News Briefs
Manufacturing still represents a major portion of Oregon’s economy, and the industry continues to make news. To find stories about the manufacturing topics that interest you, choose from the categories in the menu bar above.
Eliminating the Downtime in No Time
Entrepreneurial Couple Brings PIRTEK to Portland
(Portland, OR)---Choosing a business partner is a lot like choosing a mate: calculated yet integral to the union’s overall success. Just ask husband and wife team and veteran entrepreneurs Kurt and Katrina Braaten, who will open PIRTEK Parkrose on August 18th at 11931 NE Sumner St.
Regional WIRED project is now wired.
Representatives of the Northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington region have launched a Web site to highlight their progress in implementing a $5 million federal workforce grant to drive economic growth through workforce development.
Oregon State University Leadership Tours ESCO Portland Facilities
Portland, OR – On June 3, 2008, Oregon State University President Ed Ray and College of Engineering Dean Ron Adams met with ESCO officers and managers to discuss the steel manufacturer’s workforce development needs and to tour the company’s N.W. Portland plants and testing lab. The OSU officials donned hard hats and safety goggles to view first-hand how ESCO’s engineered wearparts for mining and construction applications are produced in Portland.
New in the Document Library: Oregon's Future Workforce Needs Analysis
There’s a lot of talk and opinion out there about Oregon’s workforce strengths and weaknesses, but the foremost account on the viability of Oregon's future workforce can be found in the report "Oregon's Future Workforce Needs Analysis." This is the definitive study of what the statistics truly tell us about the current state of Oregon’s workforce and it future needs. The purpose of the study was to provide a focused, future oriented investment strategy for Oregon that will ultimately drive shared prosperity. The study makes twelve specific recommendations for moving forward.
Climax Portable Machine Tools Seeks to Show Value of Manufacturing
Geoff Gilmore's company is showing all the signs of positive growth.
The CEO of Climax Portable Machine Tools Inc. can boast of 22 percent annual revenue growth, a growing presence in Europe, and a 14,000-square-foot addition to his manufacturing plant in Newberg to take care of an ever-growing backlog of orders for the company's portable fix-it machines.
Now if he could only find some machinists.
"A building and a bunch of machines don't produce anything," Gilmore said. "We're finding the machinists aren't there."
Training Within Industry: Everything Old is New Again
Industry Week June 1, 2008 -- A training program dating back to World War II is gaining renewed life these days among lean aficionados in the United States. Called Training Within Industry, the program was once widely deployed in the U.S., and is said to have influenced the development of the Toyota Production System. While some companies -- like Toyota -- never forgot about the program, it largely faded from practice among U.S. manufacturers.
Today, however, Training Within Industry, or TWI, is enjoying something of a resurgence in the U.S. among proponents of lean.
Read more:
OIT Portland Project Symposium
The Project Symposium is a night for OIT Portland 2008 Graduates and Juniors to present their projects to Industry Partners, Faculty, Staff and Alumni. Students from Software Engineering Technology, Electronics Engineering Technology, and Renewable Energy Systems will present their applied research projects that represent innovative thinking built on fundamental engineering principles. Please join us in honoring these students and connecting with the OIT Portland community. You will be inspired!
June 6, 2008
3:30 - 7:30 pm
OIT Portland West
Apprenticeships: An Old Concept Gains Steam in Current Job Market
One seldom reads “apprenticeships” and “cutting edge” in the same sentence, but the marketplace is reviving the age-old concept. Apprenticeships offer many job seekers a route to higher education, on-the-job instruction and a competitive salary in an unpredictable job market.
Made in Oregon. Companies find it pays to keep manufacturing local. Take that, China.
By keeping manufacturing local, companies are finding they have more control over raw materials, production and employee training. That allows companies to roll out new products and fill orders faster.They've learned that while outsourcing production sounds like a great idea, hidden costs can eat away at the supposed increased profit margins.
http://www.oregonbusiness.com/.docs/_sid/66bda58e08a5773192ccfa91c90d215...
Linn-Benton Community College launches program to train next generation of manufacturing workers
Starting fall term of this year, Linn-Benton Community College (LBCC) in Albany will offer a program that leads to an associate of applied science degree in mechatronics.
The word “mechatronics” is a combination of “mechanics” and “electronics.” Tetsuro Mori, a senior engineer at Japanese robotics company Yaskawa, created the term in 1969. Mechatronics combines mechanics, electronics, control engineering and computing.