As even casual blog readers know, all roads lead to manufacturing, since we are the center of the universe. We were reminded of that again yesterday when the blogger-in-chief spent the bulk of the afternoon with the first blog teen (the heiress to the blogger-in-chief’s fortune) at her second MathCounts competition in Fairfax County, Virginia. Didn’t really know what to expect, but discovered a world once again at the root of innovation and manufacturing.

For those of you not familiar with MathCounts, it is a program that promotes math achievement at the middle school level. It was founded by the National Society of Professional Engineers and they remain a big driving force behind this excellent program. It was great to see a few hundred middle schools students competing to be the best in math. The blogger-in-chief had never seen a “Pi Contest” before — it was something to see. The eventual winner was able to rattle off Pi to some 350 digits. When the blogger-in-chief was in school, Pi was 3.1417. Now it’s 3.1415 (deflation?) and — as you are no doubt well aware — non-repeating and never-ending.

Raytheon was a big presence yesterday as well. For their part, they have launched MathMovesU, which is also a great program designed to keep middle school students interested in math. They do it through some great resources — including the use of middle school celebrities like Tony Hawk and Mia Hamm. Their website has a plethora of resources, touting math as central to careers as video game developers, roller coaster designers and robotics engineers. According to various fact sheets on their site, 84% of middle schools students would rather clean their room, eat their vegetables, take out the trash or go to the dentist than do their math homework. Puts it in perspective, no? We are falling behind in math and science ability as a nation, ranking 24th out of 29 in practical math application ability. If this persists, where on earth is our innovation going to come from? By the way, there is also some one million dollars in grant money available from Raytheon for these programs, also on their site.

Last but not least, we’d be remiss if we didn’t note that the payoff in engineering is not only psychic. Thanks to some research from Michaela Platzer at ContentFirst.com, we have this chart of average starting salaries for engineers. If you just look at the lowest number — the $50,500 for the bachelor level — this would put engineers above about 85% of the workforce in pay. Not bad.

All of this, of course, is why we support the President’s American Competitiveness Initiative, focused as it is on providing the resources and incentives for more math and science education and more federal investment in basic research in the physical sciences.

Congratulations to all the sponsors of today’s event –and the sponsors of MathCounts nationally– and all the participants. This is a critically important program if we are to continue to be the best manufacturers in the world. And those kids? Hopefully coming soon to a manufacturing facility near you.

As long-time blog readers know (heck, we’ve only been around 15 months, but it seems like a lifetime to most of you, no doubt), the NAM had a weekly TV show in the 50′s called, “Industry on Parade“. It was billed as “a pictorial reviews of events in business and industry.” Anyone of a certain vintage remembers it well. It was the 50′s version of “Cool Stuff Being Made“, showing each week — in black and white, of course — a few products being made. It was an enormously popular show.

We have acquired a bunch of the old shows from the Smithsonian, where they now reside. They are way cool, and some are pretty funny. All have the soaring music at the front, the all-too-serious (if not urgent-sounding) narrator and the tacky soundtrack that never stops. It’s very kitschy, very retro, and very fun. We’ve posted a few before on Saturday. We always said it was the marriage of the Saturday video and the former Wednesday Poster of the Week. (We kinda ran out of posters, by the way. Only had so many).

So here’s a 6-minute video of the Westfield (Mass.) Manufacturing Company, makers of the Columbia bicycle, “bringing health and pleasure to millions of Americans.” Indeed. Click here to feel the vintage manufacturing vibe.

Sorry to all of you who tuned in to check out our conversation with Arkansas Gov. Mike Hucakbee today. We had some technical glitches and weren’t able to blog live from there. We took copious notes, even recorded a piece of it, will report back either later tonight or tomorrow. He was a bright and engaging guy with some very good insights on issues of health, spending and competitiveness. Will share those all with you when we give you — our faithful readers — the full report.

Anyone who has been around owners of small and medium manufacturing operations knows that most of them are not shy and retiring. Many of these entrepreneurs started their own businesses and are justifiably proud of what they have accomplished and the operations they run. The report we issued yesterday, The Future Success of Small and Medium Manufacturers, gives them a stronger voice by outlining the major concerns that they face. So what are these SMMs, as we affectionately call them, saying about the future of their businesses and the challenges they face? Over the next few weeks, the blog will highlight their remarks in their own words, taken right from our new report.

Today we start with Gerry Letendre, president of Diamond Casting & Machine Company in Hollis, New Hampshire, a 60-employee manufacturer of aluminum components. One hallmark of SMMs is that they are very responsive and flexible to the changing business climate. Here’s what Gerry has to say on page 13: “In the long run, we are subject to the same forces as a large, publicly held company, but in the shorter run, I think we can be more nimble. We don’t have Wall Street people questioning our quarterly results. When our sales and profits dropped during the recession in 2000, we didn’t lay off any of the employees, we had worked hard and spent money to train. Instead we postponed our plans to purchase a new, computerized drilling machine and reinvested our capital to introduce new products and build up inventory. During good times we set cash aside so we can sustain the not-so-god times comfortably.”

Who doesn’t like to win awards with cool prizes?

Well, our friends at Thomas Publishing informed us of the annual Progressive Manufacturing Awards. Its an award that honors manufacturing companies that are using automation and information technologies to transform their business and create a sustainable competitive advantage.

Carolyn Carson, who alerted us to this opportunity, said “I can’t emphasize enough that the entry process is very simple.”

So, what are you waiting for? Well, if you’re like a lot of us, maybe the deadline? Its coming up on March 1. In other words, hurry up!

Manufacturing companies of any size are eligible for consideration, and the nomination process is very simple. Companies may enter online, or download a full nomination kit by clicking here.

A panel of judges will select seven award winners: one who best demonstrates mastery of each of six business disciplines, plus the Progressive Manufacturer of the Year award for the company that has best mastered technology-driven business transformation across their organization.

The award winners will be honored at the Progressive Manufacturing Summit, to be held June 11-13, 2006, at the Green Valley Resort in Las Vegas.

Good luck to all those who enter…we’ll be sure to post the winners when they are announced.

We’ve been invited to a live blog event down on Capitol Hill today with Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. Like we’ve always said, we’ll go anywhere that we’re invited. He’s done a good job as Governor of Arkansas, and has made news by losing over 100 lbs. through diet and exercise. He’s become somewhat of an evangelist on the issue of weight loss and healthy diet. He is also a possible contender for the Republican 2008 Presidential nomination.

No matter, like we said, we’re glad to be invited and we’ll be there to talk to the Governor about the issues of importance to manufacturing. Tune in any time after about 3 p.m. and we’ll be posting our report. Also, drop us a line if you have any questions you’d like us to ask the Governor.

Do you have any items that might be suitable for Friday Follies? If so, drop us an e-mail and send ‘em along. We’re always looking for jokes, videos, wacky websites, you name it. You could win a million dollars, an all-expense-paid trip for two to anywhere in the world or, more likely, an autographed picture of the Blogger-in-Chief. If that’s not enough to shake you out of your slumber we don’t know what is.

So send us whatever you’ve got, let us know whether you want us to acknowledge you or want to remain anonymous. Help spread mirth and merriment, come get your five minutes of fame in the blogosphere.

OK, this is what happens when you ask people to send you stuff for Friday Follies. Actually, about 90% of the stuff we get from people for Friday Follies we can’t post. About 10% just isn’t funny (and you know for us that’s a low bar) and the other 80% is R-rated or worse. Some of that stuff is damned funny, but you’ll never see it on the blog.

So this is one of those that flirted with good taste. As the person who submitted it said in their e-mail to us, you know pretty soon into this short video where it’s headed, but it’s still funny to watch it play out, and to see the reaction from the others around the pool. Warning: It’s not exactly G-rated, might be just a tiny bit in bad taste. If you’re easily offended, don’t watch. But hey — if you’re easily offended, you wouldn’t be reading this blog in the first place, right?

So here it is, this week’s Friday Follies, your end of the week pick-me-up. Click here to view this minute and a half video.

And — everybody outta the pool!

If we keep agreeing with the Post, we might as well just merge our blogs. But they got it right today — for at least the second time – on asbestos. Here’s an excerpt from today’s Post editorial on the current state of play:

Anyone who thinks the tort system can handle asbestos claims should consider some numbers from the Rand Corp. think tank. Of the $70 billion paid out in settlements for asbestos-related injuries since the 1970s, about $41 billion went to lawyers; only $29 billion went to sick people. A system of compensation that burns up more than half the dollars it consumes in administrative costs is utterly broken. The grotesque legal fees have contributed to the bankruptcy of 77 U.S. companies so far, costing thousands of workers their jobs.

Their words, not ours. This fight was never over whether asbestos was harmful or not. It’s about whether the money — put up by defendant companies, not the US Government — goes to the sick or the lawyers. If you think trial lawyers and healthy people should get the lion’s share of the asbestos money, then don’t bother doing anything. But if you think sick people ought to recover before the trial lawyers and the healthy people, then click here and let your Senators know, and urge them to keep the process moving forward.

And, we should note that while the Post is right on the substance here, they’re dead wrong in their gratuitous shot at Sen. Majority leader Frist. This thing would not have made it this far without the commitment and hard work of Sen. Frist and Sen. Specter.

Today we are releasing at press conference at NAM headquarters a new report about the role of small and medium manufacturers in the economy. It’s an update and expansion of the first such report we did five years ago. The booklet,The Future Success of Small and Medium Manufacturers, gives any reader a great insight into today’s smaller manufacturers who are often taken for granted. It focuses on both the internal and external challenges they face and describes a number of policy options that will help shape a stronger future for this sector. For those who want to know what makes today’s manufacturing tick, it is a good source of data on their role in the economy. But this is not just a statistical handbook. We interviewed more than a dozen small and medium manufacturers about what it is like to manage in today’s global economy and their comments are peppered throughout the booklet. This is an NAM-Manufacturing Institute publication, made possible by a generous grant from RSM McGladrey in Bloomington, Minnesota. Comments welcome.