JM Performance Products, Inc. President John Stoneback and the Reshoring Initiative Founder & President Harry Moser participated in the “Post-COVID-Reshoring-OPS” Q&A.
The COVID-19 pandemic has spurred a national push moving forward to strengthen the domestic supply chain of essential products, driving reshoring numbers higher. The following Q&A is designed to share insights on how today’s companies can address and prevent post-pandemic supply chain disruptions, advance their manufacturing productivity, and reskill workforces.
JM Performance Products, Inc. President John Stoneback and the Reshoring Initiative Founder & President Harry Moser participated in the “Post-COVID-Reshoring-OPS” Q&A.
JM Performance Products, Inc. is a manufacturing innovator of CNC mill spindle optimization products since 2009. Their High Torque Retention Knobs overcome a critical design flaw inherent in CNC v-flange tooling that is responsible for costly CNC milling and boring issues industry wide−in terms of production, time, and tooling.
The Reshoring Initiative, founded in early 2010, hopes to bring five million manufacturing jobs back to the US by helping manufacturers realize that local production, in some cases, reduces their total cost of ownership of purchased parts and tooling. The RI also trains suppliers how to effectively meet the needs of their local customers, giving the suppliers the tools to sell against lower priced offshore competitors. The RI is a nonprofit organization that offers several free tools to advance their mission. What are the aftermath effects in the “nearly” post-COVID-19 landscape for US manufacturing?
Moser: From a reshoring perspective it’s clear that government, consumers, and companies must understand that a global and fractured extended supply chain is not good. Reducing our dependence on foreign countries and corporations for critical technology and products is critical. Quite simply, we need to source more in North America, with the US getting the bulk of it. Without having to worry about geopolitics and the US/China ports, the risk comes down dramatically. Experts feel that China will begin to voluntarily decouple as a strategic shift, whereby they switch their focus from economic growth to economic control. China is furious because of the US resisting their efforts in the Western Pacific−particularly the protection of Hong Kong and Taiwan. If they are convinced that we’re trying to cut them off from their maritime supply chain, China may announce at some time that no Chinese company will ship to the US.
They could also mandate their populace to just buy China-based products. This is made more plausible as 40% of Chinese income is saved by their populace vs. 3-5% for the US−making it easier for them to replace their dependency on us.
I believe it’s a question of degree where they may pick the 5-10 things that we need most (i.e.-penicillin, semiconductors, cell phones, etc.). If they tried this 20 years ago it wouldn’t have worked because they needed us more. Now, we need them more as we have nowhere else to go for these vital items.
Other geopolitical landscape scenarios exist as well, such as Cuba being positioned to block trade from many areas in/out of the Caribbean. The question is, will Cuba, a target for China, help them financially/militarily to block the US? In many ways, the US is doing the same thing in Taiwan, Philippines, etc. This is a very extreme scenario, but also very possible on a percentage level as I believe these trends will continue.
Stoneback: From a small manufacturing perspective, we all need to recognize that we are never going to experience “business as usual” pre-Covid-19. The supply chain disruption has affected every manufacturer, whether they are a small “Mom & Pop” shop or a multi-national entity. We are all being forced to examine our business practices and modify them, so that we can continue to produce our products with better efficiencies while controlling escalating costs.
Everything from buying steel to semi-conductors has been affected. Quoting has taken on a new level of difficulty because lead times are no longer predictable or dependable. Add to that the lack of skilled labor available, and the new deficit of people willing to work, and US manufacturers are now playing the game with a whole different set of rules.
The current domestic “hyper-inflation” must be taken seriously. The cost of everything from food and clothing to fuel and housing has jumped dramatically. The unfortunate reality is that many items are still significantly less expensive if they are imported. The challenge of making every dollar stretch further opens an argument that higher costing domestically produced goods are an extravagance. Changing that mind-set is a necessary but daunting task. Additionally, we all need to recognize that the demand for higher wages to offset the escalating costs, and devaluation of the dollar is imminent. What affect will this additional layer have on reshoring? This is a question every business owner, especially manufacturers, needs to examine.
JM Performance Products is staunch about making our products here in the USA from domestic steel and having to justify our cost over an import is our day-to-day challenge.
The fact of the matter is, we can and do guarantee our quality and performance. If an imported part fails, what is the remedy? A failure of our products, retention knobs, can cause catastrophic damage resulting in production down-time and repairs. It is highly unlikely that a cheap import comes with any sort of guarantee or cost mitigation policy. The reality is that paying more up-front often means saving money down the road; but that is a difficult message to convey.
What is the biggest/most immediate challenge for post-COVID-19 domestic manufacturers?
Moser: The good news is that the reshoring effort has been on a successful track in bringing back manufacturing jobs to the US−6K in 2010, 160K in 2020, and 200,000 or more in 2021. This is still not enough growth needed to reduce the trade deficit and reach the goal of bringing back 500K jobs per year. Even if we reached that goal, we wouldn’t have the skilled (and unskilled) workers trained to handle the work at that pace.
Therefore, the biggest challenge/obstacle is the skilled workforce, and we need to establish recruiting the unskilled and skilled via aggressive apprenticeship programs for beginners and support college funding to go even further. Lower-level jobs will benefit immediately from apprentice programs as social recruitment of manufacturing careers is key−with guidance counselors leading the way.
The second biggest challenge is to get the dollar down 20%. Also, don’t raise the corporate income tax as it will dissuade companies from building new manufacturing facilities, etc. Moving forward, we also need to adopt a value-added tax credit of 15% on every level of the supply chain (steel, etc.) for exports. Today, if a Chinese company ships to the US, China gives that company a 15% value-added tax/credit. We need to do this as well, as it is a critical incentive over and above taxes, duties, and tariffs.
Stoneback: I agree with Harry. We need to incentivize North American manufacturers while protecting them by leveling the financial playing field. For many small manufacturers, higher corporate income tax will only dilute their efforts to grow and expand. It will also have a negative impact on their workforce.
Where is the global supply chain today in terms of speed of delivery, stock, etc.
Moser: Delivery time is at least 50% longer to get to the US, as there is still a good amount of inventory of products stuck on ships and docks. Across the board, there are shortages in distribution centers and stores, and imported products are still the problem for companies waiting for materials to get here. Quite simply, if you use domestic materials and labor, you’ll have less issues.
Stoneback: Many manufacturers fail to recognize that the costs to use imported materials must include the cost of added time, added transportation, and quite honestly, reduced quality in many instances. Yes, we may have to pay more at first blush, but the cost of buying domestic materials is easily calculated.
What needs to change in the global supply chain moving forward?
Moser: More reshoring and foreign direct investment (FDI) may benefit local firms in the host country through various kinds of spillovers to recognize total cost vs. just the price.
I recently participated in a podcast for the AME (Association for Manufacturing Excellence), which is a lean-focused organization that helps manufacturers successfully navigate the post-pandemic economy. We all agreed that JIT is a lean concept and we do need to get leaner. The problem is that JIT is a problem when you have no inventory and depend on products coming from foreign countries vs. domestic-based.
This still comes down to a sourcing problem where we need to be leaner by sourcing more locally. If we can overcome that problem−JIT will work fine.
Stoneback: Sourcing local is key. JMPP currently manufactures and stocks over 400 different styles of retention knobs, so JIT local sourcing isn’t an issue for our customers. Additionally, we recently developed coupling bolts for live tooling on Mazak Corporation (Florence, KY) CNC lathes which are now available for immediate shipment–eliminating the traditional long lead times for comparable imported coupling bolts for Mazak CNC lathes. How is the post-COVID-19 drought in available/willing employees affecting domestic manufacturers?
Moser: In many cases, employees have been afraid to come back to work because of COVID-19 safety issues. Also, government stimulus aid has de-incentivized some from working, but I feel they’ll come back as funds run low and the pandemic continues to subside. The big challenge for manufacturers will be to get their share of those employees coming back to manufacturing.
Stoneback: Our domestic policies need to change. We must stop paying people to NOT work. No one wants to cause anyone any harm, but there needs to be a limit to what an able-bodied person should receive in assistance.
What does the post-COVID-19 landscape look like for the reshoring effort?
Moser: The current administration’s enhanced efforts are focused on manufacturing essential materials for precarious industries such as microchips, rare minerals, medicine, EV batteries, etc. We can’t be dependent on outsourcing so we must boost production at home. The problem is, for example, we can increase microchip manufacturing capacity, but our chips will be too high priced to compete. The emerging chip factories must get costs down to have a competitive US market here for all the chips, as they are 20-30% cheaper to source from overseas. Plus, overseas is also our customer.
Notably, for the second year in a row, reshoring job announcements outpaced FDI – 62% vs. 38% (historically high but lower than last year’s rate of 70% reshoring, 30% FDI.) What are the bottom-line revelations and insights that should be implemented for domestic manufacturers in the post-COVID-19 era moving forward?
Moser: Again, a skilled workforce is the number one priority, plus automation and improving the trade balance are key. Germany is the best example of this as their trade balance is a surplus of 5% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), whereas the US is at negative 4%. Germany also has a better skilled work force, as manufacturing is 21% of their employment and the US is at 9%. It is also essential to get the dollar down.
Stoneback: While I agree with Harry that a skilled workforce is a priority, I also believe that adopting innovative processes that augment the skill level of our work force is key. Taking a hard look at production bottle necks, and working to simplify processes so that capable, but not necessarily highly skilled workers can maintain the workflow, should always remain a consideration. What can the Reshoring Initiative do to help manufacturers with supply chain problems?
Moser: The Reshoring Initiative offers the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Estimator®. It’s a free, online software that helps companies make better sourcing decisions about offshore vs. domestic sourcing and is also used to sell against imports. The tool asks the companies to look at what products are causing “pain” via “hidden costs.” They can use the TCO to find the products where the hidden costs are greater than the price gap.
We also offer the Import Substitution Program (ISP), where companies can identify the right products to make, and it qualifies the biggest importers of their product. The ISP was created to convince and facilitate importing companies to produce or source more domestically. Customized versions of ISP are available for U.S. manufacturing companies, technology suppliers, and trade associations.
These are unique tools that can become an important part of any sales, marketing, or economic development effort to make smarter sales decisions. Ultimately, lots of jobs are coming back so this could increase US manufacturing by 30%. If 2H2021 progresses at the same rate as 1H2021, reshoring and FDI job announcements for 2021 are projected to be over 220,000 – 38% above an excellent 2020 and, by far, the highest yearly number recorded to date.
Given these statistics and using these tools to do the math and figure it out, manufacturers should have confidence moving forward that it can be done so we can then actively hire, train, and build more factories.
USA “Post-COVID” Reshoring/ Manufacturing Q&A Conclusion:
With an effective vaccine in place, and the COVID-19 crisis nearly over (apart from the new Omicrom variant threat), the negative effects have still permeated the US manufacturing community at every turn and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future–and beyond. Actively addressing the challenges at the forefront because of this pandemic, can create opportunities that pave the way for a stronger, more sustainable US foundation for the future–with advanced manufacturing, training, and reshoring as the essential bedrock.
Register to attend the Feb. 24, 12PM ET Manufacturing Lunch + Learn where you’ll hear from Norton | Saint Gobain and Strausak.
As cutting tool orders continue their recovery from disruptions due to the pandemic, there is a need in the market for high performing tools that provide a better value proposition to the end-user. During the first session, Norton | Saint Gobain experts, Philip Varghese and Alfredo Barragan, will discuss grinding product tiers and their key technology differences that help significantly lower cost per part when grinding cutting tools. Relevant end-user case studies involved in flute grinding, OD and clearance grinding of round tools (end mills, drills), as well as periphery and form grinding of inserts (carbide, PCBN) will be presented. Attendees will also get a sneak peek at the next generation products for round tool grinding and insert grinding that are being actively pursued and tested in the cutting tool market by Norton | Saint-Gobain Abrasives.
The second session will highlight the Strausak model ONE, the new flexible 5-axis CNC tool grinding machine for the orthopedic industry. The machine allows particularly long flute length which is common with surgical drills and reamers. This scalable model has been designed so that any options can be upgraded and retrofitted at any time during the life of the machine to help the user to stay competitive in a dynamic and unpredictable environment. Kris Zellmann, Strausak's National Sales Manager for the U.S. will lead the presentation. Strausak is a member of the Swiss Rollomatic Group of Companies specializing in the design and manufacturing of high precision CNC machines for production grinding and resharpening of cutting tools as well as orthopedic instruments and implants.
Make sure to register today.
Argentum Medical expands its wound-care portfolio through acquisition of Anacapa Technologies’ antimicrobial wound cleansers, gels, and irrigation product lines.
Argentum Medical, a Shore Capital-backed medical device leader and pioneer of silver-plated nylon technology, today announced the acquisition of Anacapa Technologies’ antimicrobial wound cleansers, gels and irrigation product lines. Anacapa Technologies is a market leader and innovator in the formulation of antimicrobial wound care products. Argentum Medical acquired Anacapa Technologies to expand and enhance their wound-care portfolio with the addition of Anasept and Silver-Sept product lines.
Argentum Medical already provides a leading wound-care portfolio, consisting of Silverlon antimicrobial silver-plated nylon dressings and TheraBond 3D wound, surgical site and burn care dressings. To complement its current product portfolio, Argentum Medical will integrate Anacapa Technologies’ Anasept and Silver-Sept antimicrobial wound cleansers, gels, and irrigation solutions with its current wound-care offering (all brand names will remain the same):
Argentum Medical current portfolio Silverlon wound care dressings are critical in helping to prevent infection in surgical, wound or burn victims. Silverlon antimicrobial silver-plated dressings have 50 to 100 times more metallic silver ions than other silver-impregnated dressings. Multiple, peer-reviewed, published clinical studies show the significant benefits of Silverlon in a wide variety of wound settings, including surgical, negative pressure, burn, skin graft, and IV and catheter-related wounds.
TheraBond 3D wound care controls bioburden and minimizes maceration, TheraBond 3D surgical site care provides antimicrobial protection in a variety of post-op scenarios, and TheraBond 3D burn care utilizes unique capillary-like technology to transfer excess fluid away from burns to an outer absorbent dressing.
Argentum Medical acquired portfolio Anasept antimicrobial wound cleanser, gel and irrigation solution helps in the mechanical removal of debris, while delivering broad-spectrum antimicrobial to wound site to inhibit bacteria growth.
Silver-Sept antimicrobial skin and wound gel that inhibits the growth of bacteria and helps maintain a moist wound environment conducive to healing.
With this portfolio, Argentum Medical provides clinicians with an extensive range of solutions for the management of wounds, surgical sites and burns to improve patient outcomes.
“The acquisition of Anacapa Technologies’ wound care solutions continues our strategy to innovate patient care with the most sophisticated technologies and expand our growth in the wound-care space,” said Raul Brizuela, president and CEO of Argentum Medical. “We are excited that Anacapa Technologies is now a part of the Argentum Medical/Cura Surgical family.”
Argentum Medical manufactures its products in the U.S. and will continue to market and distribute all its products domestically and internationally.
“I am proud that Argentum Medical will become the home for our innovations, and by joining forces, together we will help shape the future of wound-care,” said Wally Rogozinski, CEO and inventor of Anacapa Technologies’ core products. “I look forward to seeing this innovative portfolio of products help patients and clinicians globally as part of Argentum Medical.”
Anacapa Technologies is headquartered in San Dimas, California. Upon completion of the transaction, Anacapa Technologies wound care solutions will become part of Argentum Medical.
Get those questions answered when you attend the Automation Roundtable Feb. 16, 2022 @12PM ET.
Automation plays a significant role in manufacturing productivity and the quality of part production, yet not all companies are embracing automation as they should. As advancements in automation continue, there are still questions about the best approach to implementing automation and where to start.
On February 16, 2022, our automation webinar features experts from HIGH QA, SCHUNK, and THK, who will discuss trends and answer questions concerning adopting and implementing automation.
Development in robotics, industrial vision, and collaborative automation open new capabilities in manufacturing automation and engineering. Don’t miss this webinar!
ApiJect Systems will support student design teams and a University of Rochester device design contest.
Helen Shammas wants to make healthcare more accessible in developing countries. Hana Kalco is interested in medical device design. So is Chloe Jones, who plans to become a physician.
All three biomedical engineering seniors at the University of Rochester are excited to be teaming up with ApiJect Systems Corp. on their senior design project this year. The medical technology company creates sterile, non-reusable syringes for vaccines and medical injections. The goal is to prevent the premature deaths of an estimated 1.3 million people who receive medicine each year from syringes that are contaminated.
A $100,000 gift from Jay Walker, ApiJect’s executive chairman, to the University’s Department of Biomedical Engineering, will support medical device design projects for the department’s senior undergraduates and master’s students, new scholarships, and a Create-a-Thon medical device design contest for students University wide.
“What is really exciting is the opportunity this gives us to introduce health care engineering in global and low-resource environments throughout our curriculum, in partnership with a company that has this as their mission,” says Diane Dalecki, the department chairperson and Kevin J. Parker Distinguished Professor in Biomedical Engineering.
An ‘intense design’ experience ApiJect seeks to make it possible for governments and health care sectors worldwide to benefit from a new kind of sterile, non-reusable, prefilled injection format that will be economically efficient for any market.
As part of that effort, it has developed a prefilled injector that combines an aseptically filled Blow-Fill-Seal plastic container and a push and twist-on needle hub. The injector, based on an idea by ApiJect founder Marc Koska, is designed so it can be used only once. That’s important because the World Health Organization (WHO) and the medical industry agree that there is no proper or acceptable way to clean a needle and syringe, due to microscopic amounts of blood that almost always are sucked backward into the syringe barrel when it is withdrawn from a patient’s arm.
The student design team—made up of Jones, Shammas, Kalco, Abdullah Abuomar, and Ronald Lakony—will design improvements to the ApiJect injection system.
“I am excited to be putting into practice what we have learned as engineers in a real setting,” Jones says. “As I enter the medical field myself, I hope to gain a better understanding of medical device development so that I will be able to identify challenges that could be solved with engineering in my own practice.”
Shammas says the opportunity to work with ApiJect dovetails nicely with her interest in pursuing a career in accessibility engineering, “specifically when it comes to developing countries. This will bring me a step closer to learning more about navigating the World Health Organization requirements when designing devices while also keeping in mind requirements from the FDA.”
The benefits of university-industry partnerships The ApiJect/University of Rochester BME Partnership in Medical Device Design for Global Health will also be integrated into student training and design projects in the department’s Center for Medical Technology and Innovation (CMTI) medical device design master’s program.
The Create-a-Thon, to be held in the spring, “will be a few days of intense design that we hope will inspire student interest in medical device design and global health care engineering,” Dalecki says. “Hopefully we’ll have lots of 3D printers going, and many groups of students working together to solve these challenges.”
Dalecki hopes positive results this year will lead to a long-standing partnership with ApiJect. Eventually the department would like to incorporate instructional modules on health care engineering in global and low-resource environments in classes that all undergraduates take, she says.
“Through our partnership with ApiJect, we’ll be able to tap not just their technical expertise, which is going to be really valuable, especially for our medical device design and senior design students, but also ApiJect’s expertise and perspective on working in global and-low resource environments and the networks they might have in different regions around the world,” Dalecki says.
“Their mission is to make injectable medicine safe and available for everyone. Unfortunately, dirty syringes are too common in low- and middle-income countries,” says Kalco. Participating in the senior design project, she says, will help her become more familiar with medical device design and development. “Moreover, this project will allow me to understand the various global health organizations, their preference in injection technologies, as well as waste management practices and minimization of biohazard exposure.”