Every successful business start needs a spark. When we asked Mark Zimny, P.Eng., founder of Promation, what led him to the world of automation and robotic systems, he replied “a love for machinery and automation.” It’s there for all to see.

With COVID-19, businesses big and small have had to rethink their immediate and long-term goals. Advanced Test and Automation Inc. (ATA) has not only pivoted its approach, processes, and manufacturing, but has done it with the briefest of notice.

While today’s machining tools – such as CNC (computer numerical control) lathes – are marvels of technology, these programmable machines wouldn’t exist if early man hadn’t played around with some sticks and stones, several millions of years ago, and come up with Tool #1.

Success in business today means knowing your markets, and being adaptable, flexible, and ingenious – all the attributes that have fueled the growth of Federal Foam Technologies, Inc.

With the theme Enabling a Clean, Efficient & Electrified Future, this year’s Ceramics Expo is on track to be bigger than ever. Held May 5 to 6 in Cleveland, Ohio – the birthplace of the popular show – 2020 marks the sixth year of the Expo.

In a world where businesses come and go, Coxreels came and stayed. In business since 1923, the Tempe, Arizona-based manufacturer of high-quality hose, cord, and cable reels is in its third generation of family ownership, and shows no sign of taking it easy.

The world has changed considerably over the years, but Morton Industries’ commitment to its customers and employees remains strong decades after the company was created. A superb, motivated team continues to offer customers the finest in tube and sheet metal fabrication.

For decades, one of the biggest buzzwords in manufacturing was offshoring – having work done in another country.

Claborn Manufacturing is joining sister company Cornerstone Detention Products Inc., the world leader in security products. A key part of the Claborn Family of Companies, new, Alabama-based Claborn Manufacturing provides detention products and furniture across America.

To many, a streetlight pole is just a pole. To Sternberg Lighting, these functional and decorative poles represent the future of a company that continues to grow, almost a century after its founding.

The holiday season is all tradition – from preparing turkey to Bing Crosby’s White Christmas to holiday lighting. But as a turkey feast may become a vegetarian spread, and Bing Crosby gives way to Michael Bublé, holiday lighting has changed with the way our very world is changing.

According to a sixteenth-century proverb, the children of shoemakers always go barefoot. While this saying has been reinterpreted to apply to different professions – like a mechanic whose own car is leaking oil – the meaning is the same: those close to a skilled person are often the last to benefit from their knowledge. With today’s rapid shift from trades such as carpentry, welding, and plumbing toward technology-based jobs, skills are in danger of being lost.