Recent Blog Posts

Something Good is Happening in Manufacturing

“Geoff Forester photograph, courtesy of the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund”.

Graphicast just closed the books on the incredible month of November 2011. Our shipments were among the five best months in the last 10 years, and our bookings exceeded our previous best month by over 35%! Our backlog is at its highest level in five years and we’re running 7 days per week. We’re planning a plant expansion, and we can’t get equipment in fast enough as far as we’re concerned.

We’re hearing similar stories from other companies in the state. Although unemployment remains high and the overall economy is slowing growing, there is a major expansion underway in some parallel economy that’s not showing up in the normal data. One explanation is that the manufacturing economy is driven by global economics, not national economics. As there are parts of the world nicely expanding, those of us in manufacturing are expanding as well. I wonder what things would be like if the US economy really took off?

What Would Small Manufacturers Occupy?

“Geoff Forester photograph, courtesy of the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund”.

We have the Tea Partiers occupying Congress (or at least a part of it) to protest intrusive government. We also have the 99 Percenters occupying Wall Street to protest an intrusive banking and financial services industry.  Although some of us in manufacturing may sympathize with these other protest movements, if we formed a coalition unique to small manufacturing, what would we protest? Government regulations? Government gridlock? Ineffective public education? Predatory banking? Labor unions? Red tape at all levels of government? Globalization? Is there one issue we could all rally around that would help us, or are we too regionalized and diverse to have a common gripe? I certainly don’t have the answer, but you may. Let’s hear from you.

All Packed Up And Ready To Go…!

Graphicast will be at the Design 2 Part show in Marlborough Massachusetts November 2 & 3.  The show is at the Royal Plaza Trade Center, 181 Boston Post Road, Marlborough MA 01752

Please stop by and say hello.  We would enjoy seeing you to discuss our process or any project requirements you have.

This is our last show of 2011 and is right in our backyard, giving us the opportunity to get the real pulse of what is happening in New England.

We’ve crossed the ISO 9001 finish line. Now the work begins.

“Geoff Forester photograph, courtesy of the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund”.

We just successfully completed our Stage 2 ISO 9001:2008 certification audit . Our auditor’s findings will next go through a technical review by other auditors, and we should receive our registration information within four to six weeks. We managed to complete the entire process in just under a year, which is a credit to Dave Gregory, our quality manager, and the entire Graphicast team. Our employees embraced the process and the concepts of a formalized quality system from the start. Now that we’ve reached this point, the challenge of maintaining and improving the system remains in front of us. We’re looking forward to this next phase of the ISO 9001 journey.

Economy Recovering in the Mountain States

Graphicast participated at the AMCON Show in Denver, held in the spacious and modern Colorado Convention Center.  Upon arriving at the Center, we were greeted by a menacing 40 foot “Blue Bear”  statue which appeared to be peaking into the Convention Center.  The 10,000 pound bear is made up of 4,000 interlocking triangles!

 It could be another ride on the economic recovery roller coaster, but it was refreshing to meet a number of visitors to our booth who are working on new part designs with a casting process in mind. Two of the visitors stated that their companies have made a decision to move manufacturing back to the USA from China.  The rising cost to manufacture there, coupled with the high scrap rate and supply chain management costs, triggered the move. 

Many of the small business exhibitors expressed a continuing lack of confidence in a sustained economic recovery. Even with this caution, the consensus was that things are clearly better.  The activity at this trade show certainly supports this.

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