On this episode of Machinery Minutes:

• Expanded steel and aluminum duties may slow investment and complicate equipment imports, warns PLASTICS chief economist Perc Pineda.

• If you share manufacturing data — with customers or suppliers — you share risk. Whether buying new machinery or making deals for raw materials or parts deliveries, processors should scrutinize their partners’ approach to cybersecurity in the same way they evaluate their own systems.

• Progressive Components’ new Cooled UniLifter assemblies feature a design that accommodates water line placement.

What you'll learn on this episode of Machinery Minutes:

• Retaining a cybersecurity expert in advance can help with negotiating a ransom payment, recovering lost data and getting a business up and running after an attack.

• Jason Sears, second-generation owner of Dri-Air Industries, learned the business from his Hall of Fame father, Charlie. He has pushed the company’s technology forward.

• Manufacturers surveyed by Wipfli after the second quarter were glum. Profitability is flat and capacity utilization is down. Some better news is that quoting activity is up and employment levels are steady.

On this episode of PMM Insight, Editor Ron Shinn and Senior Reporter Karen Hanna discuss cybersecurity:

• Any given company has a 50-50 chance of being hacked, and manufacturing companies are among the most commonly targeted.  

• Small companies are as much at risk as bigger companies.

• It is important to always segregate IT systems from operational technology systems.