5 questions with Roy Peters

BYLINE: JOHN STANCAVAGE World Business Editor

Roy Peters is president of the Oklahoma Alliance for Manufacturing Excellence, a not-forprofit organization providing a variety of support to industry. The alliance provides hands-on resources for improving productivity, increasing sales and reducing costs. //span 1. What's the current state of the manufacturing business in Oklahoma? / Manufacturing is at its highest point in nearly a decade.

/ Bolstered by the surge in petroleum activity, Oklahoma manufacturers are outpacing others in the United States. / Oklahoma's economy has diversified tremendously since the 1980s, but a large part of our manufacturing business is still directly â[#x20ac][#x201d] or in a lot of cases now, indirectly â[#x20ac][#x201d] related to the oil business. / Manufacturing is stretched to its production limits because of orders from companies in the petroleum industry. This is especially evident when you look at small and medium-size manufacturers. / 2. A few years ago, many manufacturers began giving employees more overtime as orders increased. Then, as the economy rebounded, it seemed like firms felt confident enough to hire more full-time workers. Is the latter still the trend? / When the economy dipped, manufacturers reduced their work forces. When orders returned, the companies increased production by improving efficiency and by adding overtime for remaining employees. / As manufacturers became more confident of the improved economy, they slowly began to add employees and reduce overtime. / One of the great benefits of this cycle was that manufacturers learned to do more with less. New hiring has lagged, but production-per-employee is through the roof. / Manufacturing employment in Oklahoma is nearing 150,000. / That's the highest it has been since about 1999. It should continue to rise slowly as long as the economy continues to move forward. / 3. I've noticed that welders are in short supply. What other job skills are in demand right now? / The single biggest challenge manufacturers face today is the shallow pool of qualified workers. Welders are in short supply, but so are CNC machine operators and any other position that requires a measure of skill or training. / This is a national issue, but Oklahoma is in a better situation than other states because of our CareerTech system and its training programs. Manufacturers are drawing on a work force that has more options than ever before, and one of the great difficulties we'll face in the next decade is attracting good workers to the manufacturing sector. / 4. An Indianapolis company that supplies a school bus plant in Tulsa with foam rubber recently announced it will establish a plant here. Do you think we will continue to see Tulsa attract vendors who serve other local operations? / Absolutely. One of the things manufacturers have rediscovered is that geographic proximity is important. / Over the past 20 years, manufacturing has become a global enterprise. Manufacturers discovered they could do business from anywhere to everywhere. / But as efficiency became a matter of survival, companies realized that to control suppliers they needed to be close. It shortens supply chains and lets manufacturers produce with a just-in-time schedule, which boosts output. / Recently, transportation and fuel costs have factored in to that situation. / 5. Tulsa manufacturers account for 60 percent of the goods exported from the state. What's the growth potential for foreign markets? / In today's global system, manufacturers that survive must find new markets, and often those customers are overseas. / It's become much easier for small companies to do business around the world. It depends on the product, of course, but I suspect that manufacturers will continue to increase their foreign exports as international trade evolves. /