Every plant manager I talk to says the same thing: "We can't find good techs." They're not wrong. The skilled trades pipeline has been shrinking for decades and the guys who came up through apprenticeships in the 80s and 90s are retiring faster than anyone is replacing them. But here's what I've figured out: the shortage is a market condition, not a sentence. Some shops never feel it. They're the ones who are paying fair-to-good and who do the following things well. 1. Stop

A supply chain expert in my network told me something today that I thought was worth discussion: he plans better when he can visualize how his schedule actually unfolds on the floor and that only happens when he's out there, talking to the people running it. He said he thinks great organizations always have leaders on the floor. He's right. Leadership is just a relationship, and relationships start with interaction. If there is no relationship there cannot be leadership. W