MRO Today - Staight to the American plant floor

Straight to the (American) plant floor

by Tom Hammel, editor

By now I hope you’ve noticed our new tagline, “Straight to the Plant Floor.” This is no small choice of words. It says exactly what we intend to do with MRO Today and exactly where we aim to take it — onto plant floors and into the hands of the maintenance and operations managers and workers all across America. In short, straight to you, the folks who make everything happen.

Manufacturing in America has been under attack for decades. While some of the jobs that have gone overseas would have anyway due to global workforce economics, other jobs have left our shores for reasons that managers have come to regret. This has come home with a vengeance in recent months as a growing number of products from China have been shown to contain substandard and dangerous components.

So why make this change now? Because we believe the need is greater than ever, and the opportunity to serve a revitalizing American manufacturing base is greater than ever, too.

Why “Straight to the Plant Floor?” One reason is because you deserve it. Although there are fewer manufacturers in the United States today, productivity continues to climb: fewer workers are doing more work than ever, and you need help directed your way more than ever. You deserve a resource that caters only to your informational needs.

Our second reason is because shop floor managers and workers today are the real decision-makers in your plants. This includes purchasing authority, which has shifted to the plant floor, too. The people who make the buying decisions for the vast majority of tools, MRO supplies and products are concrete walkers, not carpet walkers.

So yes, we’re following the money, straight to you. (By the way, our advertisers, whom we dearly love, don’t object at all.)

Our third and final reason is because future generations of plant floor managers and workers are counting on us to leave them jobs to fill when we retire. With some hard work, smart tools and solid communication, they’ll be better jobs, too.

So, please read this issue and let me know what you think. I think you’ll find a few nice surprises.