Let’s face it, most of our businesses use lots of energy. It’s hard to get around that when we are repeatedly heating large furnaces to higher than 1000°F. Trouble is, energy is expensive.

Fortune magazine creates several lists each year, including (of course) the Fortune 500. In their list of the world’s largest companies ranked by revenue, at least 10 automakers show up in the first 84 slots. Volkswagen and Toyota are in the top-10. In their list of the top-50 most-admired companies, Toyota and BMW are in the top-50.

It’s hard to believe how much has changed in the past year. When I wrote my annual April column in early March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic wasn’t yet a reality in the United States.

I wanted to use this month’s column to update readers on a few newsworthy things. First and most obvious is our new look. With our change to digital-only, this new platform provides a much more interactive experience.

It is with deep regret that we alert readers to the passing of R. Barry Ashby, longtime “Federal Triangle” column author and Washington insider. In addition to all of those tangible things, Barry was a friend, and we will all miss him.

A review of recent news certainly highlights some interesting stories. For our industry, additive manufacturing/3D printing is regularly in the headlines. Let’s take a look at these reports and some others making technological impact.

After the year we experienced, I wasn’t quite sure what to focus on in the last editorial of 2020. We all know what we have personally been through – bad or good – so there’s no reason to rehash that. We do want to be certain readers understand what’s happening with Industrial Heating and know where to go for information.

If you haven’t yet discovered, things are a bit different at Industrial Heating. Change, however, is not always a bad thing. In fact, we would argue that this change is a good thing for you, our faithful readers.

We are approaching another election of consequence, but aren’t they all. Regardless of who is elected, our next president and other elected officials have a big job ahead of them.

With our diverse editorial coverage, there are a number of associations in our industry. I personally belong to APMI International (MPIF) for powder metals and additive manufacturing as well as AIST (Association for Iron & Steel Technology). That’s in addition to IHEA and MTI, of course.