Manufacturing & Technology News articles from April 2004

Manufacturing & Technology News archives from April 2004

Not even Harley-Davidson can penetrate China's market.('Let's Have a Level Playing Field')
April 2, 2004... One of the country's most successful manufacturing companies is having a hard time breaking into some of the world's most lucrative overseas markets. Harley-Davidson, an icon of American brands, is battling tariff and non-tariff barriers...

NAM says manufacturing outsourcing isn't destroying factory jobs.
April 2, 2004... The loss of manufacturing jobs due to outsourcing of production to China and other low-cost countries has been "dramatically overstated," says Jerry Jasinowski, president of the National Association of Manufacturers. In a survey of 75 members...

ITAA wants to hush the debate over offshore outsourcing.
April 2, 2004... Politicians responding to the cries of high-tech workers losing their jobs to low-paid IT professionals in foreign countries have no reason to worry about "offshore outsourcing," says the Information Technology Association of America. ...

AEA concurs: those against outsourcing don't know anything.
April 2, 2004... The debate over offshore outsourcing of jobs in the high-tech sector has led to "hysteria" and "is bereft of any understanding of the larger context in which it is taking place," says the American Electronics Association. Changes taking place...

States want a role in setting course for Mfg. Extension.
April 2, 2004... The country's Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) program is the process of "slowing to a halt" thanks to the severe budget cut imposed on the program this year by Congress, says Mike Wojcicki, president of the Modernization Forum, the...

U.S. loses its advantage in technology trade.(Guest Editorial)
April 2, 2004... The superiority the United States has held in technology trade has suddenly vanished. The U.S. Commerce Department tracks foreign earnings and payments for royalties and fees on intellectual property. It tracks trade accounts in technology...

Taking the pulse of small manufacturing.
April 2, 2004... The political debate over the future of manufacturing is being fueled not so much by politicians, corporations, labor unions or Washington trade associations. Its impetus is coming from the grass-roots--by owners and workers at small...

$60-million for wind energy R&D.
April 2, 2004... The Department of Energy has selected 21 projects to develop wind turbines that can generate power in low-wind conditions of 13 miles per hour. The value of the projects is expected to total $60 million over the next four years. "The nation's...

Science Board wants big NSF budget increase.
April 2, 2004... The National Science Foundation's budget should increase to $19 billion by 2007 "to fully address all the unmet needs and ensure continued U.S. leadership in the international science, engineering and technology enterprise," says a new report...

External cost burdens on U.S. manufacturers are overwhelming.(Reports)
April 2, 2004... United States manufacturers are burdened by taxes, regulations, energy, litigation and heath care costs that add 22.4 percent to their costs of doing business in America as compared to the country's nine largest trading partners, according to a...

Wal-Mart stores add to U.S. tax burden.(Reports)
April 2, 2004... Wal-Mart is costing American taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, says Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) The company's poor pay and benefits packages are causing workers to rely on the U.S. government to help them meet expenses for housing,...

IEEE challenges claims of skilled worker shortages.(Reports)
April 2, 2004... The government must "act now" to meet the future need for scientists and engineers, says a three-year study from the National Science Board entitled "The Science and Engineering Workforce--Realizing America's Potential." The Board found that...

UC Berkeley predicts outsourcing wave.(Reports)
April 2, 2004... The United States could lose as many as 14 million white collar service sector jobs by 2015, according to a study by researchers at the University of California Berkeley. "The widely quoted Forrester Research report issued in 2002 that 3.3...

Trade Negotiations overwhelming USTR.(Reports)
April 2, 2004... Federal resources are being stretched too thin by the Bush administration's aggressive pursuit of free trade agreements (FTAs), says the General Accounting Office. "Decisions to pursue FTAs have been made with little systematic planning...

New York state tries to reverse brain drain.(Reports)
April 2, 2004... The central upstate region of New York is losing jobs and population and must take action to generate growth in its economy. The central region of New York state is "not making progress in securing new patents, creating new technology companies...

Four-wheel drive production set to grow.(Reports)
April 2, 2004... Production of four-wheel-drive vehicles in North America is expected to increase by 10 percent over the next four years, according to JD Power and Associates. Four-wheel-drive vehicles will account for 38 percent of new vehicles sold in 2008,...

No hyper growth for Hydrogen Fuel Cells.(Reports)
April 2, 2004... The worldwide hydrogen generation, storage and delivery device market is currently estimated at $702 million and is expected to reach $1.5 billion by 2008, an average annual growth rate of 15.8 percent, according to the report "Hydrogen...

World textile industry prepares for a day of reckoning.
April 16, 2004... The U.S. textile industry is reeling from a surge of cheap imports from China, but it is preparing for an even greater disaster looming on the horizon. With China's admittance into the World Trade Organization, current import quotas on textiles...

Senate republican takes aim at USTR over Trade pacts.
April 16, 2004... United States Trade Representative and the World Trade Organization came under blistering attack during a recent meeting held by the United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC). USTR Robert Zoellick is trading away U.S...

Surveys show an end to Mfg. depression.
April 16, 2004... The Manufacturers Alliance's quarterly survey of manufacturing activity reached a record high in March. The 32-year-old index jumped to 78, breaking the previous high mark of 77 set in December of last year. The survey indicates that the...

Americans don't think outsourcing is a net plus, and turn sour on trade.
April 16, 2004... Outsourcing of U.S. jobs to India, China and Mexico is "very unpopular" with the American public, according to a poll of 3,700 adults conducted by Harris Interactive. When asked if outsourcing jobs is "good for the U.S. economy," as pronounced...

Congress's U.S.-China commission will issue a wake-up call to U.S. public.
April 16, 2004... The Congressional 9/11 Commission might be getting all the publicity lately, but there is another Congressional commission that is actively gathering data and preparing a report on another threat to the United States. ********** The...

Eventually, maybe, the U.S. will have a new manufacturing 'czar'.
April 16, 2004... President Bush's Liaison's Office has found a new person to be the administration's point man on manufacturing issues. The Bush team has selected Albert Frink, vice president and co-founder of Fabrica International of Santa Ana, Calif., a small...

Steel industry wonders how to sell to customers who are out of business.
April 16, 2004... The erosion of the U.S. office furniture industry and dozens of other steel-intensive industries is beginning to impact U.S. steel producers, according to Bob Johns, marketing director of Nucor Corp. "Nucor happens to be the most efficient...

Chinese piracy incenses Sensenbrenner.
April 16, 2004... Earlier this year, the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, James Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.), took a trip to China and experienced first-hand the legal and business challenges facing U.S. industry. On his tour, he saw the new Chery QQ car,...

New reports, market studies & resources.
April 16, 2004... BEST MANUFACTURING PRACTICES (BMP) surveys of Electric Boat Corp.'s Quonset Point Facility in North Kingstown, R.I.; United Defense's Ground Systems Division in Aiken, S.C.; ABC Virtual Communications Inc. of West Des Moines, Iowa; and In...