Every Republican candidate has an economic plan they say will create jobs. The truth is that the ability of any president to directly create private sector jobs is very limited, but he can set the focus and present a plan that his/her administration can follow and solicit the support of...

As a candidate for president in 2007-2008, then-Illinois senator, Barrack Obama talked a good game. In December 2007 at the Des Moines Register debate, he pledged "there's no doubt that NAFTA needs to be amended. " At a June 2008 speech in Flint, MI, he said, "If we continue to...

Last week, the Senate Armed Services Committee reported that an investigation found and examined about 1800 cases of suspected counterfeit electronic parts dating from 2009 to last year, totaling about a million individual components. Tracing the supply chain, 70% of the components came through China, where a...

John Stossel's blog article on WorldNetDaily on November 1, 2011, "The stupidity of 'Buy American,'" is based on a premise so fallacious that one wonders how a usually intelligent commentator like Stossel could have been taken in by it.

The premise is that "we should buy things...

You may feel that there is nothing you can do as an individual to stop the total destruction of American manufacturing and watch the United States go over the precipice. Don't think this way! American activist and author, Sonia Johnson said, "We must remember that one determined person can make...

If we want to attract today's youth to manufacturing careers, we need to change their perceptions about what the manufacturing industry is like and show them what great career opportunities exist in the industry. If more people would watch TV programs such as How it's Made and Made in America,...

For the past 15 years, manufacturing companies have been focused on training existing employees in the tools and methodologies of lean manufacturing and Six Sigma in order to improve efficiency, productivity, quality, and customer service to be more competitive in the global economy. However, this training doesn't address the lack...

The national unemployment rate has ranged between 9 to 10 percent for nearly three years, representing 14-15 million workers and another 8-9 million workers that are considered underemployed. The unemployment rate for the manufacturing industry jumped from 8.3 percent in December 2008 to a high of 13.0 percent in January...

According to a study released on September 20, 2011 by the Economic Policy Institute, the U.S.-China trade deficit has eliminated or displaced nearly 2.8 million jobs, of which 1.9 million or 70 percent were in manufacturing.

The study, "Growing U.S. trade deficit with China cost 2.8 million...

Last week, I attended the imX (interactive manufacturing eXperience) in Las Vegas (September 12-14, 2011.) The imX was jointly sponsored by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) and the American Machine Tool Distributors' Association (AMTDA). The event had eight eXperience partners: DMG/Mori Seiki U.S.A., Fanuc, Kennametal,...

A July 2011 poll of 1,202 likely voters American voters conducted by The Mellman Group and Ayres, McHenry & Associates revealed that voters want Washington to act on jobs, especially in manufacturing, which they believe will help restore America's lost status as the world's number one economy. Despite...

When I succumbed to peer pressure as a teenager and asked my mother if I could do something that "everyone else was doing," her refrain would be "don't be a sheep and follow the crowd; be a leader."

The management of American manufacturing companies should have followed...

Do you remember playing a game when you were a child where you tried your best not to walk on any cracks in the sidewalk so the "big bad bear" wouldn't get you or you wouldn't break your mother's back? If you lived in a city where the sidewalks were...

It might not be what you think it is. Most people would say it's no secret and that the answer is obvious -- lower wages in China compared to the United States. However, that answer is only partially true. Why? Because labor is only one part of the total cost...

After dominating the globe for over 60 years as the world's largest, most productive, and technologically advanced in the world, America's manufacturing sector is in a decline in nearly all industries. America's lead in a number of industries vanished years ago, and nearly all industries are facing potentially dangerous erosion.

Since the year 2000, the United States has lost over 5.5 million manufacturing jobs, nearly 50,000 manufacturing companies, and racked up an annual trade deficit with China of $273 million in 2010, up from $83.8 million in 2000. These escalating trade deficits with China have far-reaching effects, particularly on American...