And there are many more success stories in the works! Goodwill Abilities Center is in the process of strengthening their education, training and job placement mission to serve the broad needs of the region. Persons interested in learning more can contact Courtney Geiger at the Goodwill Abilities Center at 815-965-3795.

From the Wall Street Journal:

WASHINGTON — The U.S. manufacturing sector expanded in June for the first time in five months, while spending on housing construction fell in May, data released Tuesday showed.

The Institute for Supply Management’s index of business activity moved to 50.2 last month, from 49.6 in May and 48.6 in April. A sub-index tracking prices surged.

Readings above 50 indicate expanding activity. June’s numbers marked the first positive performance since January. The reading suggested a weak, but growing, economy.

“The current level of the index is consistent with a stagnant manufacturing sector (kept afloat by booming exports) and a slowly growing overall economy,” Insight Economics analyst Steven Wood said. “For the index to suggest a recession in the broad economy it would have to fall to around 44.”

Price pressures reached the highest reading since July 1979. The prices index hit 91.5, up from 87.0 in May as energy costs mount.

“The global commodity price shock, as shown by the June ISM prices index, is a major challenge for the profitability of American manufacturers,” said Cliff Waldman, economist for the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI trade group.

Source: Wall Street Journal

And the this report from the Asian and European Manufacturing Sectors from Yahoo:

By Jonathan Cable and Hideyuki SanoTue Jul 1, 6:59 AM ET

Soaring commodity costs are denting manufacturing activity in Asia and Europe and the outlook looks bleak as new orders drop off in the face of rising prices, surveys showed on Tuesday.

Manufacturing activity in the euro zone contracted in June for the first time in three years while business confidence in Asia’s largest export markets is buckling and output has likely contracted further in the United States.

Purchasing managers indices showed manufacturing activity in the euro zone fell to 49.2 in June, China saw its index fall to a near three-year low of 52.0 while in Britain it contracted at its sharpest rate since December 2001.

The 50.0 mark separates growth from contraction. Factories worldwide have struggled in the face of soaring raw material and energy costs — oil hit over $143 a barrel on Monday.

Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan’s tankan corporate index of big manufacturers’ sentiment dropped to plus 5, from 11 in March, showing their mood has not been darker since 2003.

The picture of slowing growth and spiraling prices applied to Britain too.

The UK’s manufacturing sector saw output and new orders fall at their fastest rate in almost a decade. But there was no let-up in inflationary pressures with input costs and output prices both rising at the fastest rate since the series began.

Even Japanese manufacturers, which have long struggled to pass on costs, pushed up prices in the last quarter, although not fast enough to offset a rise in costs and to keep profits growing, the tankan showed.

“That could indicate more inflationary pressures in the pipeline,” said Magnus Prim, chief Asia currency strategist at SEB in Singapore. “They’re getting squeezed on the profit side and see no alternative but to pass on price increases.”

The rally in commodity prices, driven in part by burgeoning demand from India and China, is feeding global inflation, threatening to push up low labor costs that for a decade helped keep a lid on prices.

The European Central Bank is widely expected to hike rates this week, despite a rapidly cooling economy, as it battles record inflation, whereas the Federal Reserve has slashed U.S. rates as it tries to stave off a prolonged recession.

The median of forecasts from economists is for U.S. manufacturing to have contracted for a fifth consecutive month in June, although some believe the slowdown is not severe enough to merit the recession tag.

The U.S. Institute for Supply Management’s index is due at 1400 GMT and forecast to dip to 48.6 in June from 49.6 in May.

To compound the gloom, unemployment has been rising although job losses in Spain, Italy and France were offset by a slight recovery in Germany, while lower demand in the UK saw firms laying off staff.

Germany offered a rare ray of light on Tuesday. Retail sales rose strongly in May after a weak April, while unemployment fell by a bigger-than-expected 38,000 in June to a near 16-year low of 3.266 million.

CHINA TROUBLE

China and India are battling their fastest inflation this decade.

Chinese firms warned they were passing rising costs on to consumers, which could hurt domestic demand, and struggling to export because of weak global markets, two PMI surveys showed.

The measure for input prices paid by China’s manufacturers rose to its highest since the PMI survey was launched in 2005. Domestic and export orders fell to their lowest since January.

A separately published PMI from brokerage CLSA showed output prices rose at their fastest pace in four years.

“The PMI shows a slowdown in orders and production in June. The question is how permanent this is. The businesses questioned suggested that it might be temporary,” said Eric Fishwick, CLSA’s head of economic research.

Slowing foreign demand for its goods has not stopped China exporting inflation, although it remains only a minor factor in the global surge in prices.

In India, purchasing managers were also worried about higher input costs. The ABN AMRO Bank PMI hit a seasonally adjusted 58.6 in June, its highest reading since February and up from a 10-month low of 57.4 in May.

But the survey’s input price index rose to a 19-month high and the rate of increase was the strongest since November 2006.

(Additional reporting by Saikat Chatterjee in Mumbai, Kevin Yao in Singapore, Zhou Xin in Beijing, editing by Mike Peacock)

“HONGHE, China — As a sign over its main boulevard proclaims, Honghe is “China’s Famous Town for Sweaters.” But the economy of sweater town is unraveling, providing an early sign that China’s manufacturing sector may be entering middle age.

Over the past two decades, this city about 90 minutes’ drive from Shanghai built a comfortable niche in the global economy. At the industry’s height in recent years, more than half of Honghe’s 100,000 residents worked in 100 factories and 8,000 shops that knitted, dyed, packaged and shipped some 200 million sweaters a year. The local government says the enterprises brought in $650 million a year in revenue.

Now many exporters and workshops here have shut their doors. Others, their work floors partly idle, are cutting costs. Some of the migrant workers who came here for jobs are returning home.

Manufacturers say their profits have dwindled as they pay out more for raw materials and energy. China’s strengthening currency has made Honghe’s products more expensive for important markets such as the U.S., where the price of Chinese goods surged a record 4.6% in May from the previous year, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. Foreign buyers, used to inexpensive Chinese products and nervous about economic weakness at home, are often refusing to pay more.

Beijing, too, has contributed to the squeeze: Companies say the government’s tougher protection for workers and the environment has made it more expensive to do business. Foreign buyers say tighter visa policies have made it harder for them to visit Chinese factories or attend trade shows.

These pressures are felt by enterprises across China. But none have been hit harder than the companies that feed the vast global appetite for inexpensive goods such as toys, household goods, shoes and clothes. Manufacturers of low-cost products have been a key engine of China’s economic miracle, helping to turn the country into the world’s No. 2 exporter after Germany. For years, these companies continued to grow by expanding their volumes and trimming margins to undercut the competition. As material and labor costs rise and China’s currency strengthens, these manufacturers are among the least able to absorb the costs.

The transformation is most apparent in the boomtowns that tied their fortunes to making one product cheaply, from Guangdong province in the south to Honghe’s environs in the Yangtze River Delta. Many of these manufacturing centers have seen hundreds if not thousands of factories and workshops close in recent months, industry executives say. In Shengzhou, a city near Shanghai that claims to make one-third of the world’s neckties, manufacturers are trying to hold a united front to boost prices. Dongguan, in Guangdong, is seeing makers of toys, shoes and brushes close shop.”

“Expect to see quite a few very large machine tools at this show, especially horizontal boring mills and flatbed lathes with large spindle bores. Activity in the energy, oilfield and power generation markets is a key factor driving interest in these machines. (Machines to handle large aerospace components will also be conspicuous but no more so than at the last IMTS.) In addition to new, over-sized models from familiar builders, you’ll find some exhibitors, new to IMTS, with machines for giant wind turbine parts and the like.

The combination of a weak dollar, strong pressure on wages in China and the surge in oil prices has wiped out much of the advantage of producing large, heavy components off shore. High oil prices have a double effect—they are spurring domestic oil operations and making it prohibitively expensive to transport heavy goods long distances.

A lot of attention will be directed to features that help a shop avoid re-fixturing or need extra setups. Moving big, heavy workpieces is a major consideration for users of these machines.

Interestingly, tolerances on large workpieces are tight and getting tighter because high accuracy is linked to efficiencies and energy savings in end products. Big pistons, turbine components and valve bodies are a few examples where we see this happening. So machine tool builders will be touting advanced feedback systems, anti-vibration provisions and thermal control. Measuring large parts is also an issue. Look for portable, laser-based systems to be prominently displayed.”

Over the next 2 months, we’ll have more to report on this event taking place in Chicago and how we local manufacturers can participate and benefit.

One of our most successful programs is our “Fast-Track” training course. Students receive 72 hours of manufacturing training over an eight-week period. Our goal is to place the students in a full time position with a local manufacturer after graduating from the class. Fast-Track students receive training in blue print reading, calibration, “soft skills” and actual time on CNC machines. Goodwill Abilities Center staff then work to place the graduates in a full time position.

One element that is currently missing from the program is the follow-up and encouragement that new employees often need to succeed in their new jobs. We are therefore looking for volunteers who could devote approximately 10 hours, spread over a two-three month period, to assist the student in transitioning from the class room to full time employment.

Mentors would be asked to:

1. Meet the student half way through training period to get acquainted with their prospective students.

2. At the conclusion of training, consult with the Fast-Track trainers to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the student.

3. Work with Goodwill Abilities Center staff to secure permission from the hiring company to serve in the mentoring capacity at the company’s facility/plant.

4. Meet with the student once per week during the first month of employment. Gradually conclude the process once it is determined that the employee is performing at a level to succeed.

We believe this valuable contribution of a volunteer’s time will go a long way towards ensuring a successful career for our students.

If you know of someone, please let him/her know about this.

Persons interested in serving as a mentor can contact:
Courtney Geiger, Workforce Development Manger
Goodwill Abilities Center
1907 Kishwaukee Street, Rockford, IL 61104
cgeiger@abilitiescenter.org
815-965-3795

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=5238179

http://blogs.e-rockford.com/manufacturing/2008/06/18/export-to-china/

Well, I just received a response to my e-mail that I sent to several potential agents located in China. They were provided to me via the State of Illinois Office of Trade. We are now quoting several products for price, delivery and payment terms. One new experience is that I had to find a software that could open the files he sent, but fortunately, they existed here. Thanks also to Jill at Ingersoll Production Systems for her insight on this small problem that we quickly overcame.

Here’s hoping I can compete and win some new business!! More later.

“After months of negotiating with China’s top steel makers, mining giants Rio Tinto PLC and BHP Billiton Ltd. on Monday won an 85% increase in the benchmark price for iron ore, a key ingredient in steel production. The rise indicates that steel prices world-wide are likely to stay high, further fanning inflation concerns. The increase is retroactive to April 1. That means steelmakers that have purchased iron ore from BHP and Rio since then will have to write checks for the difference. Contract prices for iron ore with this new increase would be in the range of about $140 a metric ton, up from $85 a ton.

There are just three major mining companies. Iron ore will account for 65% of the raw material costs.”

For further details, please contact Sam Schmitz, President, Abilities Center at 815-965-3795 or e-mail at sam@abilitiescenter.org

We look forward to hearing from you!