By most reports, the metalcasting industry is bouncing back from the recession. Forecasts indicate an industry wide upswing is coming, and anecdotal evidence of facilities running full-out abound. So why do we keep opening the papers and hearing the economy is struggling? Why are millions of people still out of work and protesting in the streets about their situation?

Certainly, this is a difficult question with no single answer. But an article featuring Chicago White Metal Casting on NPR’s website offered at least one valuable insight: our efficiency has allowed us to satisfy the demands of our customers without rehiring some of the less specialized workers we’ve lost.

This is good news for Chicago White Metal Casting and many other small metalcasters across the nation. It is not so good news for workers who have made their living in the manufacturing sector all their lives. But while the situation may cost the country some manufacturing jobs in the short-term, the hope is that efficiency will increase our ability to compete on the global scale in the future.

Doing more with less may seem to be a double-edged sword, but we’ll put our faith in a lean, efficient metalcasting industry rehiring those unemployed workers over an inefficient one any day of the week.

-Shea Gibbs, MCDP Managing Editor