Waupaca Foundry | PartingLINE

Waupaca Foundry has put the Great Recession well into its rear view mirror as the plant here that makes iron castings for parts used in cars and trucks now employs a five-year high of 560 people. One company advantage executives cite is the use of a just-in-time supply chain that they say is unique in their industry and a cost-saver for the business.

Over the years, I've contributed about 90 articles to IndustryWeek. One of them " It Takes Two to Tango ," from 2015, dealt with the fact that in supply chain negotiations, there is middle ground if both sides are willing to compromise. The headline, suggested by my then-editor, was a bit of a stretch for me; I didn't understand how it related to the content of the article. But now I know what he was getting at. Tango dancers must coordinate and collaborate to the nth degree to successfully execute the dance.

"Signing Day" recognizes graduating seniors who have "signed on" to work for local employers instead of attending college. First-timers this year included Perry Central and Tell City high schools in southern Indiana; to honor those seniors who have chosen to go straight into the workforce, landing jobs in such occupations as construction, cosmetology, manufacturing and information technology.

Recently, a manufacturing executive told me that companies must be more transparent in telling future hires exactly what the job entails. That includes hours, working conditions and expectations. He's lost too many people who didn't realize that putting in a lot of hours was just part of the job. Dan Johnston, co-founder of WorkStep, would whole-heartedly agree. After seeing the struggle, first-hand as a manager of a large third-party logistics company, he set out to make some changes.

Reshoring and foreign direct investment in the U.S. increased 38% during 2018, the highest level in history according to the Reshoring Initiative, the agency formed to advance the effects of "reshoring." The term describes the phenomenon of manufacturers relocating manufacturing activity and services, or sourcing, to the U.S. from overseas. For 2018, the combination of reshoring and FDI represented 145,000 jobs, the second highest annual rate of job increases on record. The total job increases credited to reshoring, including upward revisions of 36,000 jobs in prior years, is over 757,000 since the 2010 low-point for domestic manufacturing employment.

Bogged down in a sprawling trade dispute with U.S. rival China, President Donald Trump took steps Friday to ease tensions with America's allies — lifting import taxes on Canadian and Mexican steel and aluminum and delaying auto tariffs that would have hurt Japan and Europe. By removing the metals tariffs on Canada and Mexico, Trump cleared a key roadblock to a North American trade pact his team negotiated last year. As part of Friday's arrangement, the Canadians and Mexicans agreed to scrap retaliatory tariffs they had imposed on U.S. goods.

The U.S.-China trade blowup was a long time coming. And it won't be easily resolved, not even if U.S. and Chinese negotiators reach a truce in the next few weeks that reassures jittery financial markets. Tensions between the world's two biggest economies intensified over the last week. The Trump administration more than doubled tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports and spelled out plans to target the $300 billion worth that aren't already facing 25% taxes. The escalation covers everything from sneakers to toasters to billiard balls.