Manufacturing

Caterpillar Inc. is preparing for labor negotiations in South Milwaukee this week with contingency workforce planning training for salaried and management personnel.

Weyco Group Inc. announced fourth quarter net earnings of $7.7 million, or 71 cents per share, up from $5.5 million, or 50 cents per share, in the same period a year ago.

Eight Wisconsin companies were awarded Wisconsin Manufacturer of the Year Awards Thursday night.

HellermannTyton has completed the renovations of its new Milwaukee manufacturing facility but is still having difficulty hiring enough skilled workers to fill it.

Manufacturers are responsible for finding a solution to the skills gap and taking ownership of the future of their industry.

History is littered with the bodies of those who could not agree about what was said vs. what was meant.

Daniel Erschen holds his employees to a high standard and rewards them for it, which has helped his company thrive.

The Port of Milwaukee saw an increase of 34.5 percent in the amount of cargo traveling to and from foreign ports in 2012. The final numbers show 210,406 metric tons of cargo went through either the St. Lawrence Seaway or by the inland river system to overseas ports.

Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce read with great interest the recent Milwaukee Biz Blog by History Professor Marc Levine from UW-Milwaukee. He claims, based on “major academic studies as well as data from the U.S., Wisconsin, and Milwaukee labor markets” that there is no evidence to support the skills gap thesis. We read the report, and waited to get to the part where the professor talked to manufacturers. Unfortunately, he did not.

Stoughton-based Nelson Global Products Inc. has acquired Water Works Manufacturing located in Cambridge, Minn.