Posts by wearytrucker22

Andrew Howard75 said:Hey there,

I was wondering if anyone could point me toward some solid software for tracking batch production machines. I’m specifically looking for something that can handle machine productivity metrics—you know, things like calculating OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness). My main goal is to really dig into why we're seeing downtime so we can actually use those insights to boost our efficiency. We're looking at a setup with anything from a handful of machines up to several dozen, and I’d love to have them all connected to a single database. That way, it would be super easy to run comparisons, analyze the data side-by-side, and ultimately work on improving our ROI. Does anyone know what kind of software major American manufacturing firms typically lean on, and what kind of results they usually see from implementing them?

Thanks so much!

If you've got ABB PLCs running the line, then check out http://new.abb.com/cpm/industry-soft...-effectiveness

Otherwise, you'll need your programmer to write custom code for the 2 or 3 PLCs on your belt to push data straight into your ERP, or just look at https://www.inductiveautomation.com/pricing/mes
Just don't go thinking those prices listed are the reality; the actual costs are probably ten to a hundred times higher. Honestly, the "cheapest" route is to find a group of PLC programming experts, hire them full-time at maybe $15,000$10000 a month (probably more), and just develop the code yourself to use or sell later. I'd guess it would cost you somewhere in the realm of $15–$20 million to build something like that from scratch, though maybe not quite that much.

Gary Martinez2 said:Just a quick question here.
Why does the capitalist class seem so threatened by worker cooperatives acting as competitors, yet they don't have any real issue with competition coming from other private corporations?

Look, nobody is stopping employees from quitting, starting their own worker-owned corporation, and running the show themselves.
Or did you actually think those corporate owners just swoop in, take over everything without putting a single cent of their own money into the startup, and then just sit back and collect all the profits?

Raymond Bennett8 said:I have a contact in the States who’s interested in buying some local olive oil from me—maybe somewhere between 100 and 300 liters a year. I guess I'm just wondering how to actually pull off the export process here in the US without getting buried in paperwork.

If you asked a random internet forum how to import olive oil from Antarctica, they’d probably try to give you an answer too.
First off, the USA is a massive country. Which state? Which port of entry? It matters.
Basically, that woman probably knows what she needs and how to handle quotas in the US, but you can't get anywhere with quotas unless you set up a business in the importing country.
You need to talk to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Import Specialist at the specific U.S. port of entry where you plan to bring the goods.

Go here and pick the port where the goods will enter.http://www.cbp.gov/contact/ports
She should find a customs broker to figure out exactly what paperwork is required for entry into the federal US system. After that, she has to check if she's even allowed to sell or transport olive oil within her own county, city, or local shop.

Oh, and read through this to see if you need to register as a manufacturer.
http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegu...ng/default.htm
Ask her if she needs more volume. I could personally supply and blend up to 10,000 tons or more if there's a demand—provided she has the cash, bank guarantees, and can secure a letter of credit. The oil would be Italian, obviously, so it's a bit pricier, maybe around $2-$3 per kilo depending on the blend.

Mark Smith48 said:So... what, it won't fly without blank guarantees? That feels like a massive waste of time when you're already paying upfront... Is there any B2B service here in the States that doesn't demand that kind of collateral?
Importing from Germany? Hmm... sounds like a bit of a headache... though, I did just import a car for my own use recently. 😁

It’s not that complicated. You just build your order online, pay with a business credit card, and coordinate the shipping timing via email once you have the volume and weight specs ready.
Then you just notify FedEx to come pick up the shipment.

slyhound17 said:That, my friend, is what we call B2B business modeling.

It isn't just about working with a giant like Best Buy; there are plenty of other major distributors out there you could tap into.
Essentially, you are operating using their existing warehouse database.
The flow is simple: a customer buys from you, they pay you, and then you settle the bill with the wholesaler.
They handle the logistics by shipping the product directly to your buyer while sending the invoice straight to you.

You don't have to maintain a physical warehouse, which means you bypass those heavy overhead costs while still pocketing the margin.
However, if you want to pull this off legitimately, you really ought to establish an LLC.
Once you go the official route, you'll need to account for things like an accountant and general business expenses.
Even just covering the basic federal taxes and filing fees... let's say the minimum monthly cost is roughly around $400
enough to make it worthwhile only if your monthly revenue hits about $3.25. Once you clear that threshold, you start seeing a decent profit.

Now, the big players like Best Buy tend to demand some pretty heavy guarantees—things like promissory notes and signed collateral.
To be perfectly honest, I’ve always found that part a bit distasteful.
I mean, what kind of guarantees are we even talking about here?
If I am paying for the inventory upfront, why on earth would I need to provide promissory notes or extra security?
The process should be seamless: I place the order and pay, you arrange delivery to the customer, you send me the invoice, and we're done.

Otherwise, you end up in a situation where someone tries to freeze your accounts or something, and you're stuck wasting your time proving you don't owe anyone a dime.

Yeah, it's true. I refuse to sign blank promissory notes in my own name for those Hardliners who are currently under FBI investigation and facing massive financial issues. I pay for everything upfront, yet they still want my personal note that they can cash in whenever they feel like it.
It was easy for them to run a successful business when you buy stuff in China for $0.33 and sell it to the government for $1.75. Honestly, I told them I'd consider signing if their board members signed blank promissory notes for me instead—notes I could activate if they ever released mine after I'd already paid for everything in full, or if I found out my note was being used as collateral for one of their loans.
Most likely, those blank notes they demand serve as collateral for the loans they're pulling.
So now, I just buy everything from Germany; it's 20-30% cheaper than buying from Mussolini.

crimsonharbor313 said:Can you tell me if the amount of electricity America imports is relatively low or high?
I'm wondering if there's a specific type of "green" energy we could produce that would actually be cost-effective for us.

During rainy years, when the nuclear plants are running normally, it's just a small percentage. But during a drought, that figure can climb up to 45%.
Any kind of renewable energy pays off when you're looking at personal use. It's basically just being self-sufficient.
Take me, for example. I spend about 60 days a year out on my boat, and I haven't burned a single drop of diesel in three years. That's with the engine practically running every day cruising from Maine up to Florida and back. Plus, the fridge stays running 24/7.

crimsonharbor313 said:I’m posting this here because I’m certainly no expert, but I have a question. If a country’s economy is built around a specific energy source—usually oil or natural gas—could that same stability be achieved through electricity, by generating a surplus and selling it?
Since there is so much potential for renewables in a place like California, could we eventually use that to jumpstart the entire economy? Most of the West Coast has ideal conditions for wind farms, we have plenty of hydroelectric power, and the sunshine is practically endless.
Could a government actually pull this off, and would it even make sense financially?

No. Think of electricity like growing grain; any idiot can do it. When you need it, the West sells it to you at a premium, but when you're trying to sell your surplus back to them, they buy it for pennies.
Italy imports a huge chunk of its power from France and transitively through Austria, Canada, and the US. At night, they're paying anywhere from 0 to 10 dollars per MWh. In Germany lately, wholesale prices from wind turbines have been sitting between 5 and 20 dollars per MWh, yet they sell it to citizens at over 200 dollars per MWh. At night, the wholesale price hits zero.
As for oil and gas, most of that is sold by the Arab nations and Russia. They are the first people with the deepest trading traditions and culture in the world, and everyone else is just playing catch-up. Don't fall for those tired stereotypes about primitive or backward Arabs. They were master merchants controlling the Silk Road and the spice trade long before they ever embraced Islam. While Europe was stuck in the Dark Ages, they were running thousands of massive colleges and universities covering every branch of science imaginable.

Jessica Richardson6 said:Thanks for the info. I'll try to dig a little deeper into this.

Corporations face fines ranging from $2,000.00 up to $333333 if they fail to provide a declaration of conformity and all that other paperwork.

The authorized inspector won't file any charges or issue a citation for violations

The authorized inspector won't file any charges or issue a citation for violations
if the business fixes whatever irregularities were found during the audit—or within ten days at the latest after the
inspection takes place—provided the inspector determines it’s the company's first offense.

It's like when you ask that guy from China to hand over technical documentation he doesn't even possess for some $100 piece of junk you bought from him. Since Chinese manufacturers are so famous for how much they care about their customers—investing heavily in global service networks, warranties, and product quality—I'm sure you'll get it sorted out easily. Certainly easier than me paying a fine $50 on a product where my profit margin is barely $10 just to cover the $13333 penalties. Besides, the inspectors didn't come looking for me; they went to the retail store. I didn't even sell the goods directly; my client's company handled the sale.😁

And don't even get me started on the mountain of certification paperwork required for some run-down motel, not for the construction phase, but just to get an occupancy permit.

restlesstiger102 said:It would all be absolutely wonderful if the interface wasn't entirely in Chinese or provided with an English translation somewhere along the line.😬

Here’s how it actually works. It isn’t just some random block of text; it’s a full breakdown of the specific federal regulations the devices were tested against.
If a federal inspector doubts whether a statement is legit, the manufacturer has to cough up the records showing exactly who performed the testing. If they can't produce those documents, the fine lands on your desk, not theirs.

Jessica Richardson6 said:Hi everyone,

I’m looking into importing goods from China—or just general importing in general. I want to stock my own shop with small items like alarm clocks, kids' toys, picture frames, sunglasses, phone accessories, and basically all those little trinkets.

From what I gather so far, I need to find a supplier in China, coordinate shipping with them and UPS, and hire a freight forwarder... there seems to be so much moving parts. If anyone could point me toward a helpful guide or a detailed article, I’d appreciate it; I don't mind doing the homework because I want to be fully prepared.
I also have a few questions regarding how sales tax and customs work now that we're part of the US trade system—is it actually more cost-effective to just buy the same inventory from Germany or somewhere else within the US?
Is there some kind of cost calculator or similar tool out there?
If I'm importing this stuff from China or the US, do I need to register my business specifically as a "wholesaler" or something along those lines?
Could I just operate as a sole proprietorship??

Thanks!!

The federal inspectors would eat you alive during your very first audit. Pretty much any product being put on the market has to carry some kind of certification, like a CE or COC mark.
Basically, if you bring in a battery-operated alarm clock, you have to draft a Declaration of Conformity before you can sell it.

A Declaration of Conformity is a formal document issued by the manufacturer stating that their product was designed and manufactured according to the specific requirements set out in the relevant regulations. By providing this declaration, the manufacturer takes full legal responsibility for the product's compliance.

That declaration has to be written in American English or translated into American English if the product is being placed on the US market.

Since the manufacturer is the one who actually drafts the declaration while their authorized representative holds onto it, the importer is legally obligated to ensure that the declaration is available.

In the Declaration of Conformity, you have to explicitly state that all technical requirements dictated by the applicable regulations have been met, and it must include all the specific elements required by those rules.

Charles Ramos7 said:Where are you getting that from? 😕

By the way, why go to such extremes just to make a point? 🙂 We were just saying you can find budget trips in places like Greece too.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...96O1CT20130725

Every single flight to and from Tunis has been canceled.
But honestly, what can you do? The deals were too good to pass up. Screw it—life’s short, and as long as those trips were dirt cheap, I'll take the headache.

hollowmason64 said:I definitely agree that "expensive" is a pretty subjective thing. But since you brought up Hugo Boss—you're spot on. The distributors for the US market refused to lower prices, and look how that turned out for them a while back.😁

Sure, I watched profits tank like that back in 2010 too. Revenue hit $185.9 million in 2010, with $1.729 billion in turnover and an army of 9,940 employees.

hollowmason64 said:Yeah, I’ve spent some time traveling through Turkey and Tunisia myself—though when I was in Tunisia, I wasn't really in the northern parts, just hanging out down by the Jersey Shore area. And honestly, believe me when I say you can find some seriously high-end, luxury resorts out there too.
So, you're looking for something a bit more refined for the comparison, right?
So, a few years back, I took a trip to this little island nation right on the edge of the Caribbean. We stayed at this really high-end luxury resort—total all-inclusive setup—and we were tucked away in these nice little bungalows. It ended up costing us about $110 per person.
It included 24-hour food and drink service, too. I mean, what kind of logic is that? It’s just ridiculous. You’re out there trying to relax while you're literally digging in the sand, and then some staff member comes trekking across the beach just to clean up after you. It felt totally unnecessary.
At that exact same time, staying over at the Excelsior with breakfast included was going to set you back about $240...
Look, I can be as patriotic as they come—I'll wear my flag on my sleeve any day—but let’s call a spade a spade. When things are truly, fundamentally broken, there's no point in sugarcoating it. Sometimes, you just have to admit when something is a total disaster. 😁

I feel a little awkward even bringing this up, but honestly, seeing what people are making right now in service jobs along the Gulf Coast is pretty rough. I was looking at some numbers recently, and hearing that wages in those coastal restaurants are hovering around $4,000... it just feels wrong. It’s tough to hear, especially when you see how hard everyone works during the peak season.$1667 I’ve been thinking about how to manage my nutrition and sleep cycles when I'm pulling 10 to 12-hour shifts. It’s tough enough as it is, but things get really dicey when those crazy stretches hit—you know, those marathons where you're working anywhere from 18 to 24 hours straight. When you're grinding like that, you can't just eat whatever is convenient. If I grab something heavy or greasy mid-shift, I'm basically dead in the water an hour later. I try to stick to stuff that keeps my energy steady without the massive crash, like protein bars or maybe some fruit if I can grab it quickly. When the shifts are that long, staying hydrated is half the battle, too. As for sleep, it becomes a total puzzle. When you finally get a break after a 20-hour stretch, your body doesn't always want to cooperate. I've learned the hard way that you have to be pretty disciplined with your environment—blackout curtains are a lifesaver—to make sure those few hours of rest actually count. It’s all about finding that balance so you don't completely burn out when the workload spikes.

So, what you're trying to say is that employers just don't have the wiggle room to bump up wages, right? 🤣

Not exactly... but honestly, he could have also mentioned just how much lower their prices are—starting with the food and everything else that comes after.

When you go with an all-inclusive package, they usually handle all the logistics, like getting you from the airport straight to the resort. Honestly, once you settle into one of those setups, you really don't feel the need to wander around looking for different restaurants or bars. It’s just easier that way. 🤣
It’s really not about how many landmarks you have on the map. It’s all about how you package that experience and actually sell the story, and honestly, our local tourism workers just don't seem to get it. Their entire pitch basically starts and ends with "fresh air and ocean views." 🙄🤣

I've stayed in those all-inclusive resorts exactly three times, and it’ll never happen again. The first time wasn't even that bad, except for how they treated us like cattle, tagging us with those plastic wristbands.
By the end of a fifteen-day trip, though, you realize what a total joke the whole thing is and it just gets under your skin. They don't actually serve a bottle of wine at your table; instead, everyone has to line up at the bar like animals just to have some bartender pour out a tiny splash of wine. In a supposed five-star all-inclusive hotel, actual service doesn't exist—unless you count the people clearing away the plastic cups.
Basically, the service isn't zero stars; it's non-existent. The food is like a cafeteria; you have to wait in line to scoop your own food onto your plate, basically serving yourself and your wife. You go on vacation to relax, but by the end, you feel like you're working as a waiter. Everything seems fine until you're in a group and decide you want a drink. When it comes to what you can drink, they dole out tiny portions. Eventually, our group of guys ended up having to "borrow" some glasses from some German tourists just so we could actually drink properly—we were swapping two-ounce pours back and forth so one guy was always heading back to the bar. It wasn't that they banned us, it was just that they limited us to one glass in hand. The next time, we just took a 19 miles taxi and picked up twelve bottles of the cheapest wine and a crate of water for about $20. We gave the bartender $15 to "steal" some ice for us so we could chill the wine in a plastic bin we also bought. This was in Tunis.

In Turkey, they totally ripped me off. They advertised a golf resort but conveniently forgot to mention that the golf course is 20 miles 19 miles away from the hotel and you have to pay $15 for a taxi to get there. Honestly, maybe it's my fault; I thought the hotel was in a major hub like Atlanta, but it turned out to be way out in the sticks near Alanya. I figured it was just a typo in the brochure. And the prices outside the hotel in Turkey? Mind-blowing. A crappy coffee is $3, a beer is $5, and restaurant prices are pretty much the same as back home.

Greece, Spain, Sicily—now that's much better. You pick a hotel with breakfast, and usually, it's in an actual town where people live right next to the hotel. Prices are clearly marked, and you have everything from local eateries and pizzerias where lunch is $5 to high-end places where you can spend $5,000 if you feel like it.
Coffee goes from maybe $0.75 to $1.20, beer is $2-$3, and wine ranges from $3 to $1,000 depending on what you're after.

Charles Ramos7 said:What does Turkey have to do with $100 a month? Do you have any idea what wages are actually like in Turkey? An average server there makes about $1333/month, and they aren't just seasonal workers since so many hotels operate year-round—plus, the purchasing power is much higher.

Turkey doesn't belong in the group I just listed. Net salaries are maybe 5-10% lower than ours.

hollowmason64 said:Well, maybe that’s true for you, since you’re clearly part of the "tourist attraction" crowd.
Personally, I couldn't care less who I spend my vacation money on—whether it's you, some kid down south, or someone like Jose... all I care about is who actually gives me the best 🤷
for what I'm paying. I haven't spent much time on the coast near Mexico, but I've stayed at plenty of other decent spots, and I can tell you honestly: what you get here for a certain price compared to what you get abroad is, if you'll excuse the language, absolute garbage.
When you travel abroad, there's a basic respect for the fact that you're there to spend your money, rather than just being an annoyance to locals or dealing with the constant chaos and noise caused by ☕
people.

Where exactly were you staying? And please, don't give me Tunis, Egypt, or Turkey.
You could suggest even worse places, if you're willing to accept that the maximum salary for you and every single citizen in America would be maybe 100 bucks a month.
Honestly, it's embarrassing to admit that current wages in hospitality venues along the Gulf of Mexico are around $4,000$1667 for seasonal workers who get food and a place to sleep while working 10 to 12 hours a day. And sometimes those shifts run crazy long, from 18 to 24 hours.

Robert Rodriguez11 said:If that's the case, my bad, but it definitely wasn't posted anywhere. Maybe at the bottom of the page? Should I file a lawsuit or something?

p.s. Never heard of that one. I've been to plenty of Vongol Restaurants and it never happened to me, but hey, maybe you're right.🤷

I bet it was at the bottom of the menu—the cover charge is mandatory. Usually, those fees are around $10-$$6.75 and they barely even cover the cost of the bread service and laundering the linens.
We used to serve a house-made herb butter with little pieces of toasted bread. To be honest, everyone would polish it off, and then half the tables would start grumbling when the bill hit $4.00 per person. Since running an upscale restaurant is such a massive, high-risk investment, we pivoted. We switched to cheap pizza flour, substitute cheese, and what they call "ham" for the pizzas (which is basically just pork scraps that are 30% to 69% water and 1% binding enzymes), plus some homemade ketchup (just a regular $0.67 kg tossed into boiling water for ten seconds, skin peeled off, then blended in a food processor with salt and oil).
The price is $12, and everyone is happy enough as long as they can wash it down with a half-liter of draft beer sitting at 3% alcohol.
For $5.00, while I ended up paying $1.25 for a liter.
There's also a pizza on the menu with organic farm-raised ham, buffalo mozzarella, and fresh mushrooms for $20. Nobody ever orders it except my family and friends when I'm footing the bill (treating them).
Seriously, not a single slice has been ordered by anyone else. You could get a similar pizza in Sicily for 12 bucks, whereas this same pizzeria has pizzas for 4 dollars. But even there, that cheap stuff doesn't sell like crazy, though it holds its own.

So, who’s really at fault here? Is it the owner, the customers, or should we just accept that organic food needs to be sold at the price of industrial waste—taking a loss on every single item—just to keep the guests satisfied?

It’s the same story if I tell you about the premium wine I ended up selling.$83 After tax, I was buying it for $25 per 0.7L bottle, and so far, the only people who've touched it were one Polish family who drank 35 bottles and grabbed another 24 on their way out. I still have about 900 liters left. It's madness, trying to sell wine where I pay $3.25 per liter but have to sell the bottles for $17 per 0.7L.
Next year, I might just start stocking some cheap domestic white or whatever swill the local vineyards mix together.

Sarah Stewart3 said:Nonsense? I happened to catch those news reports around 2:30 PM on ABC, and there was this chart from a study showing that America had the highest prices out of the five or six countries they were tracking—even higher than Spain.😁

I’m telling my colleagues: next year, let's hike our prices by at least 100%. Sure, foot traffic might drop, but our overhead will shrink while revenue stays basically the same.
Also, I think the Department of Tourism should stop wasting money everywhere and focus their marketing budget exclusively on the UK, Finland, Sweden, and Norway. Those should be our primary guests.

And honestly, these people from the mainland are robbing us blind when it comes to food sales. Colleagues, stop buying their meat. Just last week, I picked up a veal leg in Regensburg from a Turkish butcher at the slaughterhouse for 2.8 euros per kilo (granted, it was frozen), yet these mainlanders are selling us their subpar stuff for 12 euros a kilo.
Freshly slaughtered veal goes for about 3.6 to 3.8 euros a kilo. So, for 108 kilos, that's 368 euros—that was at the butcher shop including tax, or just cash under the table without tax.

Robert Rodriguez11 said:You’re laughing like a maniac over some flour? Please. It’s like that massive crowd in Barcelona—everyone flocks there with one goal: get inside the stadium, drop another 20, 30, or even 50 bucks just to grab some cheap little trinkets. I've been there myself. Same exact vibe.

Nobody’s gonna trek all the way to our city just for a scoop of ice cream. I hit up that Vongol Restaurant in Newport last week—seriously, don't ever go there. We were starving after hanging out by the beach and figured, "Whatever, let's just head there." Big mistake.

First they serve you this appetizer—some kind of sardine pâté that tastes like absolute garbage—and then what? You’re just sitting there eating the main course thinking, "Man, I can't believe this guy actually brought this to my house."

Lunch was some kind of seafood platter—a couple of calamari, three shrimp, and a little piece of cod. For two people, it ended up being over $50. $100.

So, looking back, they basically just slapped an appetizer on the table without even asking if we wanted one. Total surprise move. But since that beach was right where we were hanging out, we ended up passing by that spot two or three times every single day. Honestly, they were just constantly bringing appetizers around to everyone. 🤣

Look, after seeing how things work around here, I gotta say the service is pretty much a disaster. The waiters move like they’re stuck in molasses, and honestly? Calling the prices "expensive" feels wrong. It’s more like they just aren't worth what you're paying. To give you an idea, back when we were vacationing in Newport—if you know that area, you'll know exactly which spot I'm talking about—we hit up Naiad and ended up paying a fortune for dinner. $1000But man, every single cent was worth it.

And it’s not like it was my first time heading out there, and honestly? It probably won't be my last either.

Everything about this place was spot on. Seriously—from the service and those genius servers to the food itself and the whole vibe. Just killer across the board.

Look, it’s not like we "tourists" are just sitting around whining that everything costs too much. That’s not it at all. It’s more like what I was saying earlier—it's just a total mismatch between what you're paying and what you actually get in return.

(Take your pick of adjectives) that’s what they call a cover charge. A restaurant can dictate whatever they want; whether you actually intend to eat it or not doesn't matter, they're still going to bill you for it. If that bothers you, don't walk into the restaurant. End of story. A business has the right to set its own rules, provided they list them clearly at the bottom of the menu—just like a cover charge, or fees for table service, linen service, or different drink prices for sitting at the bar versus a table. I mean, in Italy, a standard coffee is always more expensive at a table than it is standing at the bar.

An excerpt from restaurant etiquette:
In a restaurant, the man always enters first (to scout out the situation).
You failed because you didn't scout the situation properly. It's your own fault.
I once screwed up in Zurich and ended up paying forty bucks for two bottles of water for me and my wife. Who's to blame? I didn't read the menu posted at the entrance. Just pay it and shut up, otherwise, you just end up looking like a total jerk.

Kate Foster17 said:So, does anyone know if Americans can walk into EU banks—say, in Germany—and actually get a loan on the exact same terms they offer Germans?

-For instance, I want to lease or finance a car in Germany, then just drive it back here. I’d be paying the German bank directly.

-Or another scenario: I want to buy property in the States, but I take out the mortgage through a German bank instead. That brings up the whole issue of collateral and how they'd secure the loan, right?

You could always just park $25,000 in a savings account and have them give you a $20,000 line of credit against it.
Or, you get a job at a major German corporation—think Walmart or Audi—work there for maybe 24 months, and then they'll grant you credit based on your salary.