Michael Ference Fluid Power Marketing

Labor Day is a celebration for all present and past working people.  Whether you are fully engaged in the workforce or retired, this weekend is for you.  As the host of the Cleveland Air Show stated for many years that I attended the event, "You work hard all year long and you deserve to treat yourself this weekend, so relax and enjoy!" That is my advice to all of you.  Even though it is tempting to keep up with e-mails and voice mails, turn off the work phone this weekend and recharge it.  While you are doing that, recharge yourself as well with three full days off of work! For those individuals who must work on Labor Day like our safety forces, medical personnel, and other providers of vital necessities, thank you for your service this weekend! Next week is a kind of new year, so to speak, with the final stretch of 2017 in full swing, pre-holiday season, kids back to school, and heading into Fall.  Make the most of this weekend! I hope to cont...

As we approach the Labor Day Holiday Weekend, the season of planning and setting up advertising programs for 2018 is upon us for all business-to-business marketers.  As we head into the fourth quarter, it is time to evaluate how our programs fared for this year and plan according to goals for 2018. Fluid Power World magazine and digital media network is ready with a schedule for 2018 that will help fluid power marketers to increase brand awareness, generate sales leads, and increase sales.  It looks like the year will get off to a great start and now is the time to make plans to take advantage of a good economy in our industry. Here is how are plans are shaping up for next year: January -  Design World Leadership in Engineering issue February - Fluid Power World - Mobile Hydraulics in Utility Applications, Tubing vs. Hose, Pneumatics in Food Processing, Hannover Fair Preview, and Motors and FRLs April - Offshore Applications, Contamination Control in Mobile A...

If your company sells fluid power components or sealing devices, mark your calendar for the FPDA/ISD Joint Industry Summit to be held in Nashville on September 24-27, 2017.  This event combines fluid power and sealing expertise in a joint event to address the many important issues that face both industries. Here is a link to our preview of the event found on our Sealing & Contamination Control Tips website. You can also get more information by following this link to the FPDA website .   One of the features of this  year's Summit will be a panel discussion facilitated by Mark Yourek to discuss supply chain disruption by new entrants into the field.  The panel will consist of both fluid power and sealing thought leaders. The  Opening Keynote   Speaker   will be Economist Dr. Chris Kuehl (PhD),  a Managing Director for Armada Corporate Intelligence.  He is Armada’s economic analyst and works extensively with trade associatio...

The annual Industry & Economic Outlook Conference was held last week at the beautiful Westin North Shore in Wheeling, IL.  I say beautiful because it is one of the nicest hotels that I stay at and it feels like a resort in the midst of North Chicago. My big takeaway from the day-and-a-half event is that the economy for our fluid power industry and the economy in general is in full recovery mode.  Each of the presenters at this year's Conference shared the same general report on the economy that it continues to increase in terms of both GDP and Industrial Production.  It appears that this trend will continue until at least Spring of 2018.  That could be the inflection point where growth in the economy starts to slow down leading into a very mild recession in 2019.  That is the big takeaway. This news is backed up by reports from many of the industries served by fluid power technology that the same trend is holding course.  Construction equipment, Min...

The annual Industry and Economic Outlook Conference operated but the National Fluid Power Association takes place this week at the Westin North Shore in Wheeling, IL.  The NFPA Education Foundation golf outing takes place this afternoon to actually kickoff the event. The outing is followed by a reception today just to get attendees in the mood for two days of networking and presentation.  The Westin North Shore is a perfect location for the event and has been most accommodating for many years. The presentations begin on Tuesday with opening remarks followed by IEOC favorite, Alan Beaulieu of the Institute for Trends Research.  His presentation is titled U.S. Market Outlook and its Effect on World Economies. As always, the IEOC promises to be a benchmark event for the entire year.  I find myself quoting what I learn at the IEOC again and again.  For more information visit the NFPA website

We have another great issue planned for the September 2017 issue of Fluid Power World .   As usual, we will be covering all of the fluid power bases with pneumatics, industrial fluid power, mobile hydraulics, a product focus, and our regular monthly departments. Our Mobile Hydraulics feature article will take a look at the selection and function of reservoirs in mobile systems.   All mobile designers and maintainers should be interested in learning more from this content. For our Pneumatics feature, we will be doing an overview of pneumatic component and system design with an article on Pneumatics 101.   It is always good to make sure that the basics are covered no matter how technically competent the members of our audience seem to be. Bulk Handling Systems make up an area of industrial hydraulics that is certainly worthy of consideration in a feature article in this issue.   The power of fluid power gets the job done with accuracy. The Product Focu...

When our team of editors plans our Editorial Calendar for Fluid Power World for the coming year, several factors are considered.  The most important factor is aways our readers' interest.  We always strive to produce content that will be both informative and interesting to our readers. We start with a basic outline of topics that will include mobile hydraulics, pneumatics, and industrial hydraulics.  We add to that a specific product spotlight every month.  In our September issue, for example, we feature mobile hydraulics in our planned feature, Reservoir Design For Mobile Systems.  Although this article will attempt to explain the function and importance of reservoirs, is should appeal to all mobile equipment designers and users. Our Industrial feature for September will be Bulk Handling Applications.  Again, while the article will focus on a particular type of industrial application, it should attract the attention of all in-plant hydraulic and...

When Fluid Power World conducts a webinar on any topic, our audience gets to view it live and then also on demand from our website. A little earlier this year, we presented a webinar on New Cylinder Optimization presented by the company System Seals.  In this webinar, the presenter, Kurt Sassmannshausen of System Seals, gave a presentation on new analytic tools that substantially extend reliability and increase equipment productivity. I invite you to watch the YouTube version of the webinar by clicking here. You can also register on our website to view the On Demand version of the webinar. One of our foundations at Fluid Power World is to offer our technical audience the opportunity to receive information in the way that they are most comfortable and our webinars are an example of that promise.  Visit Fluid Power World for more information about upcoming webinars. If your company would like to present a webinar, please contact me at mference@wtwhmedia.c...