Tomorrow's victory is today's battle. (Editorial).

One of the enjoyable things about my job is the involvement with industry committees. In addition to some meaningful projects, the emails sent by fellow members have brought laughs on days they were needed, and the phone conversations usually make my problems seem smaller. Don't get me wrong, it's not all jokes and war stories. In fact, we often find ourselves inspired and reminded of what we're here to do.

Last week, a friend from the AFS Marketing Division passed on a thoughtful essay from the June Fast Company magazine that was right on the money. To paraphrase a bit, columnist Seth Godin asked business leaders what they'd do if "interest rates were at their lowest in 50 years, great employees were available for hire, computers made design and marketing easier than ever and the remarkable company had little competition." Sounds pretty good, doesn't it? He was talking about 2003.

Times like these, says Godin, are full of opportunity for smart companies. He cited firms who were doing far more than the popular modus operandi of the times--what he called "waiting, whining, worrying and wishing."

This had me thinking about the precipice foundries now face and the decisions (or in some cases, the no-decision) that will permanently alter their futures. There have been few times in history that our entire industry--from top to bottom--has found itself at such a crossroads.

I'm not one for dwelling in the past, but there's value in reflecting just long enough to think of "what might have been." Doing so illustrates the danger in sitting on your hands.

While it seems like ages ago, the mid-to-late 1990s gave us the best casting demand in two decades. Ductile iron and aluminum set all-time shipment records, and even gray iron and steel reached 10- and 18-year shipment highs. Customers wanted more than we could ship. Resources-- both financial and human--were ample. In fact, borrowing--due to low interest rates (although higher than today's) and high company valuations--was as attractive as it had been in 15 years. To an outsider, this would have appeared a perfect time for the industry to up its competitive ante.

With your 20/20 hindsight, think what your operation could have done then to be in a better position to compete in the early 2000s. Automate to remove labor? Train staff to better problem-solve and attack inefficiency and waste? "Lean-up" your operation to shorten leadtimes and work-in-progress? Focus your lines only on the work in which you have a competitive advantage, and aggressively solicit other work matched to this "core strength?" Pull the trigger on the investment that you needed then, and still need today, to compete?

Speaking very broadly, these things didn't happen. As a result, the last three years were actually borne out of inactivity as the last millennium closed out. And while change has now come through force, not choice, it is coming too late for many.

As you'll see from the survey on p. 30, this business is a tightrope walk. Think about how much difference a quarter-percent reduction in scrap or a gain in sales per manhour would have made.

Believing we had no control over the last several years is taking the easy way out. China didn't suddenly appear on our industry's radar, and neither did many other challenges. Hopefully, we're now all a lot smarter and more aware of the new landscape.

The times are now calling for your next "defining moment," and we need to get started. Progress need not be overnight, but the momentum needs to start somewhere. The folks at Waupaca Foundry like to say "continuous improvement beats postponed perfection." In other words, a half-percent annual improvement is better than trying to hit the home run.

Whether you're grinding castings or minding the books, all of us need to get a little better every day. Success can no longer be measured by completion of a task. Instead, each of us must be better and more effective than the person in the same job across town, across the country and across the sea. That should be in everyone's job description today.

As the Operation Iraqi Freedom came to a close a few months ago, a U.S. Commander in Iraq was quoted as saying "We won this battle back at Camp Lejeune six months ago." Likewise, the battle for 2004, '05 and '06 is being fought as we speak. And the status quo won't secure victory.