Viewpoints

Menomonee Falls-based Magnetek Inc., a supplier of digital power and motion control systems, announced last week it received an order valued at more than $1 million to modernize the controls on four 300-ton power plant cranes for the Hoover Dam.

Kenosha-based Snap-on Inc. last week reported third quarter net earnings of $106.4 million, or $1.76 per share, up from $87 million, or $1.43 per share, in the third quarter of 2013.

Wauwatosa-based Briggs & Stratton Corp. last week reported a fiscal 2015 first quarter net loss of $15.3 million, or 34 cents per share, compared to a net loss of $19.3 million, or 41 cents per share, in the first quarter of 2014.

Brown Deer-based Badger Meter Inc. last week reported third quarter net earnings of $10.2 million, or 71 cents per share, up 13.1 percent from $9 million, or 63 cents per share, in the third quarter of 2013.

The Institute for Supply Management is offering the ISM-Milwaukee Supply Management Scholarship program for the seventh consecutive year. Applications are due Thursday, Oct 30.

I went to a networking meeting last week hosted by a formal networking organization called Business Network International.

Brookfield-based Milwaukee Electric Tool Corp. is currently transitioning into its new name, Milwaukee Tool, according to the company’s senior brand marketing manager Kharli Tyler.

Lake Geneva-based Trostel, a custom rubber molding and compounding company, recently launched a manufacturing youth apprenticeship program in cooperation with GPS Education Partners, a nonprofit that provides immersive work-based education programs. The manufacturer began providing learning space and apprenticeship training to high school students at its Whitewater and Lake Geneva operations in September.

Milwaukee-based Strattec Security Corp. has been named the 2014 Supplier of the Year by Ford Rotunda, which is part of the Ford Motor Company's customer service division.

Midwest Engineering Systems Inc., an automation systems manufacturer, is scheduled to celebrate the grand opening of its new 100,000-square-foot facility in Pewaukee on Thursday with a ribbon cutting ceremony and tour.