Author: Joe Jackson
Published December 25, 2023
Published December 18, 2023
Published December 11, 2023
December 7, 2023
Fellow Members,
As Chair of the Management Update Committee I am excited to invite you to the 2024 Management Update Conference, which will be held February 29 – March 2 in Austin, Texas. This year’s conference will offer a wealth of valuable management content for you to absorb and bring back to your organization.
The 2024 conference will focus heavily on workplace culture and employee engagement/retention. We spend a lot of time, money, and effort to find and hire quality employees – it’s critical that we have the tools in place to keep them.
Engagement and retention expert Lisa Ryan will teach us how to make sure our employees feel their contributions are valued, as well as making sure different working generations understand each other; Pete Tosh shares insights on how to effectively manage toxic employees; and Connor Lokar of ITR Economics returns to provide a much-anticipated economic update on what we can expect in the next few years.
Breakout Sessions on Friday afternoon will include AI in manufacturing, the benefits of talent assessment applications, and the latest regulatory updates from PMPA’s Miles Free. Returning after a few years’ hiatus are the ever-popular roundtable discussions featuring 10 relevant table topics that will undoubtedly spark engaging conversations!
Plan on joining us at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Austin, Texas, February 29 to March 2, to re-connect and network in-person with your industry peers, learn from knowledgeable speakers and each other, and bring home new ideas to strengthen your organization today and in the years to come. See you there!
Regards,
Mike Goldman
Mike Goldman
Chair – Management Update Committee 2024
Camcraft, Inc.
Published December 4, 2023
Slowing growth is the current status and outlook according to ITR’s latest PMPA member’s only report. US Housing starts were the only industry segment showing recovery, one of the few positive signs for future business for our shops. Core macroeconomic indicators are already in slow growth, and the outlook for 2025 appears to be one of contraction, so a plan to muddle through is likely a positive one given these facts.
The purpose of these ITR forecasts is to help you anticipate your plan for how to get your business positioned for the inevitable (and eventual) recovery. “what did you wish you had done differently during the last downturn?” Plan on doing THAT in 2024.
The Institute for Trend Research (ITR) quarterly reports focus on major areas of economic growth and decline in key market segments for the Precision Machined Products Industry. They are provided to PMPA members as part of the association’s overall business intelligence program and are used as a management tool to help PMPA members plan for what lies ahead and which markets they should focus on in a complex manufacturing environment.
Published November 27, 2023
Published November 20, 2023
Steve Sorenson
Sorenson Engineering, Inc.
Yucaipa, CA
Fellow PMPA Members,
On October 1st at our Annual Awards Banquet held in Amelia Island, Florida, we had a grand celebration of our 90th year of the PMPA, aka NSMPA. It was a great time, filled with uplifting memories and the encouraging echoes of those who came before us to make this celebration possible. At the celebration it was my honor and privilege to be installed as your President for this upcoming year. I am both grateful and humbled to have the opportunity to serve you, the members of the PMPA.
The PMPA’s 90 years are rich with history, ranging from young entrepreneurs to multi-generational families, from electric motors to servo motors, from CAM machines to CNC machines, from Chapter Meetings and National Technical Conferences to Annual Meetings. We give our sincere appreciation to all those who dedicated themselves over the years to serving and advancing our industry and the PMPA. I would like to especially thank John Habe for his firm and steady leadership as President over the past year, and for the opportunity to serve under him.
Emerging technologies are revolutionizing manufacturing. The challenge is keeping up. The awareness, learning, understanding, applying, financing, implementing, and managing of these new technologies will be significant in determining our future success. As members of PMPA, we can all benefit from the generous support and sharing with each other our new-found knowledge, as well as from our past experience.
There have certainly been challenges to our industry, our businesses, and the PMPA over the years. However, the hard-working values and convictions of commitment, dedication, determination, and the passion of our members have always carried us through even the most difficult of times. More challenges are certainly yet to come, but I am confident that those same values and strengths of character and purpose that served us well in the past will sustain us now and into the future. May this year be a year of fulfilled goals and dreams, with promises of more to come.
Over the last eleven years I have had the privilege of serving as Board member, Treasurer, and Vice President. I have never been more confident in and prouder of our PMPA management team than I am today. Cate, Miles, Renee, Carli, Joe, and Matt, along with our Board, Executive Committee, and the Gardner Management team, are leading the way, insuring a bright future for the PMPA.
Thank you all for your commitment, support, and participation in the PMPA. I look forward to hearing from you and seeing you at our events throughout the year.
Sincerely,
Steve Sorenson
PMPA President
Director, Sorenson Engineering, Inc.
moc.gnenosneros@nosneross
Published November 6, 2023