John Deere strike imminent?

[isufbcurt]

Congress should just put a ban on how many kids one can have. Think of all the money people would save for retirement…. Smaller/cheaper houses, smaller vehicles… spend less on food, daycare, and vacations… would only have to buy 3 season tickets and not 5.

Add it up… with investing all of that in the market compounded year after year. You could retire pretty well…

Well I have no official kids of my own but I still drive a Ford Explorer, live on a 5 acre property, go on vacations and spent every free penny I have on my racing. So no, limiting kids won't really work, but it would allow people to spend more money on things they enjoy that having kids puts a damper on (going out, concerts, sporting events, boating, etc.).

 

[CYEATHAWK]

Well I have no official kids of my own but I still drive a Ford Explorer, live on a 5 acre property, go on vacations and spent every free penny I have on my racing. So no, limiting kids won't really work, but it would allow people to spend more money on things they enjoy that having kids puts a damper on (going out, concerts, sporting events, boating, etc.).

......................watching curt race.

 

[Cyientist]

Congress should just put a ban on how many kids one can have. Think of all the money people would save for retirement…. Smaller/cheaper houses, smaller vehicles… spend less on food, daycare, and vacations… would only have to buy 3 season tickets and not 5.

Add it up… with investing all of that in the market compounded year after year. You could retire pretty well…

Truth, we stopped having kids so we wouldn't have to buy any more season tickets. Maybe if we would have beaten the hawkeyes more than once since we started having kids we would have been willing to have 3 and buy that extra seat.

 

[agardini]

There isn't much for manual welding going on, at least not at TCAO. The ROPS frames were pretty much all robotically welded. No idea what's happening at other sites since I haven't really spent a lot of time in any of the buildings down in the QC.

Ah. Makes sense. At Des Moines works there are 3 large weld departments that are above 85% manual welding.

 

[agardini]

How did this thread get so sidetracked on talking about pensions, 401k, and social security. There is only 1 true reason why companies are moving AWAY from pensions and going towards 401k matches. It's all about the balance sheet. A pension is booked as a liability and stays on the balance sheet for the life of the employee whereas a 401k match is booked as an expense on the balance sheet and not as a long term liability. It's all about that balance sheet and making it look better.

 

[clone52]

(1.) Most pension systems actively calibrate their asset allocation to the demographics of their participants. IPERS does, for instance. If a fund were mostly young people (e.g., government employees in Utah, which is the youngest state), then it should be more aggressively into stocks. If a fund is mostly of older people, then it should have a more conservative asset allocation. There's no reason you couldn't do this best practice with SS. Just imagine it as a pie chart made up of a series of target-date funds reflecting its demographics.

(2.) The market cap of the S&P 500 right now is $40.3 trillion. The value of the Social Security trust fund right now is $2.91 trillion. I think the market could absorb 7.2% over time and be fine. @Althetuna is right that SS is really big, but he forgets the U.S. economy and equity markets are even bigger.



You do realize insurance companies invest your premiums in the market, right?

They do this thinking long-term market returns will cover promised benefits someday?

And then they pocket the difference? This whole system is how they make money?

I have not gone so radical as to say abolish the payroll tax. Just asking for it to be invested right.

I could probably get on board with the goverment investing SS Funds into index funds. I do not support eliminating SS and letting people just invest it.

 

[cyfan21]

Health insurance as a benefit of employment is ridiculous when you think about it. If we forbid group rates for insurance, it would no longer be cheaper for large employers to provide to their employers than it would for small employers or even individual consumers.

The way it stands now, people don't even have a choice as to how they insure their healthcare needs. Their employer gives them a couple or a few options and that is it -- the individual doesn't get to really decide what deductible they prefer to cover their risk tolerance, etc.

We need to be able to AFFORDABLY buy health insurance the same we we insure our homes and cars - each individual determines what they are comfortable in paying (i.e. coverage, premium, deductable, copays, coinsurance) in accordance with their risk tolerance. It isn't very possible in our current set-up because you can't get lower costs without a group rate, so very few people buy their own insurance as a result.

health insurance companies are the devil.

 

[Clonehomer]

health insurance companies are the devil.

They're the only defense in keeping health providers from charging whatever the hell they want.

 

[clone52]

They're the only defense in keeping health providers from charging whatever the hell they want.

No, single payer does the same. Plus the free market in a lot of areas.

 

[Rabbuk]

They're the only defense in keeping health providers from charging whatever the hell they want.

Health providers just charge insurance companies whatever the hell they want now.

 

[theguru1]

You just need to be able to tack something together 95% of the important welds are done by a weld robot. You can train a chimp to tack weld in a couple hours.

You just need to be able to tack something together 95% of the important welds are done by a weld robot. You can train a chimp to tack weld in a couple hours.

This is not true at all. There are robotics in the welding department but a lot of it is manual. For example the frame is not tack welding. It is done both manually and robotics depending on how deep the weld needs to be and location of the welds. You don’t just let chimps tack weld frames. The integrity of the whole damn machines could be in jeopardy.

 

[CYEATHAWK]

No, single payer does the same. Plus the free market in a lot of areas.

 

[theguru1]

I don’t think people realize how much automation and mistake proofing are on a modern assembly line. Companies spend millions on parts bins with light curtains in front of them counting how many times you reach for a part. Almost every fastener is installed with a power tool that knows how many times the trigger was pulled. Nobody is manually machining parts anymore it’s on a CNC. Any real skilled labor is happening at smaller subcontractors these days.

This is not the case at the Ankeny plant. The assembly line is very low tech. It looks nothing like what you would see at gm or Ford. It’s straight manual labor. Parts are still hoisted by workers, torques are done by humans, bolts and nuts are done manually. parts are scanned by assemblers and delivered by tug drivers. This is the sprayer line ( one of Deere’s more profitable machine). It’s building 40, the newest building at the John Deere Des Moines Work. Anybody can set up a tour(I don’t recommend right now. Lol) and you’ll see what I’m talking about

 

[houjix]

This is not the case at the Ankeny plant. The assembly line is very low tech. It looks nothing like what you would see at gm or Ford. It’s straight manual labor. Parts are still hoisted by workers, torques are done by humans, bolts and nuts are done manually. parts are scanned by assemblers and delivered by tug drivers. This is the sprayer line ( one of Deere’s more profitable machine). It’s building 40, the newest building at the John Deere Des Moines Work. Anybody can set up a tour(I don’t recommend right now. Lol) and you’ll see what I’m talking about

I've toured JDDMW multiple times between school and my job. I've worked on multiple design projects for them, including the B40 project. Every time I went there, it always seemed to be this weird blend of dated manufacturing techniques and hi-tech equipment. It always amazes me what actually comes off those lines. Although, the on-board computers play such a large role in equipment theses days, and it's not like those are manufactured there.

 

[wintersmd]

Looks like the Deere CEO has a based salary of 1.2M.

Compensation Information for John C. May, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DEERE & CO | Salary.com

Salary, bonuses, stock options, stock awards and other compensation for John C. May, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at DEERE & CO. How much did John C. May make as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DEERE & CO in 2020

www.salary.com

Looking at the stock performance, Deere stock has doubled in value since he has been CEO.

View attachment 90841

It looks like it has doubled in value since COVID pandemic. I am curious to see if this increase is in line with other "American Based" companies.

 

[snowcraig2.0]

Goobacks,,,,the main issue here.

 

[theguru1]

I've toured JDDMW multiple times between school and my job. I've worked on multiple design projects for them, including the B40 project. Every time I went there, it always seemed to be this weird blend of dated manufacturing techniques and hi-tech equipment. It always amazes me what actually comes off those lines. Although, the on-board computers play such a large role in equipment theses days, and it's not like those are manufactured there.

Yup. The only real automation is the self guided platform that the frame sits on for the main line. The tank and boom side are literally pushed down the line by workers from one station to the next. Also the gut of the equipment are the hydraulics and plumbings. I don’t think those things can be done by robots. Everything have to be routed a certain way. Lots of silicone, clamps and zip ties. That’s why it’s so labor intensive.

 

[CloniesForLife]

I've toured JDDMW multiple times between school and my job. I've worked on multiple design projects for them, including the B40 project. Every time I went there, it always seemed to be this weird blend of dated manufacturing techniques and hi-tech equipment. It always amazes me what actually comes off those lines. Although, the on-board computers play such a large role in equipment theses days, and it's not like those are manufactured there.

A lot of manufacturing in the US is a combo of high and low tech. Takes a lot of capital to phase out old stuff and if that company is growing it's hard to just shut down whole lines and replace them while still keeping up with orders. At least in the few places I've worked as an engineer.

Never been to any auto plants but from what I know those might be the places with the most automation.

As for robots replacing everyone I will say this. I think we're further from that than people think. Right now robots are really good at repeatably doing something but they cannot adapt like humans can and handle lots of variation. In the future we will need a more educated workforce to run and service all the automation. I'm definitely for more tech schools teaching how to work with and on robots and automation. Can never find enough good maintenance techs for these things.

 

[CycloneDaddy]

Never been to any auto plants but from what I know those might be the places with the most automation.

I would think economies of scale play into this. I see a lot more F150s then tractors on a daily basis.

 

[isufbcurt]

whoops!!!!!