Category: Blog

Factories in U.S. See Bigger 2011 Sales Gains, ISM Says

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Manufacturers in the U.S. have a more optimistic outlook for sales and spending in 2011 than they did at the end of last year, according to a survey by the Institute for Supply Management.

Purchasing managers at U.S. factories anticipate sales will grow 7.5 percent this year, up from a 5.6 percent December forecast, according to the Tempe, Arizona-based group’s semiannual forecast issued today. By contrast, service providers estimated revenue will rise 2.1 percent this year, less than the 3.4 percent forecast in December.

“Much of manufacturing has emerged from the economic downturn and is experiencing significant growth,” Norbert Ore, chairman of the group’s factory committee, said in a statement.“The positive forecast for revenue growth and improved employment will drive the continuation of the recovery” in the industry, he said.

Companies like Corning Inc. (GLW) may continue to profit from growing emerging economies as well as increased capital investment, keeping manufacturing at the head of the economic rebound. Growth among service providers, which by the ISM’s accounting make up more than 90 percent of the economy, may fail to keep pace as American households struggle with 9 percent unemployment.

Manufacturers projected employment will increase 2.9 percent for the rest of this year, while service companies predicted a 0.9 percent increase.

More Investment

Factory managers also estimated they will boost spending on new equipment by 18 percent in 2011, up from the 14.5 percent increase projected in December, today’s report showed. Service providers forecast a 1.4 percent gain in investment, less than the 3.7 percent gain predicted at the end of last year.

“Indications are that non-manufacturing will continue on the path of slow and sustainable growth for the balance of 2011,” Anthony Nieves, chairman of the ISM’s services committee, said in a statement. “Price increases and slow employment growth are prominent areas of concern.”

A report today showed manufacturing cooled last month, reflecting a drop in auto making after supplies of parts were disrupted by the Japanese earthquake and tsunami.

Production Disruption

Output at factories, mines and utilities was unchanged after a 0.7 percent gain in March, figures from the Federal Reserve showed. Manufacturing fell 0.4 percent, led by an 8.9 percent slump in production of automobiles and parts.

In response to a special question, 23 percent of manufacturers surveyed by ISM said they will experience delays in U.S. operations due to supply shortages caused by the disaster in Japan. Fifteen percent of those in services projected disruptions.

Factory leaders see the cost of raw-materials rising 7.4 percent this year and believe they can pass along 34 percent of that increase to customers, the report showed. Service providers see a 4.7 increase in input costs this year, with 27 percent of the gain being passed through.

Earlier this month, the ISM reports showed manufacturing expanded faster than expected in April, driven by gains in exports and inventories. At the same time, service industries grew at the slowest pace in eight months as companies cut back in response to higher energy costs.

ISM Gauges

The ISM’s factory index fell to 60.4 in April from 61.2 the prior month, figures showed May 2. The measure has exceeded 60 for four consecutive months, the best performance since 2004. For both indexes, readings greater than 50 signal growth.

Corning, which makes glass for flat-panel televisions, said it expects sales will grow to $10 billion by 2014, helped by demand from China.

“We’re off to a great start in 2011,” Wendell Weeks, chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement after the Corning, New York-based company’s annual meeting last month. A significant portion of growth will come from China, which is currently the world’s largest market for several of Corning’s major products, he said.

Two days after the factory gauge was released, the ISM reported that its index of non-manufacturing companies declined to 52.8 in April, lower than the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, from 57.3 in March.

Climbing gas prices have strained earnings at service providers like Union Pacific Corp. (UNP), the biggest U.S. railroad by sales, which posted a quarterly profit on April 20 that trailed analysts’ estimates.

Omaha, Nebraska-based Union Pacific utilized commodity-shipping volume growth “despite spiking fuel prices and winter weather challenges across most of the nation’s rail network,”Chief Executive Officer Jim Young said in a statement.

By Alex Kowalski – May 17, 2011 8:12 AM PT

To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Kowalski in Washington at akowalski13@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christopher Wellisz at cwellisz@bloomberg.net

An update on Magnetic Boy

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It must be something in the cyberspace ether, but two weeks after I wrote my last blog article on “Magnetic Boy”, our not-so-little friend from Croatia seems to be creating a new internet sensation. Thanks perhaps to the fact the he’s now a few years older and his body mass has increased as well, to disproportionately high levels in fact, “Magnetic Boy”is now said to be able to get up to 25 kilos of metal to stick to him at any given time. Do a quick Google search and in short order you will find an epic recent photo of him wearing a household iron on his bare chest, which I can only hope wasn’t on at the time. I bet he’s really good at finding the car keys as well.

There are also sites and medical experts stepping up to the plate to dismiss him as a fake. What is interesting is they aren’t disputing the claim that metal objects can stick to this kid. They aren’t saying that any of the photos or videos circulating of him are doctored or photo-shopped. Nevertheless, they are claiming that for the past three years, his parents have been part of a long-term scheme to sell him out as a circus freak. (On this note, I’m including a photo in this article of him with his family. They look like real city slickers, don’t they? The kind that would definitely have it in them to create a long-term hoax that is sweeping the cyberworld by storm. Real snake-oil salesmen, the lot of them).

To reiterate, none of the “experts” who are weighing in on Magnetic Boy are stating that any of his magnetic powers are fake. Instead, they are claiming that ANY human is capable of sticking metal objects to their body. According to the naysayers, any human can place a metal object onto a part of their body which is smooth and hairless and get it to stick there. A Facebook group called “We are all Magneto Boy” shows photos of different people doing just that. Apparently it is just as simple as taking a metal object and placing it against a smooth and hairless part of your own body.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch in Croatia, Magnetic Boy’s repertoire of superhuman powers has now also expanded to include the power to heal by touch, which is also being attributed to his magical magnetic properties. According to his own grandpa, Magnetic Boy cured his stomachache simply by placing his hands on his stomach. According to his grandpa, Magnetic Boy’s hands emitted a powerful heat and his stomachache was cured. I am definitely willing to concede that grandpa did not have an entirely unbiased point of view, and that his own strong belief that his grandson had the power to heal him may have been enough to do just that.

With that said, I hope that by now I have given you personally enough time to try to stick some metal onto your body.

If you haven’t already tried to do so by now, then I am frankly surprised and a little bit disappointed. I admit that as soon as I read the claim that any human can do this, I grabbed the next available metal object – in this case, a fork – and tried to glue it to my face. And just to provide a bit more context, I happened to be sitting in a very pretty little waterfront tapas restaurant at the time. Luckily for me, I was already a paying customer by then, so the proprietor didn’t ask me to leave when he saw me do so.

If you haven’t tried it yourself by now, then you must be very curious if it worked. If you have tried it yourself by now, then you already know the answer for yourself.

However, I assume that if you are reading this, you are somehow already involved in the metal industry and you make a habit of surrounding yourself with large metal objects on a regular basis.

So rather than tell you if it worked or not, I will instead leave you with a (rhetorical) question: in your daily business operations, have you noticed a propensity in yourself to bring your work home with you – literally? Do you regularly find yourself peeling large oil tanks or ship hulls or snow plows or giant steel cylinders off your chest on your drive home from work?

I didn’t think so.

Although I can’t speak for all y’all, Magnetic Boy still has my vote. And until I figure out a way to stick a fork to my face that doesn’t actually involve stabbing myself with it, he will continue to have my vote.

And, if this article inspired you to actually try sticking a metal object to your body, I would REALLY appreciate it (if only to satisfy my own curiosity) if you left a comment that informed us all of the results.

-Anja Wulf

US Has Bright Future In Manufacturing

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In the context of the US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, the Washington Post (5/10) editorializes that “even as leaders again made promises about currencies and trade, evidence was mounting that some old assumptions regarding their relationship may no longer apply.” Manufacturing is presented as a prime example of this: with the advantage of manufacturing in China diminishing thanks to rising wages there and higher productivity in the US, more companies are choosing to manufacture their goods in the US. The Post offers “a few caveats,” such as the fact that China will remain a manufacturing powerhouse, and that “shifting production does not automatically translate into huge numbers of new US jobs.” But regardless, the Post adds, there are related benefits to domestic manufacturing, and a more competitive manufacturing base makes it “appear that the United States does have a future after all – as a highly efficient manufacturing platform for the developed world.”

Click HERE for full article

Manufacturing Playing Key Role In Job Creation.

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Manufacturing Stages A Comeback

This year’s survey of the best cities for jobs contains one particularly promising piece of news: the revival of the country’s long distressed industrial sector and those regions most dependent on it. Manufacturing has grown consistently over the past 21 months, and now, for the first time in years, according to data mined by Pepperdine University’s Michael Shires, manufacturing regions are beginning to move up on our list of best cities for jobs.

The fastest-growing industrial areas include four long-suffering Rust Belt cities Anderson, Ind. (No. 4), Youngstown, Ohio (No. 5), Lansing, Mich. (No. 9) and Elkhart-Goshen, Ind. (No. 10). The growth in these and other industrial areas influenced, often dramatically, their overall job rankings. Elkhart, for example, rose 137 places, on our best cities for jobs list; and Lansing moved up 155. Other industrial areas showing huge gains include Niles-Benton Harbor, Mich., up 242 places, Holland-Grand Haven, Mich., (up 172), Grand Rapids, Mich., (up 167) Kokomo Ind., (up 177) ; and Sandusky, Ohio, (up 128).

Industrial growth also affected some of the largest metros, whose economies in other areas, such as business services, often depend on customers from the industrial sector. Economist Hank Robison, co-founder of the forecasting firm EMSI, points out that manufacturing jobs — along with those in the information sector — are unique in creating high levels of value and jobs across other sectors in the economy. They constitute a foundation upon which other sectors, like retail and government, depend on.

Take the case of Milwaukee. The Wisconsin city rode a nearly 3% boost in industrial employment to increase its ranking among the best large metros for jobs: It rose from a near-bottom No. 49 (out of 65) to a healthy No. 23. As manufacturing employment surged, others sectors, notably business services, warehousing and hospitality, showed solid increases after years of slow or even negative growth.

Milwaukee’s growth reflects some of the greater trends affecting the industrial sector, whose overall income is up 21% since mid-2009. The Fed’s monetary policy, combined with deficit-related concerns, has certainly helped by depressing the value of the dollar, keeping American prices more competitive with foreign producers. Low prices have helped U.S. industrial exporters gain sales, much as it has boosted agricultural commodity producers to sell their goods to growing countries like China, India and Brazil. Exports now account for 12.8% of all U.S. output, the largest percentage since the Commerce Department starting tracking in 1929.

These new markets are particularly strategic to regions like Milwaukee and other parts of the Great Lakes. Despite the industry’s massive shrinkage of the past decade, these areas retain significant specialized skills in fields like machine tools, automotive parts and temperature controls, which are all in demand in the developing world as well as at locally based firms, many of which are enjoying high profits. Allen-Edmunds, a high-end shoe maker based in the region, has seen export business surge.

Similarly Peoria, Ill., has benefited from a boom in overseas orders for heavy equipment from Caterpillar, its dominant industrial company. Caterpillar sells the kind of heavy moving and mining machinery now in great demand, particularly in developing countries.
One big driver of industrial growth has come from the source of so much pain in the past: the auto industry. Although production remains 25% below its 2007 peak, the industry, which accounts for roughly one-fifth of the nation’s industrial output, is on the rebound. Ford Motor is achieving its best profits in over a decade, and both Chrysler and General Motors are officially in the black.

Long-depressed industry center Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich., topped our list of manufacturing job-creators, with an impressive 8.2% increase. Second place went to the Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn area, which experienced 3.5% growth. Of course this recent expansion hardly makes up for decades of decline — auto industry employment, for example, is still down over 34% from its 2005 peak. But industrial expansion has clearly improved job prospects across the board; over the past year, for example, Warren experienced healthy growth in its information, business services and wholesale trade sectors.

Of course, not all the big gainers in the industrial sphere are located in Great Lakes. The movement of manufacturing to other parts of the country, particularly to Texas and the Southeast means a better industrial climate helps those regions as well. The list of fastest-growing industrial areas among our big metros includes San Antonio, Texas (No. 3); Atlanta (No. 7); Oklahoma City (No. 9) and Austin-Roundrock, Texas (No. 10) — all of which did very well in our overall jobs survey. Many of these areas are business-friendly, have low housing costs, reasonable taxation and business-friendly regulatory environments that induce industrial expansions.

Another contributing factor to industrial growth in places like Austin is high-tech manufacturing. Covering everything from servers to specialized production equipments, the expansion of this sector accounts for a healthy 1.7% upturn in San Jose, No. 6 among our large metro regions, a welcome turnaround for an area that shed some 17% of its industrial jobs over the past decade.

But some of the best progress took place in smaller communities spread across the country. Take Yakima, Wash., which came out first on our manufacturing job growth list with a heady 19% growth in industrial jobs. Metal fabrication plants companies such as Canam Steel have led the way, with some of the new demand coming from Canadian sources.

Other strong performers included Midland, Texas, which ranked sixth in our industrial rankings — fifth among the smaller cities. Here an expanding oil and gas sector has sparked a strong revival not only in manufacturing but also in business services and finance.

If manufacturing growth has become a new shaper of overall job growth, some regions may need to move beyond the post-industrial mindset that dominates so much of regional e development orthodoxy. Take the coastal areas in California: Los Angeles-Long Beach, which has the nation’s largest industrial base and high unemployment, continues to lose manufacturing jobs – over 28% gone over the past decade — in part due to strict regulatory controls and a basic inattention to this sector by government officials.

In contrast, some hard-hit economic regions like Modesto, in California’s Central Valley, have promoted industrial growth. Last year, a nearly 14% increase in manufacturing jobs — much of it food related — helped the area gain some 92 places on our survey . They have not exactly won a gold medal, but certainly the improvement amount to more than chopped liver.

To be sure, cities can grow without robust manufacturing. Take financial centers like New York, university towns or Washington, D.C., where paper-pushing remains the core competency. But for many areas, particularly those beyond the urban “glamour zone,” getting down and dirty at the factory represents a solid economic strategy. In fact, it may be one of the best way to nurture your region back to health.

The Top Cities For Manufacturing Jobs In The U.S.

Yakima, Wash.
Sebastian-Vero Beach, Fla.
Palm Coast, Fla.
Anderson, Ind.
Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pa.
Midland, Texas
Modesto, Calif.
Yuma, Ariz.
Lansing-East Lansing, Mich.
Elkhart-Goshen, Ind.

The Top Big Cities For Manufacturing Jobs in the U.S.

Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich.
Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich.
San Antonio-Braunfels, Texas
Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wis.
Louisville-Jefferson County, Ky.-Ind.
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga.
Oklahoma City, Okla.
Pittsburgh, Pa.
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, Texas

By Joel Kotkin in the Forbes (5/9) “New Geographer” blog

A Zillion Pounds of Floating Metal

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Not a well-known fact but nonetheless a true one: the car industry recycles more materials than any other industry on the planet. This is because metal is an excellent resource to recycle, and extremely cost-effective to do so as well. If it didn’t make sense financially to recycle all the metal in old cars, the auto industry wouldn’t be doing it.

Not so, it appears, with the shipbuilding industry. In spite of the fact that there are many old steel ships and boats containing thousands and thousands of tons of recyclable steel and other materials, no one seems to be doing anything with them. This may have something to do with the cost of transporting old ships to ports and salvage yards where the recycling can actually occur. After all, loading an old ship onto the back of a truck isn’t exactly feasible. I don’t know where they keep the ship recycling facilities, but they don’t appear to be anywhere near where they would need to be in order to take care of the steel wrecks that sit in the water. At least not around where I am right now, which is in a lagoon on a Caribbean island.

And sit in the water they do. Here in the Caribbean,these wrecked steel ships and boats are all over the place. Destroyed by hurricanes, age or some other calamity, they sit and they sit for years in the same spot that they washed up in. Old oil tankers, fishing boats and other industrial hulks dot the waterscape in every direction. Some of them get taken over by humans, who live on them illegally. You can tell which ones harbor human life, because they will have a small dinghy tied up next to them. The humans try to stay low-key about living there, since it is technically illegal, but no one really seems to care. These boats are beyond salvageable, and aside from hosting abundant sea life beneath them for crabbers and fishermen, they no longer have any use.

I didn’t do any internet research to write this article, for two reasons: one, I have no internet connection from where I am right now, which is in somewhere in the Caribbean; and two, everything I’ve written about here comes from what I’ve been observing with my own eyes. If you don’t believe me, go to any major port, anchorage or lagoon in the Caribbean or elsewhere in the non-US world, and you will be able to observe exactly what I am writing about. It’s amazing to me that from where I sit at this moment, I can see literally a million tons of recyclable steel and metal, simply rotting away in the water. These boats, which cost millions to build, are simply beyond dead.

I’d be curious to know what can be done with them, or who they can be of use to, or what can be done to get them out of the water and give them new life somehow, even if it’s by melting them down and starting from scratch, which I believe is the only realistic way to get any use out of them at this point. Unfortunately, that information would require an internet connection to find out. If any of you metal industry people have any ideas, let me know. And if for any of you, these old ships are a potential commodity, you can find them in abundance in St. Martin. The rule of the high seas is this: if you find it and it’s not anchored, it’s yours to take. If no one claims it after 90 days in your possession, it’s yours to keep. Any my hot tip for the day is this: not all of these big boats appear to be anchored.

-Anja Wulf

Leading the News

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US “Rebuilding” As 244,000 Jobs Added Last Month.

ABC World News (5/6, lead story, 3:05, Stephanopoulos) reported, “Today, we got the numbers so many Americans have been waiting for” — a “strong new jobs report: 244,000 more people were hired last month, with the best private sector growth in five years.” The CBS Evening News (5/6, story 5, 2:25, Smith), however, reported, “By one measure the jobs picture is improving, but by another there is still a long way to go. The Labor Department reported today that private employers created well over a quarter of a million jobs in April, the most in more than 10 years. But there were still far more workers looking for jobs than finding them and the unemployment rate went back up to nine percent.”

NBC Nightly News (5/6, story 4, 2:10, Williams) reported, “The April jobs numbers are just out — coming in better than most of the experts expected.” NBC (Costello) added, “The good news is that it was the private sector, not the government, that added jobs at the fastest rate in five years last month: 57,000 jobs in retail, 51,000 professional jobs, 46,000 in leisure and hospitality, 29,000 manufacturing jobs.” But “despite adding 240,000 jobs in April, the unemployment rate inched up from 8.8 percent to nine percent, as the population grew and some Americans resumed their job hunt.”

Bloomberg News (5/6, Dorning) reports President Obama “said the US economy is regaining momentum even as high energy prices have crimped consumer spending.” The President said, “This is where the American economy is rebuilding, where we are regaining our footing.”

The AP (5/7, Aversa) reports, “American companies are on a hiring spree. Businesses delivered a jolt of strength to the economy by creating 268,000 jobs in April, the biggest monthly total in more than five years. The gains were solid across an array of industries, even beleaguered construction. It was the third month in a row of at least 200,000 new jobs.” The AP said the “slight rise in the unemployment rate to 9 percent appears to be a quirk.” The Los Angeles Times (5/7, Lee) reports, “A significant part of the stubbornly high unemployment may be structural: Millions of potential workers may have only the dimmest prospects for finding work even if the recovery continues — owing largely to their levels of skill and education.”

Bloomberg News (5/6, Homan) reports employers “added more jobs than forecast and the labor market in the prior two months was stronger than initially estimated.” The New York Times (5/7, Rich, Subscription Publication) reports, “For three straight months, the nation’s employers have delivered solid job growth, easing some concerns that the economy could be stalling.”

Employment Numbers May Reflect Spike In Recent Layoffs.

USA Today (5/9, Davidson) reports, “Last week’s report of better-than-expected employment gains in April raised hopes that US job growth…is finally picking up momentum,” but “some economists see flashing yellow lights in the numbers that could signal at least a temporary lull the next few months. … The number of Americans unemployed less than five weeks rose by 242,000 in April and this group now makes up 20% of the unemployed. Both figures are the highest since October 2006 and are consistent with the jump in jobless claims reported last week, suggesting layoffs have picked up recently.”

From SME Daily Executive Briefing 5/9/2011

US Manufacturing Continues To Expand.

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The ISM Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index was broadly covered in the media, which most sources mentioning manufacturing’s key role in helping the US regain its economic footing. It was also noted that April’s expansion marked a slight decline from March, due in part to higher input costs, but that overall the results, and the outlook for the sector, are very good. The impact of a weak dollar was also noted.

The AP (5/3) reports, “The nation’s manufacturing sector has expanded this year at the fastest pace in a quarter-century, boosted by a weak dollar that has made US goods cheap overseas.” The strong manufacturing sector “could help the economy rebound after experiencing weak growth in the first three months of this year,” although other industries such as construction are still struggling, and raw materials prices remain a concern. “The Institute for Supply Management said Monday that manufacturing activity expanded in April for the 21st straight month.” Although the reading of 60.4 represents a decline from 61.2 in March, it still indicates manufacturing growth..

Bloomberg News (5/3, Willis) reports “manufacturing expanded faster than forecast in April, driven by gains in exports and inventories that are keeping the industry at the forefront of the US economic expansion.” And these same factors, “demand from emerging economies like China” and “the need to replenish stockpiles and investment in new equipment, may keep benefitting manufacturers.” Bloomberg notes that “another report showed construction spending rose more than forecast in March as companies put up factories and power plants, while home improvement outlays also rebounded.”

New York Times /Reuters (5/3, B8) reports that, according to the Commerce Department report on construction, March spending was up 1.4 percent, an entire point higher than analysts had predicted on average. However, Reuters noted, the sector remained anemic overall, having a long way to go before it can offset the declines it saw last year.

AFP (5/3) characterizes the manufacturing news in opposite terms, noting the expansion but highlighting the slowing pace of “growth in new orders, production, employment and supplier deliveries.” Norbert Ore, head of the ISM’s manufacturing committee, is quoted as saying, “While the manufacturing sector is definitely performing above most expectations so far in 2011, manufacturers are experiencing significant cost pressures from commodities and other inputs.” Daniel J. Meckstroth, Chief Economist for the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI, however, said manufacturing was “booming.” He added, “It is clear from today’s report that the few things holding back domestic manufacturers are skyrocketing commodity prices, selective commodity shortages, sluggish residential construction and declining non-residential construction.”

Under the headline “Materials Costs Hit Factories’ Activity,” the Wall Street Journal (5/3, Murray, Hagerty, Subscription Publication) notes the same factors as AFP as impediments to growth, but adds that manufacturing continued to expand regardless, albeit at a slightly slower pace. Exports are playing a major role in many cases, such as Caterpillar, which recently reported that it was having difficulty meeting demand for some of its earthmoving equipment. That demand originates in developing economies in Asia and Latin America.

The Financial Times (5/3, Bond, Subscription Publication) notes that, of the 18 industries tracked by the ISM, only one showed signs of contracting – furniture and furniture-related products. The other 17 industries all showed expansion to different degrees.

The Chicago Tribune (5/3) reports, “The pace of expansion in US manufacturing slowed in April for a second straight month but was brisker than expected, data showed on Monday, a sign the sector was holding up despite slower national growth.” Kurt Karl, chief US economist at Swiss Re, said: “With what is happening in the world at this point, you would expect (manufacturing numbers) to be down.” He added, “We’ve had (higher) oil prices, we have had hits to Japan, we have had hits domestically from production and supply constraints from the Japanese disruptions and we are still over 60 on the manufacturing (index). So it is a very good report.” The Tribune also notes the Commerce Department report, and calls the increase in construction spending “encouraging.” CBC News (5/3) and Marketwatch (5/3 Bartash) also report the story.

From SME Daily Executive Briefing 5/3/2011

Practical Uses for Magnetic Boy in the metal industry

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Once again this week, I threw myself wholeheartedly into a Google search for the largest metal object in the world, if only because I know that my scores of avid followers on this blog have all been holding their breath since I brought this subject up in last week’s blog entry. And once again this week, I got completely sidetracked. You would have too, after scanning the Google results for “large metal object”.

Just so you can have a better understanding of what came up on this search, here are a few samples:

“A large metal object drifts slowly through space…”

“An unusually high-velocity large metal object concealed in the nasal septum.”

“Large metal object found located under sea”

“Trapped inside a large metal object flying for ten hours.”

“Large metal object falls from sky in Roosevelt”

“A college student was killed in a freak accident when, according to police, a large metal object fell on him Friday”

“I have a large metal object caked in cement. “

“Have you ever wanted your very own custom-made metal object?

I admit that an unusually high-velocity large metal object concealed in the nasal septum REALLY grabbed my interest for a while, but I just couldn’t figure out how to turn that into something relevant to C Marshall and my thousands of devoted readers on this site. So on went my search, with many detours, until my search fingers were stopped dead in their tracks by the following Google result:

“Magnetic Boy, 7, attracts electronic and metal objects”

The first thing I did, of course, was click on the above and read the information about this Magnetic Boy. It came from a legitimate source and there was no air of “hoaxiness” in it.

Then I watched the video. You can watch it for yourself right here: Magnetic Boy

Folks, this kid is for real. He’s magnetic. Metal is attracted to him and sticks to him. In the video, he’s got forks and knives and the TV remote stuck all over his chest. No one else in his family is magnetic and of course there’s no good explanation for this, but there is no denying that this boy is a human magnet. He’s not allowed near the computer because he makes it go weird. I’m sure he’ll have a lot of trouble with credit cards, cell phones and electronic keys too. For some reason he can even get china plates to stick to him. However, because this is a blog about metal and metal machinery, we don’t really care about the china plates, do we?

Imagine having a magnetic boy of your own. You wouldn’t need a metal detector anymore: you could take him to the beach to find buried treasure, coins and jewelry. Once a huge chest of gold coins gets stuck to his chest, you can cash out and buy yourself a sturdy boat. Now you’re really in business: load up the kid on your boat and head for the high seas. Sooner than later, giant shipwrecks, plane wrecks and other metal objects of all kinds will get sucked to the ocean’s surface and you can help yourself to what you want and sell the rest as scrap metal. Now that you’re the scrap metal king of the world, you can take him to Ghana or Venezuela or Mexico or Nevada to find gold and other underground precious metals. You’ll already have the cash from your scrap metal operation to fund your mining business.

Now you can retire in style and pretty much do what you want. You might feel inclined to contribute to the betterment of humanity by renting out your kid to the military to ferret out terrorist organizations by finding their weapons stashes. Once that mission has been accomplished, you can rejoice that you have now created world peace.

I wasn’t able to find any more recent updates on the Magnetic Boy. Is it possible that he already went underground and had something to do with finding bin Laden’s location?

I wouldn’t rule it out.

-Anja Wulf

The biggest piece of metal in the world

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I’ve been curious for some time to find out what the largest metal object in the world is. By “largest metal object in the world”, I mean an object that is formed out of solid metal and is one contiguous piece of homogeneous metal. In other words, search results that yielded things like “largest metal sculpture in the world” don’t count, in my opinion. Additionally, I was looking for something that served an actual purpose, not just something to look at.

I still haven’t found a contemporary answer to this question. But that’s because I got sidetracked. Without question, I have learned what the largest piece of cast metal in the world was – back in 1893.

The USA was in a severe depression, marked by the collapse of railroad overbuilding and shaky railroad financing which set off a series of bank failures. Meanwhile, plans were underway to celebrate the 400 year anniversary of Columbus’ discovery of America, in Chicago, and in typical American style, a minor glitch such as the worst depression to date in the US wasn’t going to get in its way. The name of the game called upon civil engineers to build something truly unique that would demonstrate the possibilities of modern engineering in America, similar to what the Eiffel Tower had done for the French.

One man in the audience took to the challenge right away. His name was George Washington Gale Ferris, and his specialty was building steel bridges. Soon to become known as somewhat of a freak (“the Man with the Wheels in his Head”), he had a plan to build a giant wheel that people could sit in, just for fun. And sure enough, in spite of the fact that his idea had no practical value whatsoever (besides making history in the Columbus Fair) and that it required a lot of money, Ferris’ enthusiasm was catching, and he raised the money to make his plan into a reality.

On its completion, Ferris’ Wheel weighed 2,079,884 pounds. The axle alone, forged by Bethlehem Iron Company (later to become Bethlehem Steel), weighed 89,320 pounds. Powered by 2 steam engines, it could carry up to 2160 passengers at one time. It was a colossus; and without question, it was the largest piece of cast metal in the world. Most notably, although it can be argued that it was built for fame and glory, its actual purpose was pure fun.

The Ferris Wheel became a huge overnight sensation, eventually spawning plenty of stories and legends about people falling off the Wheel, etc. Although untrue, these stories took a toll on the Wheel’s popularity, and soon only few people could be seen riding on the Wheel. This wondrous feat of engineering, which had required over $400,000 to build in 1893, was sold at auction in 1906 for $1800. A decision was made to take it down, and on May 11, 1906, the Ferris Wheel was blown to bits by a “monster charge of dynamite”.

George Ferris, the inventor of the Ferris Wheel, didn’t do much better. Similar to many contemporary Hollywood overnight celebrities, he became severely depressed by the looming threat of bankruptcy and his own loss of fame. He died of typhoid fever on November 22, 1896. Saddest of all, his ashes remained at a Pittsburgh crematorium for over a year, waiting for someone to take possession of them. By then, it could be said that the party was definitely over. Nevertheless, no one can take away the fact that Mr. Ferris was on of those rare birds who was crazy and brilliant enough to able to take those wheels out of his head and create something that brought a sense of joy and wonder to millions of people.

-Anja Wulf

Reasons To Be Bullish About American Manufacturing

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In the wake of financial turmoil, manufacturing takes a more central role in the economic growth potential of the United States.

By Thomas J. Duesterberg – April 20, 2011

As I approach the end of a dozen years leading the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI, I am seeing compelling reasons to support the idea that U.S. manufacturing has a bright future and will continue to be a key to the domestic economy.

The stress and turmoil of the last few years has clearly failed to knock manufacturers to their knees, and instead has served to show the remarkable resilience of the sector. Not only has the American share of global manufacturing output held at around 20% of the total, it has done so by relentless attention to innovation, productivity enhancement and expanding the value proposition. In 2010, for instance, U.S. manufacturers achieved 6.7% growth in productivity and cut their unit labor costs by 4.4%.

This translates directly into a higher standard of living, as the inflation rate for manufactured goods fell 0.8% between 2000 and 2010, while total U.S. inflation grew 22%.

As we continue to recover from the “Great Recession,” manufacturing is likely to enhance its role as one of the principal engines of growth. In the first place, capital goods production is one of the pillars of domestic manufacturing, and recent underinvestment will be reversed and contribute to growth for years to come. The average age of the U.S. automobile fleet is at record highs, and heavier transport and construction vehicles have not been replaced at a normal rate. The same observation holds true for factory capital equipment. One clear sign of underinvestment is that in 2009, for the first time since the Great Depression, the total capital stock in the United States declined when taking into account depreciation as well as new investment.

Moreover, we are competitive in booming global markets, enjoying a trade surplus in important subsectors like aerospace; construction machinery; semiconductors; mining equipment; industrial machinery; basic chemicals; paper; and engines, turbines and power transmission equipment. Presuming the United States sheds the protectionist impulses of the last few years, we should do well in fast-growing Asian, Brazilian and Indian markets.

In the current recovery, policymakers are beginning to realize that the financial and construction sectors are unlikely to play the same role in the GDP growth tables that they enjoyed in the last few decades. Likewise, government spending cannot continue to support growth through unrestrained borrowing. Moreover, the trend toward global outsourcing is slowing because of new concerns about supply chain reliability and cost rebalancing. The only other major sector of the domestic economy to be expanding robustly is agriculture, but it is too small to drive total growth.

In these circumstances, manufacturing will be leading the recovery for years to come. Coupled with the fact that it still is the source of over 60% of research and development, a vast majority of patenting activity, and of innovation, there is a powerful case to be made for public policies that support this sector. These policies are well known: lowering tax rates on the industrial sector to at least international norms; a lighter hand of regulation; a more aggressive trade-opening strategy; and continued improvement of the education and basic research capacity of the United States. Finally, the difficult events in recent decades in the Middle East, along with the rise of China as a global economic and military competitor, should also contribute to public understanding of the need for continued strength and technological leadership of the U.S. manufacturing sector.

Readers of this column will not be surprised by any of the themes outlined above. What is different from recent years, perhaps, is that because of the nature of the recent financial crisis, manufacturing is again playing a more central role in the economic growth potential of the United States. As this is my last column in this series, I am happy to be ending on a positive note.

Dr. Duesterberg is a senior adviser and former president and CEO of the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI Inc., an executive education and business research organization in Arlington, Va.