Video – Narrated Graphicast LTA Mold Filling Process
March 26, 2010
Video – Graphicast – Managing the Message about “The Recession”
March 26, 2010
Video – Graphicast New Part Development Process
March 26, 2010
Maybe There is a Future for Manufacturing
March 25, 2010
- “Geoff Forester photograph, courtesy of the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund”.
We’ve had a busy two weeks of visitors at Graphicast. Not from customers or potential customers, but from students. A class from our local high school is learning about career opportunities, soft and hard skills required for success in the workplace, and taking part in internships to gain some experience. I first visited their classroom to talk about all the different skills that are required to run a manufacturing company. The next day, they came by for their plant tour. This was the first chance for most of them to see an operating factory. They had no idea what was taking place within a few blocks of their school. As one student said, “This was a lot more interesting than I thought it would be”.
Business Sustainability and the Recession
March 17, 2010
“Geoff Forester photograph, courtesy of the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund”.
Graphicast will be one of the presenting companies at this year’s spring conference of New Hampshire Businesses for Social Responsibility. We will be in a session entitled “What lessons has the recession taught us about business sustainability?” Graphicast was asked to participate in this conference based, in part, on how we dealt with the impact of the recession on our business.
We developed an action plan which we communicated to our employees early in 2009. In this plan, we indicated the steps we would follow if certain situations occurred during the recession. These steps included cuts in discretionary spending, salary reductions, hour reductions, and temporary furloughs. As with many other manufacturing companies, by the spring of 2009 we were at the last step. We did have some voluntary furloughs late in the in the spring, but by mid summer everyone was back on the job. During the furlough period, Graphicast paid 100% of the health insurance costs of our furloughed employees. This allowed them to more easily sustain themselves while they were not working. As it turned out, many of the furloughed employees took advantage of this time to develop stronger relationships with their families and friends. They made the best of a difficult situation.
Several of our employees captured their thoughts and impressions of the furlough during a video interview conducted by Heartwood Media. This video was shown at the “Breakfast with the Best” celebration in February 2010. Take a look at what they had to say about their experiences with the recession.
INTERZINC SEMINARS
March 13, 2010
The next series of Interzinc Design Seminars will take place in Texas at the following locations and dates: April 20, 2010 in Arlington, April 21, 2010 in Austin and April 22, 2010 in Houston. By attending an Interzinc Seminar you will gain valuable knowledge of the engineered zinc-aluminum alloys. The presentation is free and will include coverage of physical property specifications, design guidelines, casting applications, available finishes and case studies. Click here for more information and registration on line. Hope to see you there.
Design2Part Show Dallas
March 11, 2010
Traffic has been good both days, with an unusual number of attendees from local machine shops yesterday. Their customers are pressing for lower part cost, and one solution is a near net shape casting that requires minimal secondary machining. Lower cost solutions seem to be driving most attendees this year, although I have been encouraged to to see a number of design engineers show up with projects they are working on that will potentially involve castings.
Graphicast LTA Casting Process Described in Detail on New Video
March 4, 2010
We’ve just posted a new video to the Graphicast You Tube channel. You can now see the Graphicast LTA casting process unfold in slow motion, with each step explained in a thrilling narration. Just like in the Olympics, breaking the action down into slow motion with analysis along the way helps you better understand what’s happening during the process and, hopefully, gives you a better appreciation of the finer points of the process.
American managed.
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