June Data In

Industrial production in the U.S. rose .5% in June according to the Federal Reserve however the 2nd quarter total fell below the 1st quarter total by a 3.1% annualized return. Manufacturing output gained .2% in June boosted by a 5.4% output increase in motor vehicles and parts. Remember that in June many automakers got back striking union members which attributed to the industry boost in output. Dark days ahead as GM's announcement this week will certainly effect production.

U.S. Manufacturing still continues to underperform the general economy and would be in dire straits were it not for the weak dollar.

Productivity increase? Really?

I read an interesting article in the New York Times today. They were quoting a survey from a company called Basex and to say the least I was surprised.

U.S. companies lose $650B a year in productivity. That's Billion with a B. They term the phenomena "information overload." The average American worker turns to their Outlook or email client over 50 times a day. Instant messaging takes the productivity killer title with a suprising average of 77 times a day used. I find that number hard to believe.

Overall the message is clear. Are the conveniences of 2008 helping or hindering our productivity? Well I just killed 10 minutes on this blog....

Industrial Sales Positions available

This is a video job description from my YouTube channel where I post many of my jobs. I put it here primarily because this is the type of sales position I recruit for quite a bit. Take a look...

More On LeanSouth

More May Data Available

The Federal Reserve reports that industrial production fell 0.2% in May, an improvement over April's 0.7% drop. Manufacturing output was unchanged in May.

In terms of the manufacturing world, the recession seems to only be prevalent in industries supplying the construction services and automotive (OEM and parts) industries. Automotive output is down 10% from February.

Now Hiring

My business is growing and I'll be launching a lean manufacturing consulting practice later in 2008. The concept is called LeanSouth and will be the contract/consulting arm of Southern Manufacturing Search.

I'm looking for an experienced recruiter in the Atlanta, Birmingham, Orlando or Charlotte markets preferably. The candidate I'll be interested in will have a large network of contacts in the lean manufacturing, Six Sigma and other continuous improvement arenas.

Contact me at mark@southernmfgsearch.com for more information. Thanks!

U.S. Manufacturing Flat in May

Economic activity in the manufacturing sector failed to grow in May, while the overall economy grew for the 79th consecutive month, according to the Manufacturing ISM Report On Business released on June 2. The Institute for Supply Managment's PMI index registered 49.6%, 1 percentage point higher than the 48.6% reported in April.

A reading above 50% indicates that the manufacturing economy is generally expanding; below 50% indicates that it is generally contracting.