For us, 2016 is the year of smart ideas. Not our
smart ideas, but yours. We've spent a lot of effort collecting
information from Gear Expo, our State of the Gear Industry
annual survey and market research to find out more about what
you want from us. We've also taken your suggestions and used them to make improvements, add new features and build on what we've been doing here for 32 years in our role as the Gear
Industry's Information Source.
One of the great benefits of Gear Expo for us here at Gear Technology is the opportunity to meet faceto-face with many of the people who, in one way
or another, contribute to our success throughout the year. After all, our success is dependent almost entirely
on information and the people who provide it. These contributors
include researchers at top technical universities, the heads of technology at major gear industry corporations, independent consultants with decades of gear industry experience, members
and volunteers at leading industry organizations like the AGMA,
our technical editors and others.
If only there were some source of endless knowledge, experience
and wisdom to guide you through your gear-related problems.
If only there were some philosopher on a mountaintop
whose sole purpose was to bring enlightenment to your gear noise problems, to unravel the mysteries of profile shift, to provide insight to a critical gear manufacturing problem or to explain the meaning of life (gear life, that is).
Our goal at Gear Technology for the past 31 years
has been to bring you the best possible technical
information about gear manufacturing. We serve as the industry’s educational resource, explaining the technology not only so that you can understand
it, but also so that you can make use of it in your gear-related business.
If you haven’t already done so, you should make plans to attend Gear Expo in September. It’s a unique and important show, and you should take advantage of it.
Since we began publishing in 1984, Gear Technology's mission has been to educate our readers. For 31 years, we've shown you the basics of gear manufacturing as well as the cutting edge. We take our educational mission quite seriously, and we go through steps that most publishers don't have time for or wouldn't consider.
I’ve just come back from the AGMA annual meeting in Napa, California, where I had a great time visiting with friends and colleagues in the gear industry. As always, the annual meeting was a great opportunity to network and meet with other AGMA members.
Have you ever stood on a beach at the edge of the water and felt the grains of sand dissolve from under your feet as the water recedes? No matter how hard you plant your feet or grip your toes, you can’t hold on to the sand. It just flows away right from under you.
In many ways that sand is like the knowledge and experience of our graying manufacturing workforce. It seems inevitable that much of that knowledge is being washed away.
The other day I went to Starbuck’s and ordered
my usual four shots of espresso, straight up. I know
what you’re thinking: that’s a lot of caffeine, especially for someone
as naturally energetic as I am. But after years and years, I
may have built up a tolerance to the caffeine. I picked up the
espresso habit as a much younger man, when I worked for
Daldi & Matteucci (DEMM) in Italy back in the ’70s. And I’ve
stuck with it ever since.
Most companies spend this time of year crystal ball gazing. Managers want to know the future so they can make projections, plan schedules, determine budgets and make major decisions that will ensure their success.