How Chinese Holidays Impact US Business and Manufacturing

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Have you ever considered how Chinese holidays impact US business and manufacturing? Since 2002, several worker holidays have been added to the Chinese work calendar. As China does so much business with the US and Europe, the country has added a one to two-day holiday over Christmas. In addition, China also has national holidays that do not occur in the US. Two examples are China’s May Day on May 1 and the Dragon Boat Festival on June 20-22, 2015. Chinese holidays impact US manufacturing because of the large amount of trade between the two countries, which is growing in the…

Have you ever considered how Chinese holidays impact US business and manufacturing? Since 2002, several worker holidays have been added to the Chinese work calendar. As China does so much business with the US and Europe, the country has added a one to two-day holiday over Christmas. In addition, China also has national holidays that […]

Can the US Manufacturing Sector Handle a Full Economic Recovery?

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The manufacturing sector is on an upswing as our first quarter comes to a close. With the popular consensus being that the US economy will continue to improve, an important question comes to mind. Is there capacity in the US manufacturing sector to handle a full economic recovery? The increase in manufacturing activity became readily apparent at Universal Polymer in December of 2014. In previous years, for every market we served there has been a downturn toward the end of the year. Traditionally, December is 60-70% of normal sales, with March and April being pretty consistent. At the end of…

The manufacturing sector is on an upswing as our first quarter comes to a close. With the popular consensus being that the US economy will continue to improve, an important question comes to mind. Is there capacity in the US manufacturing sector to handle a full economic recovery? The increase in manufacturing activity became readily […]

The Manufacturing Climate at the End of the Year

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Every year, we at Universal Polymer and Rubber see a downturn in manufacturing activity. With the holidays here, along with cold weather, many manufacturers are slowing down their production. This in turn means that we, too, have to slow our production down to reduce our inventory and lessen our payables. Some of this also comes thanks to the traditional end of the fiscal year, when companies are putting off on ordering more until they have their financial information completed. While some manufacturers may see a slowing of production at the end of the year manufacturing climate as a bad thing,…

Every year, we at Universal Polymer and Rubber see a downturn in manufacturing activity. With the holidays here, along with cold weather, many manufacturers are slowing down their production. This in turn means that we, too, have to slow our production down to reduce our inventory and lessen our payables. Some of this also comes […]

The Global Manufacturing Business

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Universal Polymer & Rubber Ltd also known as UP&R by its customers and vendors is a part of the Cypress Companies of Akron, OH. Since its inception in 1970, UP&R has reached out to customers across the globe. It has helped its customers to grow by providing a wide range of polymer solutions. UP&R focuses on manufacturing rubber and plastic extruded parts as well as rubber molded parts. These are manufactured in the manufacturing plants in Middlefield, OH and Tallmadge, OH as well as through partnerships and relationships with other manufactures in Asia, thus showing its global presence. UP&R sells…

Universal Polymer & Rubber Ltd also known as UP&R by its customers and vendors is a part of the Cypress Companies of Akron, OH. Since its inception in 1970, UP&R has reached out to customers across the globe. It has helped its customers to grow by providing a wide range of polymer solutions. UP&R focuses […]

Competitive Manufacturing: A Delicate Balancing Act

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Today’s business environment is unique and highly competitive. As manufacturing comes back in a big way, and American manufacturing, specifically, is reaching new heights, companies must find the right balance to stay ahead. Take, for example, the role of a senior manager in a medium-sized manufacturing company. This person must wear many hats. After all, most companies don’t have the full amount of personnel—especially in these times of fewer skilled workers—to have someone handle short-term strategies and another to handle long-term. The senior manager, therefore, has multiple responsibilities, and must juggle them all well, focusing on both the short and…

Today’s business environment is unique and highly competitive. As manufacturing comes back in a big way, and American manufacturing, specifically, is reaching new heights, companies must find the right balance to stay ahead. Take, for example, the role of a senior manager in a medium-sized manufacturing company. This person must wear many hats. After all, […]

America’s Auto Industry Today: Behind the Numbers

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If you look at the news and numbers focused around America’s auto industry, what you see, at first, is that it’s in a recovery phase, and that production is up. This is true—July production was up by 10%, and overall production is up by about 7.5%.[1] However, as with anything, to get the full picture, you must really scratch beneath the surface. Major auto makers, such as Nissan and Chrysler, are seeing booming sales and therefore booming production. Likewise, if you’re a supplier working with them, then your business is booming accordingly. But the fact is, these two companies make…

If you look at the news and numbers focused around America’s auto industry, what you see, at first, is that it’s in a recovery phase, and that production is up. This is true—July production was up by 10%, and overall production is up by about 7.5%.[1] However, as with anything, to get the full picture, […]

Finding the Balance with Multiple Projects

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As a contract manufacturer, we know it’s not uncommon to have multiple projects going on at once. The challenge comes with efficiently and promptly balancing the many moving parts while ensuring high quality and accuracy. While we have the capabilities that allow us to work on many different types of projects for various clients at the same time, we understand the concern that sometimes goes along with it. For example, a potential customer in a non-auto industry may be curious about how much of our production time is dedicated to projects that are outside of the auto industry. As the…

As a contract manufacturer, we know it’s not uncommon to have multiple projects going on at once. The challenge comes with efficiently and promptly balancing the many moving parts while ensuring high quality and accuracy. While we have the capabilities that allow us to work on many different types of projects for various clients at […]

How is Manufacturing a Player in the World Cup?

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Goaaaaallllllllll! Does this sound familiar? In the past few weeks, the world has been captured by the World Cup, an international soccer (or football, depending where you come from) tournament that is played once every four years. If you’ve been busy keeping up with all of the scores and trying to catch games on your phone, you’re not alone—so has the manufacturing industry. When you think about how the World Cup affects manufacturing, it goes beyond the makers of the athletes’ uniforms and the materials of the soccer equipment. In fact, it directly affects the manufacturing production process as a…

Goaaaaallllllllll! Does this sound familiar? In the past few weeks, the world has been captured by the World Cup, an international soccer (or football, depending where you come from) tournament that is played once every four years. If you’ve been busy keeping up with all of the scores and trying to catch games on your […]

Benchmarking and Continuous Improvement: An Ongoing Road to Success

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American manufacturing is most definitely back in a big way—and it’s also definitely one of the most competitive and innovative manufacturing industries in the world. In order to remain competitive, American companies must continuously improve and focus on bettering their operations and products on a minute-to-minute basis. This extreme focus on continuous improvement is something we take very seriously, and very personally. We realize the level of trust our clients put in us, and we’ll never sit back and rest on past success. We know that no matter how good a business is, there’s always room for improvement, and in…

American manufacturing is most definitely back in a big way—and it’s also definitely one of the most competitive and innovative manufacturing industries in the world. In order to remain competitive, American companies must continuously improve and focus on bettering their operations and products on a minute-to-minute basis. This extreme focus on continuous improvement is something […]

Where is the Next Manufacturing Hub?

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It wasn’t long ago when everyone was convinced that all American manufacturing jobs would end up in China permanently. Before China, manufacturing was sent overseas to Japan, and to Taiwan before then. Due to the low cost in these areas, many manufacturers went overseas. New research from the Boston Consulting Group, however, shows that China and the U.S. are now almost equal when it comes to manufacturing costs. That brings up the question, where will manufacturing go next? Due to rising labor costs and a burgeoning middle class in China, along with higher productivity in the U.S., offshore manufacturing will…

It wasn’t long ago when everyone was convinced that all American manufacturing jobs would end up in China permanently. Before China, manufacturing was sent overseas to Japan, and to Taiwan before then. Due to the low cost in these areas, many manufacturers went overseas. New research from the Boston Consulting Group, however, shows that China […]