The Value Stream

The manufacturing labor shortage has become more acute with the legalization of marijuana. Long-standing, highly-regarded companies are struggling to find—and keep—qualified workers able to pass a drug test and work physically demanding jobs. This post tackles the question: should manufacturers relax testing for marijuana? Given legal liability, shortfalls in current…

“Results driven.”  This is how you might have described a boss that I once had.  I was a fairly new manager at the time, and had just been promoted to run a department that was struggling with both delivery and quality.  My boss was definitely results driven, which on its…

Even as the economy rebounds and unemployment drops, the United States faces a skills gap, and particularly so in the manufacturing section. This skills deficit stems from a mismatch – many of today’s job seekers don’t have the competencies needed for today’s high-skill manufacturing jobs. According to the National Association…

Oregon Manufacturing Extension Partnership (OMEP) is in the business of preparing existing manufacturers for what many believe will be a resurgence in U.S. manufacturing driven by labor cost increases in competing countries and ever-increasing U.S. productivity. Our clients are small and medium-sized companies ranging from 5 to 500 employees. We…

Oregon Manufacturing Extension Partnership (OMEP) is in the business of preparing existing manufacturers for what many believe will be a resurgence in U.S. manufacturing driven by labor cost increases in competing countries and ever-increasing U.S. productivity. Our clients are small and medium-sized companies ranging from 5 to 500 employees. We…

This is a guest blog post by our valued sponsors at Schwabe Williamson and Wyatt. Jeff Eden and Katie Kelly are attorneys for Schwabe, Williamson and Wyatt. They can be reached at jeden@schwabe.com or kkelly@schwabe.com.   It’s Monday morning and you receive a call from a…

SkillsUSA Oregon, is a partnership of students, teachers, and industry working together to ensure Oregon has a skilled workforce. SkillsUSA is a national student organization that serves students enrolled in career and technical education training programs in high schools and colleges. SkillsUSA programs help to promote community service and establish…

For manufacturers business growth can be especially challenging. Aside from the big questions about HOW to actually grow the business, support considerations must be in place for success. For example, how do you build the infrastructure needed to support additional sales? How do you keep quality of production in place…

Purchase cards—also known as P-cards or procurement cards—provide businesses with significant opportunities to streamline processing and improve working capital. By replacing paper invoices and manual systems, P-cards help businesses cut operating costs, automate expense reconciliation processes and provide valuable insights on spend patterns. In addition, risk controls are enhanced and…

This is a guest blog post by Teri and Alicia of Northwest Food Solutions What is FSMA? The Biggest Food Legislation Change In Decades Many of our clients and colleagues are talking about FSMA these days. The new Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) is the largest piece of legislation we’ve…