There is a lot of buzz and speculation about the introduction of the cap and trade laws.  Many speculate that it will be a job killer and open up the necessity for deep cuts in manufacturing, which in turn will impact the machining industry.  Here’s a recent article that may be of interest to you.  Is your machine shop at risk?

On June 26, the House passed a cap and trade bill that is expected to dramatically increase the cost of energy. The American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454) establishes an economy-wide cap on carbon emissions and creates emissions credits. Companies would then buy and sell credits to emit more carbon. The goal is to force the economy to use renewable energy sources by increasing the cost of traditional sources. Many of the alternative sources have yet to be invented or discovered.

Manufacturers are concerned about the impact of skyrocketing energy prices in America. Many fear that the energy tax would force companies to outsource work to low-cost Asian countries such as China and India.

NTMA/PMA One Voice lobbied aggressively to prevent the passage of cap and trade, however, it passed by a narrow margin, with more than 40 Democrats voting against the bill. To see how members of Congress voted on this legislation, click here.

The Senate is expected to consider cap and trade this summer. One Voice will continue to lobby against this job-killing legislation. You can tell your Senators to vote against cap and trade by clicking here.

I think all of us in the machine shop industry are a little concerned about what’s next. For some us we’ve seen an increase of work for our milling centers, where our lathe work has dramatically decrease. Some of seen just the opposite. Others I know are realizing an overall increase in their CNC machining.

But all Machine Shops are wondering what the machining will business we be like as we enter a new year with such an unstable economy. As a sales rep for John Prosock Machine I speak with many of our existing manufacturing customers as well as new companies that are looking to source out CNC mill and lathe machining. Some are slowing to the point where they are able to machine their own parts on their own milling centers or CNC lathes.

While others have seen their work load expand which is requiring them to pursue other machine shops to meet their growing internal demand. But everyone seems to be holding their breath to see what is next for the economy and how that will affect the manufacturing sector and the world of precision machining. At John Prosock Machine we are pulling out the stops.

We believe that this year will be one of the best ever. Certain sectors of the market are growing. We believe its our job to find out where the growth is and then position ourselves in front of the growing demand and thrive during these tough times.