telephone, satellite, etc.), construction services, insurance and financial services, computer and information services, royalties and license fees, other business services (merchanting, operational leasing, technical and professional services, etc.), cultural and recreational services, and government services not included in the list above. Trade in services drives the exchange of ideas, know-how and technology, although it is often restricted by barriers such as domestic regulations. All OECD countries compile their data according to the 2008 System of National Accounts (SNA). Access Data and Tables
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Union Vote at GM Mexico Plant Hailed as ‘Win’ for Workers |
IndustryWeek – Agence France-Presse
The vote secured the support of 4,192 of the roughly 6,200 workers entitled to participate.
Workers at a General Motors factory in Mexico have elected an independent union – a step hailed as a victory for labor rights helped by a revamped North American trade agreement.
The United States had in May asked Mexico to investigate claims of “serious violations” of worker rights during a previous union vote at the GM plant in Silao in the state of Guanajuato. Read Article
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Goods Trade Deficit Tops $1 Trillion, Equivalent the Size of the Mexican Economy |
Coalition for a Prosperous America – Kenneth Rapoza
The U.S. goods trade deficit was $1.09 trillion in 2021, a record-breaker by any measure. No country in the world has ever had a deficit that large in terms of value and in volume. To put that into perspective, the Mexican economy in 2020, the most recent year for World Bank data, produced $1.07 trillion in GDP.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis released its year-end and December trade figures on Tuesday, showing the ongoing trend of import growth as the U.S. spent much of 2021 bouncing back from government-forced lockdowns of small and mid-sized businesses.
Despite tariffs making it more expensive to import goods from China, the U.S.-China trade deficit ended 2021 higher than pre-pandemic 2019, coming in at $355 billion. In 2019, the trade gap with China was $344.3 billion. Read Article
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Japan Steel Deal Removes Tariffs, Sets Import Limits |
Coalition for a Prosperous America – Kenneth Rapoza
On February 7, the Biden administration removed yet another tariff from the previous government – this time the Section 232 steel tariffs on Japan. This follows a similar move by Washington to change the Section 232s for European Union sourced steel as well. The Japanese wanted a similar deal, but Washington set tighter limits this time in order to avoid what may be a glut of imports from the world’s second-largest steel exporter after China.
Like EU steel of all types, Japanese steel was subject to the Section 232 25% tariff. Those tariffs end on April 1 for Japan. They ended January 1 for Europe.
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China Promised Trump a Better Deal for America; it Didn’t Actually Deliver |
NPR Planet Money – Greg Rosalsky
The world’s eyes have been glued to an epic competition that has been unfolding in Beijing between the globe’s leading contenders. The contest is fierce, and it’s anyone’s guess who will emerge the victor. No, we’re not talking about the Winter Olympics. We’re talking about the ongoing trade war between the United States and China.
The trade war is now almost four years old. In 2018, President Trump fired the first shots by imposing tariffs on various Chinese products. China retaliated, imposing tariffs on American products. The war kept escalating — with each side making their tariffs higher and more expansive. Read Article
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Key US-Canada Border Crossing Reopens After COVID Protests |
IndustryWeek – Agence France-Presse
The blockading of the Ambassador Bridge forced automakers in both the United States and Canada to halt or scale back production.
A major U.S.-Canada border crossing reopened late Sunday almost a week after it was forced shut by truck driver-led protests against coronavirus restrictions, prompting police to quell the demonstration with a series of arrests.
The blockading of the Ambassador Bridge, which handles an estimated 25% of trade between the two countries, had disrupted business in the world’s largest economy and forced automakers in both the United States and Canada to halt or scale back production. Read Article
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China Failed to Meet Phase I Trade Deal; Why is Congress Pushing for More Imports? |
Coalition for a Prosperous America – Kenneth Rapoza
China did not fulfill its commitment to buy some $200 billion worth of U.S. imports, reaching just under 60% of what they had agreed upon in the Phase One trade deal, a report by the Peterson Institute for International Economics said.
China bought only 57% of the U.S. exports it had committed to purchase under the agreement, not enough to reach its import levels from 2017, the PIIE report stated.
China failing to meet its end of the bargain should come as no surprise to members of Congress. Legislators have been quiet on this shortfall thus far. Read Article
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US Bravado on Trade Confounds Chinese |
IndustryWeek - Eamon McKinney
Bolstered by manufacturing self-sufficiency, they see themselves as having more leverage on trade
My career in manufacturing has spanned over 40 years that have been primarily spent in China. I received my Ph.D. from a Chinese University, am fluent in Mandarin and have worked with many Chinese manufacturers and made many Chinese friends over the years. Recently, I made the decision to retire and relocate from China. Since I will now be out of the mix regarding first-hand experience in China, this will likely be my last IndustryWeek article.
For this article, I think it’s appropriate to summarize what my Chinese friends and colleagues feel about the current trade relationship between the United States and their country. My approach here will not be judgmental. I’ll just relay what I’ve heard and let you make your own conclusions regarding the feedback I’ve received. Read Article
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Importers File Bogus Requests for Section 301 Trade Exclusions |
Coalition for a Prosperous America – Kenneth Rapoza
After four years of the U.S. government imposing Section 301 tariffs on a wide range of Chinese goods, multinational importers and the army of Washington lobbyists they keep on the payroll are still looking for them to be removed. In theory, exclusions are supposed to be granted if an importer cannot source the same product or part from an American manufacturer. However, CPA has reviewed importers’ latest submissions and found a large majority of them to be without merit.
The Section 301 trade tariffs imposed by the Trump administration and kept intact by President Biden are the best leverage the U.S. has in any negotiation with China. Weakening them brings the U.S. back to pre-2018 when the trajectory was clear: the U.S. would outsource nearly everything eventually to Asia, led by China multinationals. Read Article
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U.S. Crude Oil Exports Reached Record Levels in 2020 and Remain High in 2021 |
U.S. Energy Information Administration, Weekly Petroleum Status Report
Note: 2021 annual average based on year-to-date data as of July 9, 2021.
Despite volatility in global oil markets, U.S. crude oil exports reached a record high in 2020. So far this year (as of July 9, 2021), U.S. crude oil exports have averaged 3.00 million barrels per day (b/d). The most recent four-week rolling average of U.S. crude oil exports reached 3.51 million b/d, according to our Weekly Petroleum Status Report.
In 2013, the U.S. government lifted export restrictions on minimally processed ultra-light oil. In the summer of 2015, the United States and Mexico entered into an oil exchange agreement, and the restrictions on oil exports were fully lifted in December 2015. U.S. crude oil exports have increased significantly since 2015 and have averaged around 3.00 million b/d every year since 2019. Read Article
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Russia Invades Ukraine: Impact on US Businesses |
IndustryWeek - Staff
Russia’s long-predicted invasion of its eastern neighbor began early on Feb. 24. The following roundup of coverage will be updated as more information becomes available.
Russia attacked Ukraine from multiple fronts early Thursday, sending in troops, tanks, military aircraft, missiles and cyberattacks. U.S. and European governments responded by vowing to strengthen sanctions imposed early in the week as Russia prepared to invade.
The following are stories from various Endeavor Business Media (owner of IndustryWeek) publications, discussing aspects of the invasion and how they could impact businesses in the U.S. Read Article
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Education And Workforce Development News |
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Rethinking Remedial Programs to Promote College Student Success |
Brookings Institution - Florence Xiaotao Ran, Assistant Professor, School of Education - University of Delaware; Yuxin Lin, Associate Director of Research and Policy Analysis - Maryland Higher Education Commission
Editor's Note: This post was produced in collaboration with the academic journal Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis.
Many incoming college students are deemed underprepared for the rigor of college-level study, and they are referred to remedial courses (or developmental education). Up to 65% of community college students take at least one remedial course within six years of initial enrollment. Black students, Hispanic students, and students from low-income backgrounds are disproportionately placed into these courses. However, due to inaccurate placement and high attrition rates, the traditional approach of remediation—which typically consists of noncredit courses that must be passed prior to entering college-level courses—appears to have little benefit and sometimes detrimental effects. In response, many states and systems have sought different approaches to support students with remedial needs.
In contrast to the traditional prerequisite model described above, one popular strategy is “corequisite remediation,” where students deemed not college-ready are mainstreamed into college-level courses with concurrent learning support. As of 2021, 24 states or systems either allow or mandate the use of corequisite learning support for students deemed underprepared. Read Article
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A Magnet for Manufacturers |
Community College Daily News – Joan Mooney
Community colleges have long worked with local companies to fulfill their workforce training needs. Now the colleges’ role has moved up to the next level, as they help persuade companies to locate new large-scale, high-tech manufacturing plants near them.
“We used to be looked to for preparing job seekers,” said Joe Schaffer, president of Laramie County Community College in Wyoming and a member of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) board of directors. “Now, we’re looked to for how to stimulate and spur economic development.”
It’s a big expansion of community colleges’ role, but in many places – including in rural America, where new jobs are especially needed – the colleges have come through, working with state and sometimes federal partners. Read Article
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Could Alternative Financing Move More Workers into Manufacturing? |
IndustryWeek - Adrienne Selko
Using a different credit evaluation, potential manufacturing employees can get the training they need.
Mark Victor Hansen said it best. “If you do things the same way you’ve always done them, you’ll get the same outcomes you’ve always gotten. In order to change your outcomes, you’ve got to do things differently.”
And this is exactly applicable to how we fund education in the U.S. and the resulting shortage of skilled workers. Read Article
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Training And Organizational Development News |
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Leadership on Point: Don’t Be Resigned to the Great Resignation |
IndustryWeek – Carolyn Hendrickson
Leaders either create companies where people want to work–or they don’t.
IndustryWeek’s elite panel of regular contributors.
Where are the people? Where did they go, how do we get them back, and how do we keep them? These questions continue to be major discussion points among senior leadership teams and boards of directors. A record 4.5 million people left their jobs as of November 2021 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). The Great Resignation has been blamed on burnout, low wages and desire for flexibility. Read Article
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A New Model of Employment? Work First, Then Earn Degree |
IndustryWeek – Adrienne Selko
Autocam Medical’s apprenticeship program gives students a job and pays 100% of their college tuition.
Autocam Medical looked into the future, back in 2016, and saw there was a big problem it would need to face.
“If we didn’t start working on our talent pipeline, we were going to be in trouble,” says John Kennedy, IV, General Manager of Autocam Medical, a contract manufacturer of precision, surgical and medical components and devices based in Kentwood, Michigan. The company also has plants in Massachusetts, Tennessee, China and Brazil. Read Article
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Access Proactive Technologies' Recent "Proactive Technologies Workforce News" Article Quicklinks |
Located on the left panel below, this includes articles on structured worker development, achieving worker "full job mastery," engineering/quality/safety compliance, ISO/TS/AS quality program support and compliance, and many other contemporary worker development and management topics. |
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Recent Proactive Technologies News Article Quicklinks |
FEBRUARY
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
by Stacey Lett, Regional Director of Operations – Eastern U.S. – Proactive Technologies, Inc.
by Dr. Dave Just, formally Dean of Corporate and Continuing Education at Community Colleges in MA, OH, PA, SC. Currently President of K&D Consulting
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
JANUARY
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
by Stacey Lett, Director of Operations – Eastern U.S. – Proactive Technologies, Inc.– Proactive Technologies, Inc.
Stacey Lett, Director of Operations – Eastern U.S. – Proactive Technologies, Inc.– Proactive Technologies, Inc.
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
DECEMBER
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
by Stacey Lett, Regional Manager – Eastern U.S., Proactive Technologies, Inc.
Proactive Technologies, Inc. – Staff
by Dean Prigelmeier. President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
NOVEMBER
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
by Stacey Lett, Director of East Coast Operations - Proactive Technologies, Inc.
by Proactive Technologies, Inc. - Staff
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
OCTOBER
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
by Stacey Lett, Regional Manager - Eastern U.S., Proactive Technologies, Inc.
by Dr. Dave Just, formally Dean of Corporate and Continuing Education at Community Colleges in MA, OH, PA, SC. Currently President of K&D Consulting
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
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Proactive Technologies, Inc. Partners With Educational Institutions, Workforce/Economic
Development Groups, Government Agencies
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Structured on-the-job training attracts and engages employers in workforce development partnerships...some projects sustainable for more than 18 years!
This creates a steady need for your related technical instruction, services and a pathway for employment.
These partnerships:
- enhance your institution's opportunity to market your products and services to incumbent workers;
- allow your organization to include structured on-the-job training as a capstone to preemployment preparation;
- document a trainee-to worker's increasing value to the employer - the key to retention - rather than leaving it to chance;
- properly aligns workforce development resources and maximizes the impact and results; allows you to engage an employer's facility, equipment and staff in the training process;
- provides the best, sustainable infrastructure for apprenticeships and internships that last!
- is a win for the trainee, win for the worker, win for the employer, win for the institution and win for the community!
This approach has continued to prove itself since 1988, and does not compete with your school's or agency's products and services; it adds to your efforts the clear, tangible, measurable advantage that employers seek.
Copyright © 2022 Proactive Technologies, Inc.™ ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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Tri-Rivers Career Center - Adult Education provides lifelong, continuous learning for a diverse adult population. We utilize practical skills with an eye toward technological advancement.
We partner with state agencies and employers to provide targeted skill development to future and incumbent workers.
Our RAMTEC (Robotic and Advanced Manufacturing Technology Education Collaborative) facility - one of many throughout the state - offers advanced technical training in specialized areas such as robotics, robotic welding, and engineering technology.
Copyright © 2022 Tri-Rivers Career Center - Adult Education - RAMTEC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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PROACTIVE TECHNOLOGIES, INC. CLIENT SERVICES |
To supplement onsite PROTECH™ system of managed human resource development classes, these regularly scheduled webinars are available to the registered staff of clients:
- Structured On-The-Job Training Instructor Certification
- Structured On-The Job Training Checklist Administrator Certification
- Management Structured On-The-Job Training Project Support Briefing
- Integrating Support for Plant-Wide ISO/AS/IATF Quality and Safety Systems with PROTECH Workforce Development System
- Supporting "Pay-For-Value" Systems
- Promoting Continuous Process Improvement While Implementing the PROTECH System for the Accelerated Transfer of Expertise™
- PROTECH Onsite Lead Trainer and System Administrator Certification
Contact US t o attend one of these seminars and we will send you an e-reservation. Include your client ID, name and user ID number and which webinar you would like to attend.
Copyright © 2019-22 Proactive Technologies, Inc.™ ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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Leading Manufacturers Know the Importance of Continuous Improvement |
Quality Magazine – Michelle Bangert
While 2021 was a challenging year for many, others found ways to excel in spite of everything. Even amidst a pandemic, these companies continued to shine.
Our annual Quality Leadership ranking provides much-deserved recognition for companies that prioritize quality. The survey was conducted in the fall of 2021. As with past rankings, companies were evaluated on a range of factors, including continuous improvement and quality programs; contribution of quality to profitability and shareholder value; average number of hours that employees receive quality training; scrap and rework as a percentage of sales; warranty costs as a percentage of sales; and registration to various standards such as ISO 9001. Do you think your company excels in these areas? If so, look for our survey this fall and perhaps you will see your company listed in 2023. Read Article
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Hyundai and Kia Tell Owners of Nearly 500,000 Vehicles to Park Outside Due to Fire Risk |
CNN Business - Peter Valdés-Dapena
Hyundai and Kia are telling owners of almost 500,000 cars and SUVs in the United States to park outside and away from buildings due to a possible defect that can cause the vehicles to spontaneously catch fire even when not running.
The problem is that, due to “foreign contaminants,” the anti-lock brake computer control module can short circuit and possibly start a fire in the engine compartment. Hyundai issued a recall for 2016-2018 model year Santa Fe SUVs, 2017-2018 Santa Fe Sport SUVs, 2019 Santa Fe XL models and 2014-2015 Tucson SUVs. Kia is recalling 2016-2018 K900 sedans and 2014-2016 Sportage SUVs. In total, Hyundai is ecalling 357,830 vehicles while Kia is recalling 126,747. Read Article
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FAA toughens oversight of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner |
NPR – David Schaper
Boeing employees walk the new Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner down towards the delivery ramp area at the company’s facility in South Carolina after conducting its first test flight in March 2017.
The Federal Aviation Administration is stepping up its oversight of Boeing, telling the aircraft maker Tuesday that federal inspectors will retain the authority to certify each new 787 Dreamliner plane as airworthy.
It’s a significant departure from the usual practice of having designated Boeing employees conduct certification inspections under FAA oversight. Read Article
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How to Measure Metal Coating Thickness Using Handheld X-ray Fluorescence Analyzers |
Quality Magazine – Mathieu Bauer
Metal coatings are very commonly used in metal fabrication for decorative purposes or to enhance physical or chemical properties of metal made item surfaces. Metal coatings can be applied to enhance corrosion resistance, wear resistance, heat resistance, electrical conductivity, adhesion, solderability, and lubricity of metals. While over-coating significantly increases the cost of manufacturing, under-coating can cause product failure. To avoid these setbacks, controlling the coat weight or coating thickness is critical in metal finishing, fabrication, automotive, and aerospace industries to ensure components have the correct properties and optimize the cost of production at the same time. Read Article
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Tesla Autopilot Now Under Investigation for Unexpected Braking |
IndustryWeek -Staff
The NHTSA says it has received 354 complaints of “phantom breaking” in Tesla Model 3 and Y vehicles.
Tesla Motors is under investigation yet again for its vehicles driver-assist features. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened its latest investigation into the electric-vehicle manufacturer Wednesday following 354 complaints received about unexpected “phantom braking” in two Tesla vehicles, the Model 3 and Model Y.
Though the braking phenomenon has not yet led to any crashes or injuries, the NHTSA reports that the complaints it receive say the braking happens while using the vehicle’s advanced driver assistance system, or ADAS, sometimes at highway speeds. Read Article
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How AI and Machine Vision Intersect |
Quality Magazine – Genevieve Diesing
No matter how you slice it, machine vision has become more capable.
Autonomous machine vision inspection provides quick, automated defect recognition and can implement the knowledge it gains, thereby decreasing false alarms and erroneous scrap. In this way, it contributes to quality improvements and operational efficiency.
End-to-end automation is the vision of many plant managers, says Ofer Nir, vice president of products and marketing at Inspekto.
“This is when every process on the production line is automated and fully controlled using robotic process automation, preferably with smart capabilities delivered by artificial intelligence,” Nir says. “These assets create a more agile, streamlined, efficient production, impacting costs – increasing yield and decreasing waste.” Read Article
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A Third of Ohio Deer Test Positive for COVID-19 Virus |
Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy – Jim Wappes, Editorial Director
Researchers found SARS-CoV-2 in 36% of white-tailed deer in Ohio, with evidence of deer-to-deer spread, according to a study late last week in Nature.
Though a study last month found about the same level of COVID-19 infection in Iowa deer and Canada reported SARS-CoV-2 in deer earlier this month, evidence from the new study “leads toward the idea that we might actually have established a new maintenance host outside humans,” said Andrew Bowman DVM, PhD, associate professor of veterinary preventive medicine at The Ohio State University and senior author, in an Ohio State news release. Read Article
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Major Breakthrough on Nuclear Fusion Energy |
BBC – Jonathan Amos, Science correspondent
European scientists say they have made a major breakthrough in their quest to develop practical nuclear fusion – the energy process that powers the stars.
The UK-based JET laboratory has smashed its own world record for the amount of energy it can extract by squeezing together two forms of hydrogen.
If nuclear fusion can be successfully recreated on Earth it holds out the potential of virtually unlimited supplies of low-carbon, low-radiation energy. Read Article and See Video
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Video Shows Hundreds of Blackbirds Falling From the Sky and Crashing into Pavement |
USA Today – Asha C. Gilbert
Hundreds of blackbirds were seen on video falling from the sky in Mexico and hitting the pavement. Some died on impact.
The circumstances surrounding the event led some to question whether it was pollution or 5G on social media. However, an animal expert told The Guardian it was likely a predatory bird that led the flock of birds to the ground. Read Article and See Video
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The Arctic is Warming Four Times Faster Than the Rest of the World |
Science – Paul Voosen
An important climatic indicator has been misreported by a factor of two. Melting sea ice is one driver of Arctic
It’s almost a mantra in climate science: The Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the world. But that figure, found in scientific studies, advocacy reports, the popular press, and even the 2021 U.N. climate assessment, is incorrect, obscuring the true toll of global warming on the north, a team of climate scientists reports this week. In fact, the researchers say, the Arctic is warming four times faster than the global average.
“Everybody knows [the Arctic] is a canary when it comes to climate change,” says Peter Jacobs, a climate scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, who presented the work on 13 December at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union. “Yet we’re misreporting it by a factor of two. Which is just bananas.” Read Article
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NASA’s Perseverance Celebrates First Year on Mars by Learning to Run |
NASA
The rover has racked up a series of accomplishments, including new distance records, as it reaches the end of the first of several planned science campaigns on the Red Planet.
NASA’s Perseverance rover has notched up a slew of firsts since touching down on Mars one year ago, on Feb. 18, 2021, and the six-wheeled scientist has other important accomplishments in store as it speeds toward its new destination and a new science campaign.
Weighing roughly 1 ton (1,025 kilograms), Perseverance is the heaviest rover ever to touch down on Mars, returning dramatic video of its landing. The rover collected the first rock core samples from another planet (it’s carrying six so far), served as an indispensable base station for Ingenuity, the first helicopter on Mars, and tested MOXIE (Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment), the first prototype oxygen generator on the Red Planet. Read Update
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Freezing to death: Cryoablation Offers Way to Kill Breast Cancer Cells in Patients |
Denver Channel 7 - Chloe Nordquist
Cryoablation is a process that uses extreme cold to destroy tissue.
In contrast to radiation and surgery, a relatively new procedure could help “melt” breast cancer, and take less time.
“The first thing that happens is the needle goes right through the cancer,” Dr. Luz Venta, the medical director at Houston Methodist Breast Care Center, said. “Then the ice ball forms and we see this ice ball growing under ultrasound guidance or MRI guidance.”
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Soot is Accelerating Snow Melt in Popular Parts of Antarctica, a Study Finds |
NPR All Things Considered – Rebecca Hersher
Tourists visit the South Shetland Islands in Antarctica in 2019. A new study suggests that tourism and research activity in the most heavily trafficked part of the continent are leading to significantly more snow melt.
Soot pollution is accelerating climate-driven melting in Antarctica, a new study suggests, raising questions about how to protect the delicate continent from the increasing number of humans who want to visit.
Researchers estimate that soot, or black carbon, pollution in the most popular and accessible part of Antarctica is causing an extra inch of snowpack shrinkage every year. Read Article
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Cyber Security And IT News |
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FBI Acknowledges it Tested NSO Group’s Spyware |
The Washington Post – Ellen Nakashima
The agency says it never used the spyware in an investigation.
The FBI tested Pegasus spyware made by the Israeli company NSO Group for possible use in criminal investigations, even as the FBI and Justice Department were investigating whether the NSO software had been used to illegally hack phones in the United States, people familiar with the events have told The Washington Post.
Justice Department lawyers at the time discussed that if the FBI were actually to deploy the tool, it could complicate any subsequent prosecution if the department brought charges, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity. Read Article
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Ransomware Attacks, Extortion Doubled in 2021: Accenture |
CFO Dive - Jim Tyson, Senior Reporter
Dive Brief:
Cybercriminals last year staged 107% more ransomware attacks and extortion bids than in 2020, driven by the prospect of high profitability as they found vulnerabilities in cloud infrastructure and exploited increasing reliance on remote work, according to Accenture.
“Cloud [computing] plays into ransomware’s hands,” Accenture said, noting that cloud-related malware evolved faster last year than more traditional malware. “Cloud environments were and continue to be attractive targets, perhaps due to lower monitoring levels than on-premise environments.”
The top five targets of ransomware attacks during the third quarter of 2021 were manufacturing, financial services, healthcare, technology and construction companies, Accenture said. “Ransomware operations remain highly profitable.” Read Article
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Cybersecurity Report Cites Most Effective Threats |
IndustryWeek - Dennis Scimeca
One big surprise, and the same old lessons.
Data, technology and insight provider Kroll on Wednesday delivered its Q4 2021 Threat Landscape report, tracking the most common cyberattack vectors and results of successful attacks at the end of last year. The report reinforces what hopefully has become common wisdom by now, the value of teaching your employees how to recognize phishing attempts.
Phishing, trying to fool someone into clicking a download link and creating an opportunity for bad actors to upload malware onto a system, is only one of six initial access vectors (read: first point of attack) tracked in the report. It was the highest reported initial access vector in Q3 at 51% and again in Q4 at 39%. Read Article
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Olympians Warned to Bring Burner Phones |
Axios - Ashley Gold
When Olympic athletes from all over the world land in Beijing for the 2022 Olympic Games, they'll be loaded up with burner phones and will likely leave their own devices behind.
Why it matters: Athletes are headed to the Beijing Olympics with mixed guidance from their home countries about whether their personal information will be safe online and their devices will be secure. Read Article
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Human Resource Management News |
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Time to Move from Wellness to Well-Being |
EHS Today – Adrienne Selko
While some companies launched wellness programs mainly to lower healthcare costs, a new focus on well-being aims to embrace the ‘whole’ employee.
There was a time when employees had a tacit understanding that their employer had a vested interest in their well-being. Companies often signaled this concern through wellness benefits. Company newsletters would talk about nutrition, gym memberships were subsidized, and on-site weight management programs were offered and often held in a large conference room. Read Article
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Are Job Candidates Ghosting You? It’s You, Not Them |
IndustryWeek – Kathleen Quinn Votaw
Begin with an honest look at what kind of workplace community you offer candidates, and take action from there.
As if manufacturers didn’t have enough to worry about with a $1 trillion shortage of workers in factories across the country, they now must also deal with job candidates “ghosting” them—not showing up for an interview, or worse, not showing up for work after being hired.
Ghosting has become a problem in every industry as candidates are in the driver’s seat. There are over 10 million open jobs in the U.S. right now and not enough workers to fill them. Read Article
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Come for the Pay and Benefits. Stay for the Company Culture |
EHS Today – Ashleigh Walters
Flexible scheduling, educational opportunities and even small gestures can improve morale.
For years, companies believed employees only wanted higher wages and better benefits, and “culture” stopped there. While being paid a competitive wage is certainly a priority, COVID-19 has taught us there are other important things, too. Employees want a work/life balance and to feel valued and appreciated.
As millennials and Gen Z entered the workforce, employers began to see a shift towards employees wanting to be a part of something bigger. The next generation is choosing companies based on how involved they are in their communities, the impact they have on the world and the flexibility they offer. Read Article
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It May Be Time to Reconsider that Noncompete Agreement |
IndustryWeek – Kellogg Insight
Federal regulators are cracking down on hiring practices that restrict employees’ wages and ability to work for competitors. Here’s what to know.
These days, with the Great Resignation peeling off workers right and left, companies may be tempted to get creative in how they retain employees.
But some popular strategies can land firms in legal hot water. Regulators are increasingly taking aim at agreements that restrain employees’ ability to switch jobs or command higher wages. Read Article
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Environmental, Health & Safety News |
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Four Steps to Stay Safe and Operational During the Winter |
EHS Today – Don Shelly
In preparing for a major winter storm, the key areas to focus on are human safety, facility limitations, and transportation and utility restrictions.
Major winter and ice storms, much like the polar vortex surge that impacted a majority of the U.S. in February 2021, can cause great economic impacts and business disruptions, yet many businesses don’t have plans in place to mitigate their impacts. As the days get shorter, planning for severe winter weather should be a top priority for environmental health and safety decision makers. Read Article
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Opinion: Improve Employee Health Using Behavioral Economics |
CFO.com – Dr. Joseph Sanford and Dr. Kevin Sexton
Nudging workers to care more about their health boosts retention and helps contain benefit claims costs.
Prioritizing employee health and wellness is critical to recruiting and retaining the best talent. Healthy employees tend to be more productive and express more job satisfaction, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But what can companies do to improve the health of workers? Defining the specific health needs of employees and taking a hard look at the organization’s wellness program is a good start. Clinical informatics and behavioral economics can help an organization make those personalized decisions.
Clinical informatics is a newly recognized medical specialty that uses technology and data science to create systems that improve health outcomes, patient care, and clinician-patient relationships. Read Article
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30% of Companies Aren’t Prepared for Chemical Emergencies |
EHS Today – Staff
A new study also shows that less than 3% of organizations employ a full-time crisis management professional.
Crisis preparation and management standards are falling short in almost a third of businesses, according to a report released by Chemtrec.
The survey shows that almosta third of businesses (28%) under-prioritize their chemical emergency response and crisis management, with 63% being coordinated by management or department teams rather than at a C-suite level (19%) and less than 3% of organizations employ a full-time crisis management professional. Read Article
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OSHA, Trade Group Update Safety Guide for Working with Robots |
EHS Today - Staff
The Industrial Robot Systems and Industrial Robot System Safety manual update address hazards associated with emergent robot applications, risk assessments and risk reduction measures.
As companies are using robotic technologies to perform dangerous or repetitive tasks, employees are now working with robots more often. The World Robotics 2021 Industrial Robots report estimates currently that more than 310,000 industrial robots now operate in U.S. factories. While the robots can provide benefits to the workplace, they also introduce new hazards such as struck-by/caught-between, crushing and trapping, electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic and environmental.
Back in 2017, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the Association for Advancing Automation (formerly the Robotic Industries Association) formed an alliance to share technical knowledge, improve awareness about workplace hazards and appropriate safeguards, and identify needed research on the use of traditional industrial and emerging collaborative robotic technologies. Read Article
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Having trouble finding, selecting, training and keeping the skilled workers you need? Are your employee turnover costs a concern?
Let's start with what we already know:
- Classes alone will not train workers to perform your tasks...
- Quality Control policies and Process Documents are not a substitute for task training...
- Putting 2 people together and hoping for the best is not a training strategy...
- Wishing and hoping won't develop the skilled workers you need...
The cost of one worker malperformance or one worker's under-capacity or under-performance - due to lack of proper training - can more than justify the investment to train all your workers properly!
AND, unstructured, uncontrolled, undocumented task training is going on all day, every day. But if you cannot explain the process, you surely cannot measure and improve it.
Proactive Technologies's approach to structured on-the-job training takes place where, and while, the work is performed. You need no additional staff and structured on-the-job training does not interrupt your work schedule like unstructured, haphazard and ad hoc training or classroom learning does.
You probably have most of the pieces are already in place; they just need structure around them to make the training experience work for everyone through the accelerated transfer of expertise™.
As part of every project, Proactive Technologies provides the support to set-up, implement, manage, document and revise the worker development system so you can stay focused on business.
Copyright © 2019-22 Proactive Technologies, Inc.™ ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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EMPLOYERS!
If your organization sees training as a cost, not as an investment, maybe you should consider another approach!
- Cuts the employer's internal costs of training;
- Lowers the costs associated with turnover;
- Drives new-hires and incumbent workers to "full job mastery;"
- Increases worker capacity, work quality, productivity and compliance (ISO/AS/IATF training and records requirement, engineering specifications and safety mandates);
- Creates framework for cross-training, retraining and worker certification;
- Establishes the framework for employer specific/job-specific apprenticeships and internships - registered or not;
- Builds career development tracks and succession plans for hourly (and salary) workers;
- Ensures the increased and maintained "Return on Worker investment" through any type of change...
ALL OF THIS FROM ONE APPROACH!
This structured on-the-job training is performed where, and while, the work takes place!
You need no additional staff, and this will not disrupt your work schedule or burden your existing staff!
If your firm is partnered with local career and technical educational institutions, use of shared employer's equipment, facilities and paid wages of trainer(s) and trainee(s) are attractive match for potential grant assistance.
for more information.
Copyright © 2019-22 Proactive Technologies, Inc.™
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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Copyright © 1988 - 2022 Proactive Technologies, Inc.TM
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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