The Bi-Weekly Newsletter of the Council of Industry
August 24, 2023
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Council of Industry Updates
What's Happening in Your Association
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Fall Edition of HV Mfg in the Works
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Preparations are underway for the Fall 2023 edition of HV Mfg – the Council of Industry’s magazine by, for and about Hudson Valley Manufacturers.
This edition will feature a profile of longtime Council of Industry member Balchem Products, a provider of human and animal nutrition and health products with R&D and manufacturing facilities located on Orange County. Our leader Q&A will be with Kelly Lyndgaard, founder and CEO of Unshattered – a manufacturing social enterprise helping women overcome addiction. There will also be articles on the impact of the changing demographics of the Hudson Valley on the manufacturing workforce; AI’s use in manufacturing; cybersecurity threats and best practices to address them; and emerging partnerships between educators and industry to build a STEM workforce. We will also look at what Council members and friends are reading and provide a list of critical government, economic development and educational resources for manufacturers.
The magazine should be completed and available by mid- October.
If you are interested in placing an ad in HV Mfg to support its publication, the Council of Industry and Hudson Valley manufacturers please use this link:
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Council of Industry Training: Plenty of Opportunities to Upskill Your Workforce This Fall
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The Council of Industry on its partners have put together a busy schedule of training for manufacturers this Fall. It includes our very popular Certificate in Manufacturing Leadership (being held remotely) Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt, Solidworks, workplace safety and more.
Council training programs are designed by manufacturers to provide the skills your workforce needs to be successful in today’s global economy.
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WKIP to Broadcast Live from DCC’s New Mechatronics Lab on Mfg Day, October 6th - Start Planning Your Event Too
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The Council of Industry will once again team up with WKIP’s Hudson Valley Focus Live to Celebrate National Manufacturing Day October 6th. The Broadcast will be live from Dutchess Community College’s New Mechatronics Lab located at the College’s Fishkill Campus. The broadcast will take place from 6:00 A.M. – 9:00 A.M. and will include guests from education, economic development, government and the manufacturing industry.
Celebrated nationally on the first Friday in October, MFG Day is manufacturing’s biggest annual opportunity to inspire the next generation, positively shift perceptions about our industry, and build the foundation for the manufacturing workforce of the future. Now is the time for you to start planning an event for your company. By hosting a MFG Day event you help students, teachers, parents and community leaders explore careers in modern manufacturing and see how creators are making the future in the United States and the Hudson Valley. Events can be as simple as an open house, a tour for teachers and students or workshops and hands-on experiences. Mfg Day helps us end the misperceptions of modern manufacturing and present the sector as a viable career path in our region.
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CI Golf Outing August 28th Sold Out! Sponsor Opportunities Are Still Available
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The Council of Industry will once again hold its Annual Golf Outing on the last Monday in August at the Powelton Club in Newburgh. The Powelton is a beautiful course conveniently located just off of Route 9W in Newburgh, NY. The event sold-out again this year with more than 100 golfers from manufacturing firms throughout the Hudson Valley participating. Registration begins at 11:00 and lunch will begin at 11:30 followed by a shotgun start at 12:30. Cocktails and a light dinner will follow at approximately 5:00 p.m.
Scramble Prize Sponsor - $1,050
Tee Sign Sponsors $335 - AMI Services Inc., Arnoff Global Logistics, Balchem Corp., Eastern Alloys, Elna Magnetics, Emergency One Urgent Care & Occupational Health, Fair-Rite Products Corp., Fryer Machine Systems Inc., GTI Graphic Technology, Inc., Hudson Valley Investment Advisors, ITC Communications, LaBella Associates, M&T Bank, Metallized Carbon Corporation, Orange Bank & Trust Company, Pawling Corporation, PKF O'Connor Davies, LLP, RBT CPAs LLP, Sono-Tek Corp., TD Bank
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For information on advertising in this and other CI publications
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Manufacturing Sector News
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How Employers Can Ease Back-to-School Strain on Parents
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Life is likely becoming more hectic for working parents as their children prepare to start a new academic year. Employers can ease this stress and back back-to-school easier by penciling in some supportive parenting-related benefits. And the return on this investment can mean better retention, productivity and recruitment, experts say. With 58% of Americans living from one paycheck to another and so few having an emergency savings account, employers are already concerned about the financial wellbeing of their workforce—before factoring in back-to-school expenses.
In addition to these monetary benefits, both Burke and Smith point to a flexible work schedule as a critical benefit for parent employees. “Employers should be open to flexibility, whether that’s modified hours to handle school transportation or hybrid and flexible options to manage afternoon childcare,” says Burke. “Lack of flexibility will likely lead to lower productivity and higher absenteeism for working parents as they struggle to juggle the conflicting demands of work and life during back-to-school season.”
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Understanding the Robot vs. Cobot Choice
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Several companies are developing technologies that allow industrial robots to operate collaboratively alongside humans. For example, Veo Robotics with its FreeMove system designed to enable industrial robots to operate collaboratively, and ABB’s combination of industrial and collaborative robot (cobot) technologies in its Swifti robot. Cobots can work alongside humans with minimal safety devices, following a valid risk assessment, of course. This is possible via the integration of sensors that signal the cobot to slow down or stop when humans draw close. These robots also have lower speed-force capabilities than industrial robots to further ensure their safety.
Although cobots can perform some of the same tasks that traditional industrial robots handle, they cannot support heavier loads due to their lighter weight and size. Additionally, cobots cannot match the speed of their industrial counterparts.
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Generative AI Is Becoming a Risk to Manufacturers
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In May 2023, Gartner surveyed 249 senior enterprise risk executives to provide leaders with a benchmarked view of 20 emerging risks. The Quarterly Emerging Risk Report includes detailed information on the possible impact, time frame, level of attention, and perceived opportunities for these risks. The top five concerns from the report are as follows:
- Third-Party Viability --67%
- Mass Generative AI Availability --66%
- Financial Planning Uncertainty -- 62%
- Cloud Concentration Risk --62%
- China Trade Tensions--56%
Gartner has previously identified six risks of generative AI and four areas of AI regulation that are relevant to assurance functions. In terms of managing enterprise risk, three main aspects must be addressed, according to Gartner experts: Intellectual Property, Data Privacy, Cybersecurity.
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Planned, Reactive, Predictive: What’s the Right Maintenance Mix?
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Daniel Penn Associates recently asked members of LinkedIn’s Association of Asset Management Professionals Group “What is the maintenance strategy that you use the most with your organization?” Sixty-three percent of the 284 survey participants said they most frequently use planned maintenance, 17% said they most frequently use reactive maintenance, and 16% said they most frequently use predictive maintenance.
Each type of maintenance plays a role in helping manufacturers manage, maintain, and restore the health of their facilities’ valuable physical assets. Planned maintenance ensures regular upkeep, while reactive maintenance addresses unexpected failures promptly. Predictive maintenance (PdM) leverages data and analytics to predict and prevent failures. A combination of these maintenance strategies can help manufacturing organizations minimize downtime, increase reliability, optimize performance and gain a competitive edge.
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Manufacturing Mergers & Acquisitions Market Appears Poised for an Upswing
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Honeywell International Inc. General Counsel Anne Madden could hardly have been clearer or more emphatic. “The pipeline is growing. It’s rich. We feel good as a strategic acquirer,” Madden told analysts late last month after the aerospace, materials and control technologies conglomerate reported its second-quarter earnings. “It’s a hospitable environment for strategic acquirers while the private equity community still is having a harder time financing. So it’s a good time for us to be a buyer and we expect that environment to continue into 2024 and beyond.”
The M&A market has slowed markedly in recent quarters from its frothy state in late 2021 and early last year. But as observers and analysts begin to sharpen their pencils for their 2024 forecasts, the Honeywell team is far from alone in its bullishness about the next year or more. In a recent report on the building products sector, investment bankers at Fifth Third Bank noted that strategic buyers (think Saint-Gobain, Holcim or Mohawk) have remained active during the recent slump and “may view the upcoming quarters as a buying opportunity,” especially since their balance sheets are very often in fine shape.
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Why Supply Chain Innovation is Necessary
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A recent study by Descartes of 1,000 supply chain and logistics executives in North America and Europe identified that the challenges of the past several years caused more (57%) companies to accelerate their innovation initiatives with an even greater amount (65%) planning to invest more in supply chain and logistics innovation initiatives in the next two years. The expectations for supply chain and logistics innovation change over time and are highly influenced by recent and current experiences. Lowering costs (37%) and improving reliability (37%) were cited as the main reasons today why companies are innovating their supply chain and logistics operations.
Technology solutions have become closely associated with supply chain and logistics innovation. For many companies, technology is a differentiator, but others have not gained any significant benefits from their deployments. According to the study, 61% of respondents said their current supply chain and logistic technology solutions are helping the company, not hindering it. This leaves 39% that have experienced either no negative impact at all from their supply chain and logistics technology solutions, or no negative impact.
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Major Shipping Routes are Struggling With Water Shortages. El Niño Could Make it Worse
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An increasing number of climate-driven extreme weather events is taking its toll on the world’s major shipping routes — and El Niño could make matters worse. El Niño — or “the little boy” in Spanish — marks the unusual warming of the surface waters in the tropical central and eastern Pacific Ocean. It is a naturally occurring climate pattern which takes place on average every two to seven years. The effects of El Niño tend to peak during December, but its full impact typically takes time to spread across the globe.
In drought-stricken Panama, low water levels have prompted the Central American country to reduce the number of vessels that pass through the critically important Panama Canal. Low water levels on the Rhine River, an important trade route that runs through Germany via European cities to the port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, is also of concern.
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Zero-Trust Architecture: the Cornerstone of Modern Cybersecurity
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According to the Cybersecurity Ventures report, the cost of cybersecurity will hit $8 trillion by the end of 2023 and jump to $10.5 trillion in 2025. A similar report by Cisco Umbrella asserts that most organizations experienced a jump of 25% or more in cyber-threats or alerts since the start of COVID-19. Gartner predicts that by 2025, 45% of global organizations will be affected by supply chain attacks similar to Log4j.
The ever-growing cybersecurity threat is attributable to obsolete security approaches and the growing sophistication of tools used by cybercriminals. Zero-trust architecture assumes that every connection, application, user and end-point is a threat to the security of the systems. Consequently, it designs process to verify the integrity of all transactions, logs and inspects all corporate network traffic, limits, controls access to the network, applies segmentation, and verifies and secures network resources. By doing this, the architecture ensures data and resources are inaccessible by default—users can only access resources in a network on a limited basis under the right circumstances.
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Does Diversity, Equity And Inclusion Training Work?
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The return on investment for DEI training has been hard to measure when you place it in the context of “some $8 billion is spent on it per year in the United States alone.” DEI ballooned into a priority after May 2020 because organizations realized there was a need to address bias, discrimination and systemic behavior. However, after George Floyd’s death, the need to talk about racism, discrimination and other difficult conversations was now not only expected but required for organizations to address these important social equity issues.
Does DEI training and planning work? It absolutely can if it is done well and right. This means having significant engagement in the training so individuals and teams have "aha moments" and walk away with learning they applied and can further apply—not just attend and tick off the box. It also requires trainers, consultants and leaders to acknowledge and better engage privileged groups, which means “finding ways for them to feel good and positive about this work rather than bad and negative,” Lily Zheng, a leading DEI strategist, told Chief. “We know that deploying blame and shame doesn’t work.”
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Six Benefits of Six Sigma
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Becoming a Six Sigma certified professional has some major (and I mean MAJOR) benefits. Take a quick look at what you can accomplish with a Six Sigma Certification:
- You will decrease waste - Six Sigma ideology is aimed to help you and your company optimize processes to decrease your total waste.
- You will increase efficiency - Six Sigma not only helps you reduce waste, but it also helps you further leverage effective processes.
- You will reduce errors - Six Sigma pays equal attention to quality as it does process. You can’t press “undo” on a production job, so getting your product right the first time is the best way to save you time and money!
- You will reduce your company’s legal risk - Because of Six Sigma’s dedication to quality, adopting this methodology will help keep you within international compliance standards.
- You can apply it to any industry - The techniques and tools gained throughout your training can be leveraged to help any company reduce costs and increase profits.
- You will make more money - Typical Six Sigma certified professionals experience a 19% salary increase per level—with most Black Belt certification holders reporting salaries of over 100,000.
Well there you have it—Six Sigma training sounds like a win, win, win, win, win, and WIN.
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Certificate in Manufacturing Leadership Starts September 6!
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For over 25 years, the Certificate in Manufacturing Leadership program has offered attendees a range of leadership skills through a series of concentrated courses.
Participants who complete the required courses are presented with the Certificate in Manufacturing Leadership by the Council of Industry.
Individuals who complete the full program will receive acknowledgment and a certificate at the annual luncheon.
- Fundamentals of Leadership including DiSC Profile - Rebecca Mazin Section 1: 9/6, Section 2: 9/12 & 9/13
- Human Resources Management Issues - Jackson Lewis 9/26 & 9/27
- Problem Solving & Decision Making - Ben Kujawinski 10/10 & 10/11
- Effective Business Communication - Rebecca Mazin 10/24 & 10/25
- Environmental Health and Safety Essentials - Ron Coons 11/7 & 11/8
- Making a Profit in Manufacturing - Steve Howell 11/28 & 11/29
- Best Practices & Continuous Improvement - Joe Guarneri 12/5 & 12/6
- Positive Discipline & Motivation - Rebecca Mazin 12/19 & 12/20
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National Safety Council CPR/AED/FA Training
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Thursday, September 21
8:30 AM - 12:30 PM (EDT)
LaBella Associates, Poughkeepsie, NY
This class will provide each participant with lifesaving information for cardiac emergencies and various other first aid injuries. Our training specialist, Jeffrey Malo, will work with your company’s representative to determine key learning objectives specific to your work environment and full implementation of any first aid equipment and policies your company utilizes. All students will receive an NSC student manual and other applicable reference material provided through the National Safety Council. Upon completion, each student will receive a CPR/AED wallet card and a first aid wallet card; both with an expiration of two (2) years as per NSC guidelines.
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Asynchronous Courses With Clarkson University in Digital Transformation and Project Management - Learn at Your Own Pace
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The Council of Industry is pleased to partner with Clarkson University, one of the nation's premier engineering and business universities, to deliver training in Digital Transformation in Manufacturing and Project Management. Designed to support experienced and emerging manufacturing executives, these asynchronous modules are available to Council members at a discounted rate.
Courses:
- Foundations of Digital Transformation - Learn More
- General Project Management Topics for Leaders - Learn More
- Managing Project Risks - Learn More
- Project Portfolio Management - Learn More
- Strategic Project Management Methodologies - Learn More
- Advanced Project Management Tools & Techniques – Learn More
Each module takes approximately 10-12 hours to complete and are delivered by Clarkson faculty. Learners earn a digital micro-credential (badge) at completion issued by Clarkson. Badges indicate proficiency in the subject area of each successfully completed course.
Additional courses in Budgeting and Finance, Technical Sales, Fundamentals of Negotiations, Supply Chain Management and Critical Conversations are in the works!
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