INSIGHTS

Insights

Factory Workforce Training: What You Need to Know in 2018

It is no news to the valve manufacturing industry, and it is something VMA with its Valve Careers initiative is working to alleviate: As the most experienced and knowledgeable workers retire from manufacturing and process control, business leaders must find ways to fill the positions they leave.
#VMAnews #basics

Insights

“Borrowing” a Distributor Partner’s Capabilities

Plant owners, operators and purchasing managers have a challenging job: They must make sure their plants run with little downtime, maximum safety and top efficiency.

Insights

Integration of Automation Lifecycles: Functional Safety, Cybersecurity and Alarm Management

Risk management of a manufacturing process requires a deep dive into the functional safety, cybersecurity and alarm management lifecycles.
#iiot #automation

Insights

Steps to Integrating LEAN Principles into Valve Manufacturing

According to BusinessDictionary.com, the definition of “lean” is “doing more with less by employing 'lean thinking.'” Since the end of World War II, when lean manufacturing was developed and implemented in Japan, the many benefits of manufacturing this way continue to show merit.
#basics

Education

The VMA Knowledge Forum, Part Two: The Human Factor

By: Judy Tibbs, Editorial Consultant, VALVE Magazine

Finding and retaining the right talent is a continual challenge to manufacturers who say the skills shortage has negatively impacted their ability to expand.
#VMAnews

Insights

The VMA Knowledge Forum, Part One: Technology at the Forefront

The first VMA Valve Industry Knowledge Forum, April 11-13 in Savannah, GA, provided a potpourri of topics for valve industry professionals from all disciplines.
#VMAnews #automation

Manufacturing

Are Valves from Low-Cost Countries Getting Better?

The last 25 years have seen standards created and implemented to increase the quality and repeatability of valves procured from low-cost manufacturing sources around the world.
#standards

Insights

Managing the Generation Gap: Much Ado About Nothing?

The baby boomer generation was the most populace and affluent generation the world has ever seen.

Insights

The Amazon Effect: Is Your Distribution Company at Risk?

In a VALVE Magazine article from January of 2018, we discussed the effect that digitization is expected to have on the distribution business.

Insights

Weathering the Snow, Preparing for the ‘Winds of Change’

By: Judy Tibbs, Editorial Consultant, VALVE Magazine

Despite thousands of flight cancellations and challenging travel conditions resulting from an unexpected snowstorm, most members headed for VMA’s Valve Industry Leadership Forum made it to the meeting at the Ritz-Carlton Pentagon City in Arlington, VA, March 22-23.
#VMAnews