EXECUTIVE INSIGHTS: LARRY TILMA

CRITICAL ISSUES
Right now the global financial crisis has everyone taking stock of their business to see how to weather the temporary bumps in the road and reinvent themselves accordingly. The expanding global marketplace has already caused most companies to take a new look at where their future opportunities lie.

How we play in the new space is really the most critical issue at the moment. For our company, as a manufacturer of lubrication systems for the metal forming, fabricating, machining and other metal manufacturing industries, the volume of industrialization that is taking place in the world presents very encouraging prospects. How our business evolves to take advantage of them will determine our success.

Environmentally-responsible manufacturing is another critical issue. Both voluntary and mandatory initiatives will only increase going forward. This will be crucial to decision-making in manufacturing companies and is one of the main focuses of our company's business in particular.

EMBRACING CHANGE
We must be willing to embrace change as a way of life. Manufacturing is typically a conservative culture; slower than most to accept new paradigms and practices.

The unfolding growth and migration around the world in our respective industries makes it necessary for us to more frequently evaluate what we are doing, where we are allocating resources and where our business is focused. This needs to become a part of what we do every day if we are to thrive.

For years we have been developing lubrication systems that minimize the use of coolants and lubricants in manufacturing; specifically for companies that cut, machine, shape or form metal. While the metal cutting and machining companies have been quicker to embrace these solutions, the forming/fabricating community has been slower to implement them on a broad basis.

Now that environmental issues and cost have become a priority, many machine builders and end users are attempting to develop their own solutions to these problems. Some are patterned after our capabilities and others are not. In a world that didn't have enough solutions a short time ago, there may be too many in the near future.

CURRENT TRENDS
The entire emphasis on the environment is probably going to ramp up. There will be clear needs to make decisions that include environmentally-responsible cost cutting measures, but there will be reservations to move forward because of uncertainty about the business climate.

These measures must include all aspects of manufacturing and not just the ones people commonly mention. "Outside the box" thinking is required.

Even though these measures can potentially affect the bottom line in a positive way, many of them are classified within the business as capital improvements, which may be unjustifiable on the balance sheet – i.e., solutions that create economies on the shop floor, but are not typically acted upon in a volatile period during the business cycles.

LET'S BE HONEST
Manufacturing is a crucial sector of our overall economy. Continued innovation and research into making products better, faster and less costly benefits everyone. The American people need to understand that manufacturing products is a positive and worthy venture.

Too often we hear the negative from our political class and media as it relates to business, business owners, motives and particular problems.

What we really need are honest conversations about all aspects of industry, how it impacts our economy and how to move forward in an environmentally-responsible manner.

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