I grew up in a family of teachers, writers and musicians (though my mother should have been a mechanical engineer). So having a son who is obsessed with manufacturing processes (his favorite show is How It’s Made) gives me a chuckle. It’s not enough for him to know that his new Razor is made of […]

[Read more →]

Like some of you, I read a lot of procurement trade magazines. Many of these magazines sit un-read next to my bed stand, primarily because they lack a catchy title to get me to stay awake long enough to read. But every once in awhile, I come across a story with a few nuggets of […]

[Read more →]

I hope you all enjoyed your cookout as much as we did. I had a chance to catch up with my cousin Scott who was here from South Florida. Scott is a robotics engineer by trade working in the medical device industry. By night he is a part-time inventor/tinkerer. So I got a big chuckle […]

[Read more →]

Who would have thought the UK which sits at only fifth in the world league tables based on nominal GDP and for which manufacturing only accounts for 1/6th of national output could also hold the position of the world’s largest arms exporter in 2007? It may explain why the UK still has a robust metals distribution […]

[Read more →]

This weekend we had a chance to catch up with a partner of ours, German Dominguez, who is based out of Juarez, Mexico. German sources parts on behalf of American companies. This is Part Two of a Two Part interview. You can read Part One here.
Question: Based on your success it might appear as though […]

[Read more →]

This weekend we had a chance to catch up with a partner of ours, German Dominguez, who is based out of Juarez, Mexico. German sources parts on behalf of American companies. This is Part One of a Two Part interview.
Question: How many programs have you quoted on during the past 4-5 months where the buyer […]

[Read more →]

A cost down from the American automotive industry? Surely you jest. As you read in MetalMiner’s last post, US automakers are in trouble financially – and Chrysler’s recent announcement that it is seeking a 25% cut in parts prices doesn’t change this writer’s point of view. Although Chrysler’s CPO, John Campi, intends to meet with legendary […]

[Read more →]

My local paper, the Chicago Tribune, had a great article yesterday on the state of the near booming (my words, not theirs) steel industry. There were several statistics in the article worth mentioning and of course, commenting on. Specifically, the US steel industry is operating at 90% capacity, which does not come as any big […]

[Read more →]

Although our blog readership is steadily growing, we seem to be misperceived by many as being quite “niche”. It is true to say that we aren’t going to be writing about Britney Spears or Paris Hilton (unless they happen to don some new metalized bra or something) but to say that the metals industry is […]

[Read more →]

Several weeks ago, a gentleman that we know (no, this is not an Eliot Spitzer story), mentioned to us that he was looking to re-source a number of different assemblies that he currently has in China, hopefully to Mexico. The assemblies are fabricated parts, quite heavy by weight, powder coated with some welds. It’s a […]

[Read more →]