Management

Manufacturing Outlook: Problems Remain

Manufacturing Outlook: Problems Remain

What is the near term outlook for US manufacturing?  Not particularly encouraging. There are nearly an infinite number of internet answers to this, and we found 2 good ones at the National Association of Manufacturers 4Q 22 survey and Deloitte’s 2023 Manufacturing Industry Outlook. Here’s a segment of NAM’s Summary of Findings: “While manufacturing proved to be quite resilient through the challenges of the past few years, the sector ended 2022 with weaker conditions, both… Read More

The 4 Day Work Week

The 4 Day Work Week

Recently we heard a radio report that the government was considering 4 Day work week legislation.  No further details were reported, so we can only speculate that this is a move that might happen sometime in the future.  To whom, how and when unreported. The US economy consists of a wide variety of types of work, so just how such legislation would work seems very confusing.  Just some examples:  blue collar workers in a company… Read More

TARGET PRICE: Good idea or not?

TARGET PRICE: Good idea or not?

Last year we introduced a potential supplier to an equipment OEM.  The OEM has several fairly large machine parts they want to source to new machining sources.  The desired vendor will be capable of handling thousand pound steel parts, which require complex machining operations.  Not quite 5-axis, but their parts have very intricate details. This means a complex quoting procedure, and perhaps if the OEM would provide some sort of cost parameters it would help… Read More

Need Improvements to Your Supply Chain?

Need Improvements to Your Supply Chain?

We’re all about improving your supply chain.  Whether reshoring something or any of a myriad of possibilities, if you want excellent candidates for your outsourced manufacturing, we can probably help. Key areas of success have been large metal parts, such as machine bases, fabricated and molded plastics, domesticating ferrous (and large!) castings, tanks, pressure vessels, and even micro machined precision items.  We can also offer special ISO candidates for specific industries.  Here’s a partial listing of our… Read More

ESG Scoring: Useful or… Horsepucky?

ESG Scoring: Useful or… Horsepucky?

Over the past several years many major funding organizations have become more interested in ESG scoring criteria for their decisions. We became interested in this because of 2 recent factors. One was the apparent increasing difficulty that fossil fuel producers are finding in obtaining new funding for their needs. And since this industry is capital intensive with long lead times, funding problems would surely contribute to the increase in fuel prices. So if there is… Read More

What is a Good Supplier?

What is a Good Supplier?

Several procurement consultants’ websites and discussion groups list factors that define a good supplier. This is particularly relevant to Proficient Sourcing; we provide manufacturing supplier candidates to OEM buyers and are acutely aware of the need for excellent performance. On time delivery is always among the most valued factors. With new suppliers, the buyer has only the prospective suppliers’ history for evidence of excellent delivery performance. Our network has been built with companies have that… Read More

Data Presentations: Beware Of What You See

Data Presentations: Beware Of What You See

Many years ago we found a 1954 publication, How to Lie With Statistics by Darrell Huff. There were a number of useful thoughts in this book, which was an introductory presentation of how to use, and abuse, statistical data.  This ssubject is important enough to warrant another article.  All of us are subject to statistical presentations that may tell a distorted story.  Beware! If you are at all attentive to graphs, charts, and related presentations you are… Read More

Labor Shortage Solutions – Out of the Box!

Labor Shortage Solutions – Out of the Box!

Just about every day we hear news of labor shortages in this business or that business, and seemingly everywhere. Is there a retail business or fast food restaurant, or any restaurant for that matter, that’s not seeking employees? There are some unorthodox steps available to some businesses, and many of these are things we have direct experience in times past. Some were quite successful! When we attended a retirement party at a very large corporation,… Read More

Procurement Practices Contributing to Supplier Performance Problems? Can it be True?

Procurement Practices Contributing to Supplier Performance Problems? Can it be True?

Do any of these apply to you and your company and it’s procurement practices? OEMs are trying to become more flexible in order to respond more rapidly to market conditionsand opportunities. They are relying more heavily on their suppliers to perform manufacturing operations formerly done in-house. At the same time they are trying to reduce the number of suppliers in their supply base. As a result, OEMs are growing more concerned with improving the performance… Read More

Reshoring Prototyping and Other Manufacturing Operations

Reshoring Prototyping and Other Manufacturing Operations

An article from the Empire Group with this title appeared in January.  The central thought is that former decisions to outsource certain functions, such as prototyping and “other manufacturing operations” are good candidates for reshoring consideration. Proficient Sourcing LLC is a business that provides excellent performing candidates for OEMs’ outsourcing needs, so we could not agree more.  And there’s good reason for this reshoring in many cases.  As this article notes, “Even before the onset… Read More