Workforce

These MHI Member Companies Share What Makes Their Generation-Spanning Business Operations Successful — By Brian Reaves, MHI Executive Vice President — Days before MHI was prepping to throw open the North and South Halls at McCormick Place in Chicago at ProMat 2017 this past spring, a Board of Governors’ member casually noted that multiple exhibitors—and indeed several MHI member companies—would ...

In December 21, 2016, the New York Times ran an article titled, “The Long-Term Jobs Killer Is Not China. It’s Automation.” It repeated across its 1,250 words the assertion that automation is bad news for the worker. This is demonstrably wrong, and, in fact, the opposite is true. Automation increases human productivity, lowers costs, increases wages and creates good jobs. ...

Industry working with educators can fill the pipeline Supply chain technicians and mechanics are estimated to number nearly 2.4 million in the U.S. By 2025, this number will grow by 11 percent. In addition to the new growth, companies are expected to replace about 22 percent of members of their current supply chain technician workforce—creating about 770,000 total technician-level job ...

Members of the millennial generation looking for their perfect jobs might craft an advertisement something like this: Employment wanted: Position must be challenging with multiple possibilities for growth and new experiences. Job should involve technology, have a global focus and include opportunities for making a positive contribution to society and/or protecting the environment. Although the youthful job seekers might not ...

Wayne Eckerson, founder of the Eckerson Group, is credited with coining the term “purple people” back in 2010. Last year, in an article,* Eckerson wrote about the yawning gulf between business (blue) and information technology (red) groups in most organizations. He said that successful leaders—the purple people—not only know how to talk the language of both camps and but also ...

Most will agree that the shortage of talent is impacting supply chains. The field can’t find drivers, can’t find pickers, can’t find managers—just plain can’t find the talent needed to keep systems running. For some, the answer is simple: do what we do best, create a supply chain. Yes, human resources is a supply chain, or at least it had ...

As we brace ourselves for the 2016 elections and the onslaught of negative political advertising that will inevitably ensue, I think it is worthwhile to discuss a “good news” story in legislative history. In 1970, the Occupational Health and Safety (OSH) Act was signed into law. Within the OSH Act is the General Duty Clause, which states, in part, “each ...

MHI launched the #iWorkInTheSupplyChain awareness campaign late last year, aiming to dispel popular preconceptions about careers in manufacturing and supply chain. The initiative set out to tell the world about the broad and diverse range of people who have chosen a career in our field. Because, by its own admission, the industry hasn’t done an especially great job at communicating ...

Having difficulty finding the necessary talent for your supply chain team? It’s time for a new approach. “The supply chain has evolved over the last decade or so into a complex orientation that combines a number of different traditional functions together and asks them to work together to not only operate the business for low cost but also to provide ...

Although well understood within the industry, the general public has—by and large—failed to recognize the significance of supply chain jobs to business and to the overall economy. The story needs to be told that supply chains are led by a diverse group of professionals who utilize innovation, creativity and smart thinking to keep the economy moving. Last quarter, MHI launched ...