Earned Success: A Case for Hard Knocks

Reprinted from the May 2011 Business column in Metalforming magazine.

By: Michael Bleau

While visiting last month’s crowded logistics tradeshow in Chicago, I spoke with a friend, who is an executive of a near billion-dollar manufacturing company. He shared his frustration in trying to find enough qualified engineering, project management and skilled manufacturing people. Last year his company’s business boomed and is on track for continued growth in 2011, yet they are held back by a lack of qualified prospects available to fill new jobs. What an astonishing contradiction at a time when our nation is faced with a jobless rate hovering in the 9% range. A recent CBS News broadcast echoed my friend’s challenge, reporting that while the number of available manufacturing jobs had doubled from last year, many are not being filled due to a shortage of skilled workers.

There was a time when one could graduate from high school, enter into an apprenticeship program, work hard, earn a good wage, raise a family and retire having spent an entire career with a single company. Those days seem to have died a generation ago as the division between unions and management grew from a healthy balance to a lopsided contest where participants are seemingly blind to the path they are blazing towards mutual annihilation. Enter the government to ‘fix things’ and now we really have the perfect environment to encourage shortsighted, over-managed, under-performing mediocrity. This is not who we are. I still believe that we are an accomplished nation of innovators with character, who hail from solid work ethics and sober decision-making. We get things done! So what happened, where are we going wrong?

Why at a time when so many are out of work is it hard for businesses to fill jobs to fuel growth in manufacturing? Why this high unemployment while jobs requiring skilled individuals go unfilled for months on end? In my opinion, we all collectively bowed to political correctness and simply lowered the bar. We did so with such stunning efficiency across all aspects of anywhere performance is measured that now the caliber of the average individual doesn’t meet the minimum requirements to get the job done. We let entitlement win over hard knocks, we adopted ‘good enough’ as the new ‘best in class’, and we started grading performance on a sliding scale instead of valuing lessons learned. And now we, the manufacturing community, having stood by to watch this unfold are reaping the fruits of our inaction. By allowing routine business distractions to grow into a complete lack of involvement we have empowered others not sharing our passion or experience to speak on our behalf, decide for us and by doing so nearly drive us into the ground.

We need to move fast to fix this before we all succumb to becoming conditioned to gleefully accept failure as success-enough. So how do we turn this around? Certainly not overnight, but that’s not an excuse to start making some hard choices and taking action today. Here are a few opinionated suggestions that should get the ball rolling…

·         Get back to the basic of rewards based on actual performance where the scale isn’t recalibrated to accommodate each participant’s uniqueness.

·         Union’s and management need to cut the gamesmanship and work out the kinks. The good-old-boy formula of late needs to die. Don’t dig-in to hold onto out-dated positions, figure out how we can work together to dig out. If we can’t get this accomplished, then we will continue to see jobs ship out and businesses restructure or fail.

·         Get government out, period. Until our representatives learn to balance trade and their checkbook, and to create a stable business climate for manufacturing I submit that our legislators can respectfully remain in Washington. Once they clean up an overgrown government, then and only then, will they have earned the right to voice an opinion about how business should operate.

·         Bring back private sector internships and apprenticeships. Sure, we all talk about and want to benefit from the value of these programs, but business needs to fund these through adoption and real financial commitment. For such programs to be effective we need the private sector to step up and make it happen. To this point, look to next month for an expanded discussion that highlights opportunities for business in this arena.

If we are to reinvigorate our manufacturing heritage we must adopt a more conservative definitions of ‘performance’ and ‘success’. We need to teach future generations to embrace hard knocks as opportunities to learn, grow and strive for self-improvement and to persist in a pursuit of perfection. Lowering the bar to make exceptions for something less than perfect, while seemingly kind or empathetic, only accomplishes to create a false self-actualization within the individual it touches and collective weakening of the whole of society. Overcoming obstacles brings out our best qualities and leads to some of our greatest achievements.

PowerPoint Presentations: Keeping them Simple

Reprinted from the April 2011 Business column in Metalforming magazine.

By: Michael Bleau

Recently I was reminded how quickly one can over think something seemingly as simple yet as important as a presentation. Since our industry is saturated with engineering-centric businesses it’s understandable that when asking an engineer to present a topic to peers they may try to cram 150 slides into a 20-minute time slot. Struggling against this urge myself, I find that many ‘detail oriented’ individuals assume everyone else is too, and if not, well they should be since details are ÜBER relevant. From this point of view we can fall into the trap of building endless slide decks that are heavy on narrative, packed with bullet points and unnecessary detail. Such overkill creates barriers to clear communication. Here are some tips that you can apply in rethinking how you approach presentations so they become direct, clear and well received.

Know your audience. Decide on the purpose of your presentation. Are you there to entertain, persuade, inform, sell, etc. Based on your topic and then make-up of your audience you can decide on your tone and approach. For example, should you be light-hearted, formal or somewhere in the middle. How technical is your audience, do they share a common frame of reference as you or are you presenting something that will be very new to them on many levels. What are their expectations and what do you think they expect to walk away with from the experience, which leads to our next point.

Provide takeaway value. Distill your complex ideas into specific, concise points that your audience can easily remember and take with them. If they don’t walk away with value, they’ll forget you, your presentation resulting in wasted time for both of you.

Show or tell. Now ask yourself, should you use a presentation deck at all? If you can engage the audience through an actual demonstrations of your subject, then do you need to distance the experience by inserting a slideshow into the mix? If you can show ‘it’ and the audience can experience ‘it’ in a sensory-rich way, then drop the slides altogether. However, if logistically such a demonstration is impractical, read on.

Understand the purpose of the tool. Presentation software is not intended to be a crutch by acting as a teleprompter for the speaker or be a substitute for a printed brochure. PowerPoint, Keynote and other slide show software is not the presentation, the speaker is, you are. You’re the ‘act’ and through your ability to convey information the audience gains value. The purpose of the slide deck is to enhance how you communicate or an anchor where multiple presenters can share and consistently deliver a common presentation deck, as in the case of a national sales team.

Resist the urge to splurge. Just because most presentation software has hundreds of typefaces, millions of colors, dozens of transitions and volumes of clip art doesn’t mean that you need to try to use all of it. Leave open space, keep backgrounds, use of color and text simple so that your slides look consistent and not distracting.

Tell your story. While getting the ‘messaging’ right is typically on the mind of many marketers, presenting a compelling story will win out over messaging every time. Apple Computer’s Steve Jobs is a master storyteller in his use of the ‘rule of three’. Check out some of his keynote presentations and you’ll see why his persuasive, easy-to-follow arguments follow carefully scripted storylines that include an antagonist and a hero. The antagonist is typically portrayed as the shortcomings of current technology and the hero being Apple’s product solution. And his talks are typically delivered in three acts…Google “the rule of three”. Not many speakers apply this principle, and those who do really stand out.

Connect with your audience. Dubbed the “great communicator” Ronald Reagan was arguably one of the best speaker public speaker since John F. Kennedy, when it comes to broadly connecting with people. Reagan’s thoughtful selection of words and use of ordinary language inspired listeners with phrases like "trust but verify”, “tear down this wall” and "evil empire.”

Choose visuals over copy. Infographics are a powerful, engaging ways to communicate information. Preparing slides that communicate with informative images or graphics instead of bullet points is the quickest way to transfer knowledge and attract the attention of you audience. While it may seem intimidating, it’s not hard to become good at preparing visual. For some help, Google “infographics”, check out TUFTE’s series on envisioning information and get a copy of Dan Roam’s books on problem solving with pictures. Together these resources provide invaluable guidance in transforming your ideas and concepts into visual information.

Technology matters. Technology can play a big role in polish and flexibility. For example, including a simple navigation bar in your presentation allows you to quickly branch to suit audience conditions and interests. Also, consider the delivery device you’re using. A tablet PC or iPad with solid-state data storage provides snappier screen loading and video playback without having to fumble with slower laptop operating systems and disk drives.

Even with all of the above in hand, you need to be well rehearsed. Nothing can substitute a personable, well-prepared speaker who has direct knowledge on the topic and the ability to adapt to the audience.

Eco Challenges: Fish-Friendly Manufacturing

Reprinted from the March 2011 Business column in Metalforming magazine.

By: Michael Bleau

The environmental aspects of metalforming are becoming increasingly important to local communities and workers, and allowing many companies to strengthen their bottom line. Recently, I asked several metal stampers what they were doing to become greener, and how the activities affected their financials. One manufacturer really stood out from the crowd, going beyond anything that I had imagined. The plant’s manufacturing engineering manager walked me through his environmental planning and project materials, and described some interesting ways that his company communicates these changes throughout the plant floor.

This North American metalforming plant annually processes 225,000 tons of steel and aluminum for the automotive industry. In doing so, it annually consumes $7 million worth of energy—$3 million spent during nonproduction periods. Energy consumption consists mainly of electricity (60 percent), along with steam, water/sewer and natural gas, supporting stamping and fabrication processes and other facility uses.

What impressed me the most about its green presentation is the level of professionalism and detail being brought to environmental initiatives. I’ve seen business plans with less detail, so it’s obvious that this company and its 10-member environmental-improvement team take this initiative very seriously. For example, the team is documenting its entire plan with objectives, targets and results. This documentation clearly outlines the goals and why these goals have been established, includes past performance indicators and targets, and addresses how the goals mesh with the company’s overall performance plans. The team meets weekly to review progress, consider new initiatives and discuss strategies and projects designed to eliminate waste, cut energy consumption and identify ways to better track performance.

The approach to improvement follows a basic seven-step process that starts with a thorough understanding of requirements through a series of reactive, preventive and proactive steps. For each identified area of improvement, the team has developed a series of projects associated with changing to an optimal future state. In some cases, these projects are designed to identify additional improvement opportunities. For example, the plant is installing electronic devices at strategic points within its production lines to monitor air and power consumption and identify the drivers of production and nonproduction energy costs. In one case, this monitoring provided insight into how much energy was being consumed—during nonproduction time—by large pump motors on a press line. The team then developed a solution and quickly took action, investing a mere $6000 in electronic countermeasures. As a result, energy-hungry pump motors now automatically shut down when a line is idle, saving the plant more than $70,000 in annual energy costs.

Other energy-saving activities completed:

• Replacing pushbutton light bulbs on control panels toLED lights;

• Adding a chiller regulator to aluminum-welding lines;

• Using an ultrasonic detector to find and repair air leaks; and

• Future steam elimination with forced-air replacements.

While these and other ongoing environmentally focused projects have resulted in nearly $2 million in annual energy cost savings, what really takes top honors is the success of some of the plant’s water-saving and cleanliness initiatives. Clearly, this plant’s goals are not all driven from a cost-savings perspective. For example, through a series of kaizen initiatives, the plant installed automatic faucet and flush units in bathrooms and at hand-washing stations, coupled with a relatively inexpensive bacteria-removing water-filtration system on its water-cooling systems. While these efforts minimally reduce costs, they have reduced the plant’s water consumption by 1.8 million gallons annually.

Efforts like this represent a positive impact on the environment— and here’s the tie-in to the title of this article. To demonstrate to workers (and customers and other plant visitors) just how clean the plant’s cooling-system water has become, the plant installed a 100-gal. fish-filled aquarium on the shop floor, within an informational kiosk. The cooling system’s water circulates continuously through the tank, and after nearly a year the fish remain happy and healthy.

Benchmarking this company, consider these steps: Pull employees together to organize all environmental materials under one team, so that you can see the big picture; organize environmental and energy-saving exercises as you would any part of your business; and communicate internally the goals and results, explaining how everyone plays a part.

Ways to learn more include:

• Visit www.pma.org for details about the Precision Metalforming Association’s Safety and Environment Committee.

• Visit your state’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment website.

• Visit the Environment & Natural Resources Division of the U.S. Department of

Justice’s website, www.justice.gov/enrd.

HR Challenges: Retaining and Gaining Talent

Reprinted from the January 2011 Business column in Metalforming magazine.

By: Michael Bleau

With the continued economic recovery comes opportunity and challenges for business managers as operations scale to meet new demand. As resumes continue to pile in you may miss the potential for the loss of key human resources. Just as your business picks up and you start offering job openings, other companies are doing so too, which may tempt your employees to leave. Many people have felt stuck; waiting out the recession while they inherit their eliminated peer’s workload all the while their pay rate is either stagnant or reduced. Business leaders need to recognize that the wait is over and that they need to move fast to retain their top talent. The HR gurus at Right Management have released survey results showing that 83% of the gainfully employed will change jobs in 2011. While this could mean that potentially more than half of your workforce could take jobs elsewhere it says a lot more about the current state of morale and dissatisfaction felt by many in the workforce. Holding on to the right people and attracting talent is key to a successful rebound for many companies.

EMPLOYEE SURVEY DETAILS In a December 2010 survey conducted by Right Management (www.right.com), a division of job-placement firm Manpower, found that 84% of workers intend to seek a new position in 2011. A majority of the 1,400 respondents say they plan to look for new jobs, while only 5% say they intend to remain in their current position. This is a sharp increase from an identical survey conducted a year ago, when just 60% of workers expressed an intention to find a new job in the coming year.

In my opinion, loyalty in today’s employment relationship is undervalued and not often enough reciprocated between business and employee. Building trust, loyalty and security takes thoughtful effort and works both ways in securing stability. But doing it right takes planning. Employment research shows that companies that provide career development opportunities are more than four times less likely to lose talent than organizations that do not. As the economy continues to improve, now is the time to work hard at holding onto your knowledgeable, solid, key performers who continuously bring value to your business. It’s also the perfect time to start securing fresh talent by luring disenfranchised star performers with the prospect of a positive career move.

Getting a plan in place…

·                 -    Identify how your workforce needs will change as you move forward

·                 -   Identify at-risk positions and plan contingencies to cover the loss of key employees

·                 -   Gage employee satisfaction and be mindful of how this can affect retention

·                 -   Identify high-value employees and keep them engaged, growing and performing

·                 -   Tap into your key employees’ networks to capture some new star performers

A good place to start is to identify critical positions where you feel growth or expanded coverage will be required in the coming year—look at all parts of your business. Also, consider where you may be at risk by not being able to quickly bridge the loss of an incumbent in a key position. Next, work with your HR team to build your budget by determining what compensation you intend to offer candidates in order to fill new positions. Check these against industry standards to see how you measure-up against other companies and look outside of your industry to consider other growing businesses within your geographic region.

Once you have completed these exercises, you’re ready to identify and meet with your existing star employees to learn about their career aspirations and how your plans mesh with theirs. It’s possible their goals may fit areas of future demand that you recently identified within the business. This also gives you an opportunity to proactively bump-up their compensation to get competitive or to reinstate pay cuts enacted as belt-tightening survival tactics during the recession. Do so in a planned, open and methodical way with the intention of satisfying the goals of employees in ways that align with your business plans. It’s imperative to have a strategy. Simply engaging in ‘exploratory meetings’ so close to the end of a recession may spawn workplace rumors about job cuts, could lead to negative morale, heightened job stress and fuel the prospect of employee departures; all of which you are trying to avoid. Sometimes overlooked, is tapping high-value employees to leverage their social and business networks to fill open positions.

Your high-value employees have mobility options, more so now than ever, so it’s important to have strategies that keep them engaged, productive and performing. As the new year unfolds build a retention and recruitment strategy to ensure business stability and scalability. Holding onto and bringing on the right people is going to be a defining factor in your ability to take advantage of new business opportunities.

Section 179: Buying and Selling Before Time’s Up

Reprinted from the December Business column in Metalforming magazine.

By: Michael Bleau

Whether you are a metal stamper or a supplier serving the industry, you both have an opportunity to leverage Uncle Sam’s pocketbook. But you’d better hurry, since the clock is winding down on 2010 and when it does, the best part of this deal ends. I’m referring to the bonus deduction of Section 179 of the tax code. This tax code was created to help small businesses deduct the full amount, within limits, for the purchase of equipment, vehicles and other tangible personal property. Enacted originally in the early 1960s, it became most notable in the 80’s when Congress upped the limits. Most recently, it received special provisions to spur economic growth by doubling the available deduction through The Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010. After a quick review, you may find it enticing as a manufacturer to quickly take possession of needed equipment or encouraging as an equipment supplier to make that big sales push as we close out the year.

Section 179 Summary (Source: www.section179.org)

·       Taxpayers can write-off up to $500,000 of qualified capital expenditures—subject to a dollar-for-dollar phase-out once these expenditures exceed $2,000,000—for tax years 2010 and 2011.

·       Chances are if you use it in your business then it probably qualifies under Sect 179; including machines, off-the-shelf software, computers, office furniture and office equipment, vehicles with a gross vehicle weight in excess of 6,000 lbs, and certain qualifying real estate.

·       Section 179 extends a first-year 50% depreciation for qualifying purchases placed in service during the 2010 tax year. However, the 50% bonus depreciation for tax is not extended into year 2011 and can be used in combination with Section 179 assets, but not for the same assets…no double-dipping.

·       The code allows a business to deduct, for the current tax year, the full purchase price of financed or leased equipment that qualifies for the deduction. And key to this, the equipment must be placed into service in the same tax year that the deduction is taken.

·       By deducting the full cost, you may substantially lower the amount you pay for equipment through earned deductions. And the benefits can be further expanded if you lease or finance your equipment. Also if the equipment is financed or leased, it's possible to receive a tax reduction that exceeds the amount of financing that must be paid in the first year or two, thus resulting in a positive cash flow.

·       If your company is operating in an Enterprise Zone and Renewal Community Businesses, the New York Liberty Zone, or the Gulf Opportunity Zone, then you may qualify for increased deductions.

David Duffy, managing member of David Duffy, CPA & Company, PLLC (Royal Oak, MI) affirms that Section 179 was especially designed to benefit small to medium sized companies. Mr. Duffy explains that businesses are allowed to deduct Section 179 to the extent that it doesn't create a tax loss. And if you take 179 on an item and are in a tax loss position, then the 179 portion that ‘contributes’ to the loss is suspended and carried forward to apply in the first subsequent year that you have a tax profit, and then only to the extent that you have a profit. Unused, suspended 179 deductions continue to carry forward until they have been fully applied.

While you may have only the balance of this month to act and earn the bonus deduction, it may be well worth the effort. If you are a buyer, discuss with your tax advisor how Section 179 can benefit you. If you are a seller, then research and explain the benefits to your customers to try to move some inventory and boost your December sales numbers. Just remember, you have to purchase/lease, take possession and place into service the items before December 31^st to qualify for the full benefits afforded by Sect 179. It’s not very often that our friends at the IRS make way for a very Merry Christmas, so let’s not disappoint scrooge—spend, spend, spend and save.

Special thanks to Jim Ward at COE Press Equipment for bringing Sect 179 to my attention.

More on Social Media: Blog Basics

Reprinted from the October Business column in Metalforming magazine.
By: Michael Bleau

Frequently, I’m asked just how ‘social’ manufacturing companies should become, to which I reply, as much as the market will bear. If there is value to what you have to say, then say it or someone else will take the lead from you. Corporations are getting into blogging and leveraging social media outlets. While still only a fraction of their media spend, the growth trend on blogs continues to be positive.

When well executed, this type of website enhancement can be used to educate consumers, create excitement about products and services with customers, grow your direct email lists and used internally to communicate company news to employees. Establishing a blog for your business is another means of pushing fresh content to prospects while building search engine relevance for your company’s website. In the coming months, we’ll cover other social media options, such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook for business.

Types of Blogs
To borrow from Wikipedia, a weblog is a web application that contains periodic posts on a common webpage. These posts are often but not necessarily in reverse chronological order. Basically, if you publish written content on a periodic basis, a blogging software package simplifies your publishing workflow. There are a few variations to this, including podcasting, which has nothing to do with Apple Computer’s iPod products, the name means playable on demand, where the author posts audio and/or video streams. Video blogging, sometimes called vlogging or vidblogging is simply a video webcast. A great example of a promotional vidblog for the perfect ‘blend’ of b2b and b2c customer targets can be found at willitblend.com. Audio and video blogs are more advanced and require some additional software, skill and effort, but each offers subscribers options in terms of how they like to consume content. In either case, a written form of the blog is always recommended as a part of a search engine optimization strategy. To learn more about being a search engine friendly blogger, Google “how to optimize your blog for search engines.”

Blog Hosting Options
A quick way to launch a blog is to use a hosted service. There are many hosted options that offer simple to use, customizable blog sites, including; TypePad, Blogger, LiveJournal and many more. You have the option to link to these from your company’s website and they typically offer a simple interface for posting content. Many allow you to customize the layout and masthead so that the blog can seamlessly look like a part of your website. Such services are managed for you, so you don’t have to deal with IT issues and you can start posting within minutes of signing up for an account. Many of these services, like Blogger, are free, but some, including TypePad, may charge a monthly fee. A risk with using services like Blogger or Wordpress is that the they own the content you post and should they elect to have the right to remove content or take down you blog.

If you maintain your own web server and want complete control of your blog installation, you'll want to consider a self-hosted package, like some popular choices, including; Movable Type, WordPress and Textpattern. Once you’re up and running you’ll need to focus on the several important and challenging tasks…who will write content, what they’ll write about and who will monitor and respond to comments.

Blog Assignment
Writing a blog doesn’t require Shakespearian skills, but concise, well-written blog sites tend to grow more quickly and command larger audiences. Keep in mind that this is a business blog, so how your company is perceived is paramount. Coordination with a marketing resource will ensure consistency within the boundaries of your corporate identity standards.

If you plan on having a single writer, then you can take the 20 minutes-a-day approach to keep content alive and fresh. Here the writer prepares a single post each day, which should take no longer than 20 minutes to generate. Other options include assigning multiple writers to tackle a series of topics with scheduled posts by each throughout the week. This spreads the responsibility out and reduces the workload on any one individual. You also have the option to outsource the heavy lifting of writing and posting to a PR firm who can poll company insiders for topics. If you opt for outside assistance, then it’s best to have a knowledgeable insider act as your point-person to review and approve content prior to posting by the outside firm.

Finding your Voice
Decide the personality you want to convey with your blog, this should reflect the “personality” of your company, its culture, and how you want the business entity to be perceived. You also need to consider the audience that you’re addressing. Consider what tone the blog takes…serious, technical, or conversational. Decide on a narrative form: first person, second or third person view? Do you include industry jargon? Once decided, craft a short reference sheet that outlines the ‘rules’ of the blog for your contributing writers as well as a brief profile of the audience. This will ensure relevancy and consistency in your posts.

Themes and Topics…Content is King
Your blog can cover various topics that affect or interest your audience or you can claim a theme and own it. Write about what you know, what you do, or are passionate about. For example, if your company is known for a specialty or niche such as press monitoring, then you could create a persona around this topic and share daily tips on improving production environments through better press monitoring. And whenever possible, include visuals. Photos, charts, video always add value when telling a story.

Frequency
Two posts per week is a good minimum for starters, but multiple, daily posts is a better way to build an audience as they’ll have more variety to choose from each day. But don’t force it…you’re better off posting good content then simply posting to create some noise. Increased frequency may require contributions from multiple participants within your organization, which is a good way to minimize workflow distractions, while maximizing blog content. Also, it’s important to note that posts need not be long; in fact, shorter, succinct posts are easy for readers to consume. Assume that your readers are busy and have other informational resources. Keeping posts condensed is just as easy on your writers as it is for your readers. If a topic demands more detailed coverage, then break it into segments or continue to post smaller stories while building towards a larger post.

Promote your Blog
Once you start, build up a few weeks worth of posts, then promote your blog. A few quick, easy ways to do so include;
• Adding a link to your company’s website
• Issuing a press release announcing the blog…target traditional media outlets and of course other bloggers who write about blogging
• Send an email communication using your customer mailing list
• Include a written reference (not the link) in your print materials, including advertisements
• Inform callers about your blog using your on-hold messaging recording
• Have employees include a link next to a weblink in their email signature line
• Also, use your blog to promote your company though downloads of white papers, webinar schedules, event participation schedules, product information and offerings, newsletters, etc.
• Offer RSS feeds and email subscribe options
• Within or at the end of your posts offer links to trade organizations, articles or other resources that offer more information about the topic of each post

Feedback and Monitoring Third-party Blogs
Keep tabs on what’s going on with your brand. Consider monitoring the blogosphere to contribute to blogs that affect your business or industry and to comment or respond to mentions of your company on other blogs. Monitoring third-party blogs gives you the opportunity to quickly respond to negative and positive posts about your company.

When it comes to your site, allowing readers to comment on your posts keeps the conversation fluid and offers readers the opportunity to provide feedback.

Summing it all Up
As manufacturers serving the metal forming community you have the unique opportunity to leap ahead of the curve. A recent Fortune magazine study found, that of the Fortune Global 100 only 33-percent have corporate blogs. Thus, if the big, mass consumer brands are slow to adopt, then it’s a safe bet that our industry has a great deal of unclaimed territory. So when it comes to blogging and other social media outlets you have a tremendous opportunity to get out front and become a modern media pioneer.

Flint Assembly Marks 13-Millionth Vehicle

Grand Blanc, where Industry Scope is based, has like it's big brother Flint seen some dramatic changes in the manufacturing landscape. Our once highly productive Cadillac Grand Blanc plant was once a massive stamping facility with acres to grow on. Now it's the home of a much smaller GM's tool works and a nice big WalMart and Sam's club. With the other plants in Flint closing or being 'downsized' the news of the 13-millionth vehicle coming off of the line at Flint Assembly is GREAT for long time residents who remember just deep those automotive roots use to go. Do you think that Michael Moore will zip down from Traverse City to run some film on this one?

So it goes that on Thursday, September 30, at 10:45 am, we honor the 13^th million vehicle rolled off the line, you can read the post on AUTOFIELDBLOG for more.

The vehicle in question was a 2011 GMC Sierra Denali 3500HD

Source: AUTOFIELDBLOG