Is Bringing Apple’s Manufacturing Stateside Really Wise?


Posted by Avery Webster

There’s been a lot of chatter recently about the prospect of bringing the Apple Corporation’s manufacturing of signature electronic devices like iPads and Macbooks onto home turf—as far as I can tell, it started when one well-intentioned but misinformed blogger proclaimed that brining the manufacturing profit margin home, from China where Apple’s devices are currently manufactured, would substantially benefit the U.S. economy. This blogger has since faced bitter retort from business columnists, economists and other experts who saw one huge hole in his analysis: that producing those products in the U.S. would cost much, much more than it does to produce them in China.

Why? There are several reasons, but perhaps the most significant being the difference in labor costs. Electronics production labor in the United States averages around $13 an hour, which is substantially higher—perhaps $10 or so higher—than the hourly wage equivalent a worker in China might be paid. On top of that, the overhead costs of manufacturing in the U.S. are higher because of government regulations on worker safety, environmental damage and financial oversight.

But even if the profit could be sustained if production were moved to America, there’s another problem: the nation doing the manufacturing isn’t really advantaged all that much. A recent report discussed in an article published by Forbes magazine points out that the assembly of Apple products like the iPad doesn’t yield a meaningful amount of income—the sales of those items after markups and marketing, something that the United States already sees quite a lot of, is where the money’s at. So moving the manufacturing of these items to America would be a publicity stunt at best, by most informed reports.

That being said, moving the manufacturing of these items home would make one big difference—it would substantially raise the price-per-unit cost of Apple’s devices because of the increase in costs to produce them. So, do consumers really want to pay as much as double for their electronics? Probably not, considering the economic slump the U.S. seems to still be in.


Durable Goods Manufacturing Up in the U.S.


Posted by Avery Webster

The numbers for November are finally coming together, and while manufacturing overall dropped by almost a half a percentage point, those declines were almost exclusively in the auto parts industry and may have reflected a shorter workweek in factories during holiday months. Although most sectors were down compared to the rest of the year, at least slightly, one part of industry was up—signaling good things for the U.S. manufacturing core.

A tax break for companies ordering core capital goods—all heavy non-defense equipment, with the exception of aircrafts—has been surging because companies are allowed to write off any of these purchases until the end of 2011. As the year comes to a close, companies have been getting their final orders in before the end of the tax break window.

Additionally, the U.S. manufacturing of commercial aircrafts rose substantially in November.  Demand for aircrafts and similar products, considered durable goods,  rose as much as 2 percent in November after falling slightly in October.

Despite some decreases in volatile industry such as automotive manufacturing and auto parts manufacturing, overall the market has been expanding slowly but steadily in the past year, according to the Institute for Supply Management, an organization who monitors manufacturing trends and produces an index of production month to month.

Increases are welcome after some industries saw slowed production due to parts disruptions coming from the natural disasters in Japan earlier this year and the general economic slump the U.S. has been facing since earlier in the 2000’s.

Sustained production in all industries would be a good sign, not just for the manufacturing sectors but also for the U.S. recovery as a whole, because production of parts and manufactured good signals demand from the U.S., as well as other countries investing in U.S. exported goods.


Ban on Incandescent Bulbs Lifted


Posted by Avery Webster

The incandescent light bulb: a revolutionary invention that some have recently called outdated and inefficient. Congress even went so far in 2007 as to pass legislation that would have banned the production and sales of the incandescent bulb in America, starting in the coming year.

Box of Incandescent Bulbs

Incandescent Bulbs: easy on the eyes, bad on greenhouse gas emissions.

With a last minute amendment, the ban was reversed. Congress removed the funding from the light bulb ban, making it impossible for the Department of Energy to enforce. This was the move of conservatives and was a cause championed by GOP primary candidate Michele Bachmann, who introduced the changes in the House.

This law would have been one among many in the recent legislative attempts to monitor greenhouse gas emissions and control the energy use in America.

I’ve long been a fan of the soft golden glow that comes from an incandescent bulb, but experts and many civilians agree: the time has come to find better alternatives. Opponents of the ban claim that efficient bulbs are dimmer and more expensive. While these claims may have a seed of truth (yes, early efficient bulbs had an ugly bluish glow and took minutes to ‘warm up’ before brightening a room and the retail cost of a bulb is higher) the light bulb manufacturing industry is more than ready to produce a satisfactory—nay, superior—product that isn’t incandescent.

Those who have already started using efficient light bulbs know that the cost of the bulb is almost immediately offset by the fact that the energy bills are much, much, lower. Additionally, innovations have created a new fleet of efficient bulbs that are available in almost any imaginable size, shape, color and brightness. You can get efficient bulbs that look almost exactly like incandescent bulbs but can lower your electric bills dramatically.

And the truth is, bulb manufacturers were geared up for this change. In the past few years, they’ve been busy getting their assembly lines ready for all efficient bulb production. “The industry has moved on,” said Larry Lauck, a spokesman for the American Lighting Association told ABC News. He also said that the industry has retooled their lines and is ready for more modern production.

Joseph Higbee, a spokesman for the National Electrical Manufacturers Association also told ABC News that the industry isn’t going to go back on the switch to efficient bulb production. Factories are ready to produce entire lines of efficient, consumer-friendly bulbs, and that plan isn’t going to disappear overnight.

So, whether the ban is funded or not, it looks like America will be making a change for the greener. Sorry, Bachmann.


Helping Companies Convert Leads to Sales


Posted by Staff

A companies ability to convert leads to sales is vital to the long term success of the company. Companies are always trying to get leads any way they know how. They spend thousands of dollars each year trying to capture more customers. Whether its through radio, TV, phone calls or the web, companies want to get your attention so you buy their product or service. Now there is a way to maximize your leads to convert them into sales.

AIMcrm is a company that can transform your CRM or Customer Relationship Management by handling potential client from lead to sale.  AIMcrm is an on-demand web-based software application that will empower your company to manage their leads better than anything in the industry. Here are just some of the features of AIMcrm:

  • Custom Reports
  • Complete Website & Email Integration
  • WYSIWYG Form Builder
  • Web Visitor Analytics
  • Phone Tracking and Routing
  • Comprehensive Access Controls
  • Lead Vendor Integration

If you want more out of your CRM process, you need this!

AIMcrm’s lead management system contains many features that will total revolutionize your company’s thinking about selling. Your sales people will now be able to spend their time selling, and the software will take care of the rest. AIMcrm also tracks everything so you will be able to make informed decisions.

AIMcrm’s CRM software is truly revolutionizing how leads can be maximized and how decisions in sales can provide growth for companies. This software makes management’s life easier, guides your sales force, and keeps your customers happy – all at the same time. AIMcrm provides the facts necessary for sales success.


Lower Production in November for US Factories


Posted by Avery Webster

For the first time in over half a year, industrial production in U.S. factories has declined sharply. The decline was only 0.2 percent, according to The Federal Reserve, including the nation’s factories, utilities and mines.

The largest decrease was in the industrial sector, which dropped 0.4 percent, mostly due to a drop in domestic automobile production. Although the steepest decline was in motor vehicle parts and production, other major decreases were in consumer electronics, office supplies and equipment and retail apparel production rates also decreased.

Over the past two years, manufacturing and factory production have been gradually improving, playing a major role in the slight improvements in the economy. Some experts look at last month’s decline as a bad sign for the economy, but in view of the larger trends, one month of decrease may mean nothing—this sector of the economy is relatively volatile in terms of month-to-month change.

Related to the decreases in total numbers, the number of hours worked by manufacturing workers were down by 0.5 percent in November, reports the Treasury’s jobs report. Some economists suggest that this may be due to a shorter workweek in the last month and the onset of the holiday season.

Although the industrial production side of the economy was lower in the last month, sales of consumer goods rose steadily on the retail side, which means that despite lower production—and the lower wages for workers that come with those cuts—people are still putting money into the economy to prepare for the coming holiday season.

Production of automobiles may be down this month, but that’s compared to the recent production, which has been relatively high because of recent increases in domestic automobile purchases, which continued to rise in November. Hopefully motor vehicle production will catch up after the holidays to meet the continued demand.


Sephora and Its Spectacular after Christmas Sales


Posted by Staff

When you hear “Sephora”, what is the first thing you think of? Well, most men won’t have a clue about it. All women know it is the beauty store to beat all beauty stores. One thing many people may not know is that Sephora has some pretty remarkable sales after the Holidays.

Sephora sales after Christmas are a great way to save even more and use some great products. Sephora already offers free returns, free shipping over $50 and free samples. Where else are you going to find that type of customer service? Answer: you are not. So it is safe to say that Sephora already knows how to treat its customers, and offers the most enjoyable experience possible.

Light Blue

One thing you will want to do if you are going to buy from Sephora is to inquire about their Beauty Rewards Card. You can sign up for it. This card keeps track of your sales and gives rewards points for everything you buy. All you do is show it when checking out at the store or enter the number when purchasing online.

Whether you are looking for makeup, skincare, fragrances or bath and body products, Sephora has it, and there are some inviting sales after Christmas.

Guilty Gift Set ($101 Value)

Sephora has all the name brands including Ralph Lauren, Bare Escentuals, Calvin Klein, Chic as well as Sephora products. And guys, since you probably don’t know, there are products for you too, including facial cleaners, pre-shave creams and fragrances.

No matter what it is that you are looking for, take advantage of Sephora’s after Christmas sales this year.


Safety in Food Manufacturing


Posted by Avery Webster
HACCP

HACCP is food manufacturing's gold standard.

When you buy a prepared food product, you put your trust in the product and the company that manufactures it. A legitimate question to ask is: how do I know this food product is safe and what are the manufacturing procedures that ensure its safety?

Food safety standards in manufacturing facilities have emerged gradually and have finally reached a point where standards are enforced domestically and internationally. The market is aware of the dangers of poor food manufacturing—food poising that can result in illness or even death.

The food safety standard movement began, arguably, with the need for safety assurance in food manufactured for astronauts in the 1960’s. As American began sending men into space, they wanted to be able to monitor the quality of the food that those astronauts were eating to make sure that the men wouldn’t experience any food poisoning symptoms while they were in confined capsules in space.

To meet this need for safe manufactured food, Pillsbury pioneered the Hazard Analysis-Critical Control Points (HACCP, pronounced Hassup) protocol, which is a method for analyzing the physical, chemical and sanitation hazards inherent to food manufacturing processes. By the 1970’s, Pillsbury had incorporatd these programs into their plants as a standard for all food production, and by the 1990’s, similar standards were implemented in almost every plant around the world.

Another simple food safety practice that we are familiar with are hour codes—the automatically printed timestamp on food packaging. Depending on the vulnerability of the food product to hazards in production, product may be pulled from the line multiple times every hour, once a day, or at the interval determined appropriate by food safety experts. Most of the time, the product that is pulled is clean and shows no abnormal composition. However, if there is abnormality, then hour codes tell the manufacturing team what amount of food to pull from distribution—anything produced between the hazardous sampling and the last normal sampling.

Although these processes have emerged gradually, they’re now the standards that we expected whenever we buy manufactured food product in America and around the world.


Manufacturing Dispute Puts a Damper on the Oscars?


Posted by Avery Webster

R.S. Owens & Company manufactures the 13 inch golden Oscar award statues given to winners at the Academy Awards, but this year there is a slight problem—a dispute between the company’s management and workers might mean that no new Oscars will be manufactured before next year’s awards ceremony.

The dispute is over a potential pay freeze and cute in benefits for the company’s manufacturing employees, and in the midst of the negotiations all manufacturing has stopped, meaning no new product off the company’s floor until some sort of agreement is reached.

Luckily, the academy says that they have enough on hand to proceed as usual—with or without newly minted Oscars. But the problem is more far reaching than just the Academy Awards—the same company also manufactures the awards that are handed out at the MTV Awards and the Emmys.

The next Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled for February 26, and although the Oscars are good to go without a new set of awards, not all of American’s favorite awards show may have a “closet full” of their award statuettes ready, as an Oscar representative told the Huffington post the Academy does. Depending on how long the pause on production lasts, could 2012 be the year with no awards to give? And would our favorite awards ceremonies be as grandiose without the coveted prizes to be handed over as honors are awarded?

This potential shortage is important to American consumers because they represent an American tradition, and this news is significant to those in the manufacturing industry because the prominence of the product brings these negotiations to the forefront of news, for better or worse. What’s your opinion on these negotiations—or on the potential of annual awards shows without their symbolic awards?


Choosing Furniture Manufactured For an Effective Workspace


Posted by Avery Webster

If you need to design and office space for your employees, you’re likely wondering where to start—what type of desks should I buy? Do they all need offices? Do they all even need their own desk? Is there a way to control noise even though my employees will have work in close proximity because of limited space? These are the questions that you’ll have to answer before you can even begin the process of putting efficient office furniture into your space.

Refurbished office panel systems and workstations can provide the perfect answer to these questions. These pre-manufactured spaces have many advantages for many types of work environment.

Call Centers
Call centers are challenging to design because there are two competing interests: capitalizing on a limited amount of space and controlling the noise of many people talking on the phone within arm’s reach of each other. A manufactured office panel system can be the perfect solution, providing individual desks for each caller, divided by a sound-muffling panel wall.

Administrative Areas
When you have an administrative team working together, they need to be accessible to each other without being in each other’s way. Refurbished workstations are a great way to use a manufactured office system but control your costs. Refurbishing even allows you to control some of the design aspects of your furniture, like the color of the desktops and fabric on the dividing panels. This type of custom workspace is the perfect environment for administrative teams—close, but with a sense of privacy and individual space.

Reception and Assistants
Your reception desk is the first thing your clients see when they come into your office, so it needs to look great, but it also needs to be functional for the reception staff to effectively manage the daily business of the office. Receptionist workstations are designed for this very purpose, and you can find these pieces of furniture affordably at retailers that sell receptionist workstation clone cubicles or other office cubicles.


Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood to Now: Manufacturing Crayons


Posted by Avery Webster

If you’re old enough to be reading a blog about manufacturing, you’re probably also old enough to remember one of the most well-known Mr. Rogers segments of all time—the tour of the crayon factory where we, America’s curious schoolchildren, got to watch the Crayola people make a batch of yellow crayons. It was pretty cool. Watch the segment below to get nostalgic, but mostly to remind yourself what the crayon manufacturing process is like—or rather, was like when this episode, How People Make Crayons aired in 1979.

Now, let’s talk about Crayola’s recent solar energy project—the product of which is that Crayola will now be manufacturing 1/3 of their total crayons using solar power—that’s about 1 billion crayons every year. It’s interesting what Crayola is doing, but the thing that caught my attention about this video is the part at the end where it shows the manufacturing process—the current process—of some green crayons.

It was interesting to me that the machines are almost identical to the one in the 1979 video… if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, I guess. But then again, there are some noticeable differences. The molding process is far more automated (no more double bucket guy!) but there’s still human labor involved… more than I actually expected.

While many manufacturing processes in many industries are becoming more automated, the demand for electricity in producing each product goes up and the demand for human capital goes down. Simply, this is bad for the environment (assuming the electricity is coming from unclear sources) and the jobs market (assuming people used to do the jobs that the machines do now.) In any case, it’s refreshing to see that companies like Crayola have addressed both issues by creating jobs in the greening construction industry while also addressing environmental concerns by implementing green power solutions. Hopefully other companies will follow Crayola’s lead—and perhaps we can move forward with even cleaner energy.