Manufacturing & Technology News articles from April 2008

Manufacturing & Technology News archives from April 2008

Britain's new 'Department For Innovation' mandates an innovation strategy for every government agency.
April 17, 2008... Britain has unveiled an "Innovation Nation" agenda aimed at re-invigorating its economy. The newly created Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) has proposed changes in Britain's procurement rules, research funding and...

U.S. District Court rules against NAM: it must disclose its big corporate members and their policy interests.
April 17, 2008... The National Association of Manufacturers' constitutional challenge of the lobbying reform bill passed by Congress last year was rejected "in its entirety" by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia on April 11. NAM...

Steelworkers claims of decreasing production are bogus.(Letter to the editor)
April 17, 2008... I was stunned by a number of statements made by United Steelworkers' President Leo Gerard and Lori Wallach of Public Citizen in your recent article on NAFTA, "USTR's U.S. Production Claim Riles Union Boss Leo Gerard," (Manufacturing &...

Container shipments down for seventh consecutive month.
April 17, 2008... The shipment of containers at the country's major ports has fallen compared to last year, according to the National Retail Federation. "Monthly port volumes are building slowly following the slow season but import container traffic is forecast...

DARPA's wearable power prize attracts 169 competitors.
April 17, 2008... The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has selected 107 teams to continue in its competition to produce a light-weight system capable of providing 20 watts of electrical power for 96 hours and weigh less than 4 kilograms. A total...

Record year for mergers and acquisitions in global metals industries.
April 17, 2008... The U.S. metals industry experienced record levels of mergers and acquisitions last year, accounting for $77 billion in value, or more than 50 percent of the world total. There were 115 deals in the United States, a majority of which were in...

General electric: a brilliant contrarian indicator.
April 17, 2008... "Brilliant" is a multi-hued adjective. Just as a sharp sword is both an offensive weapon and a defensive tool, it's probably time to remind investors that the culture at GE has both defensive and offensive characteristics. If there were ever a...

U.S. export growth is not leading to U.S. manufacturing job growth.
April 17, 2008... U.S. exports might be robust, thanks in part to the tanking dollar, but they are not leading to any growth in manufacturing jobs. Exports of goods have increased by about 20 percent in the past year, from $88 billion in February 2007 to...

In emerging markets 'local dynamos' are challenging big multinationals.
April 17, 2008... Major multinational companies are going to be hard pressed to stay competitive in emerging markets because of the development of a new breed of highly successfully fast growing local competitors in the rapidly growing economies of China,...

Without a robust industrial base DOD will lose future wars.
April 17, 2008... Joe Stalin said that World War II was not won on the battlefields of Europe but in Detroit. Had Stalin lived until the end of the Cold War, he probably would have arrived at a similar conclusion. The U.S. won the Cold War because it maintained...

SBA: small manufacturers are hurt by international trade.
April 17, 2008... "International pressures--through exchange rate movements--continue to lead to greater" small manufacturing company failures, according to a report from the Small Business Administration. Manufacturing companies with fewer than 20 employees are...

Government Electronics & Information Technology Association is gone.
April 17, 2008... Washington, D.C., has one less trade association. The Government Electronics and Information Technology Association is now gone, having merged into the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA). The two groups have combined their 400...

Free Trade: 'call a spade a spade.'.
April 17, 2008... We should rename "free trade" because it isn't free and it isn't fair. Since it's trade that's regulated in favor of multinational special interest groups, why don't we call it for what it is: How about "rigged market trade" or "turn your back...

President Bush's greenhouse gas emissions plan focuses on technology.
April 17, 2008... President Bush's controversial new greenhouse gas emissions program stresses the development of new technologies as being "the key to addressing climate change." A new incentive to foster the development and deployment of low-carbon emitting...

IRS provides companies with a guide for business stimulus package.
April 17, 2008... The IRS has issued guidelines for companies wanting to take advantage of the depreciation allowance that is contained in the recently passed Economic Stimulus Act of 2008. That bill "provided a significant tax incentive for businesses to make...

Manufacturers spend billions on pollution abatement.
April 17, 2008... U.S. manufacturers spent $5.9 billion in 2005 on pollution equipment, and another $20.7 billion on pollution prevention, according to the Census Bureau. Of the $20.7 billion spent on pollution prevention operating costs, $4 billion went to...

Federal subsidies double for energy companies.
April 17, 2008... Federal energy subsidies have more than doubled over the past decade, growing from $8 billion in 1999 to $16.6 billion in 2007, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). "Tax expenditures, one of four types of subsidies examined...

NAM will hire search firm to find new VP of communications.
April 17, 2008... The National Association of Manufacturers has hired a search firm to find a head of communications to replace Mike Hambrick, who is leaving the post to work full time on NAM's "America's Business" television show. "As you know, America's...

Big industrial companies plan increases in spending on research & development.
April 17, 2008... The biggest industrial companies in the United States are planning to substantially increase spending this year on research and development, according to the annual survey conducted of its members by the Industrial Research Institute (IRI)....

Washington business groups rally around a new policy issues blog.
April 17, 2008... A dozen of Washington's business trade associations have created a new Internet blog aimed at influencing Washington policymakers. As blogs broaden their base of readers beyond the fringes, the new www.bizcentral.org will allow the trade groups...

Little publicized customs proposal would lead to big increases in duties.(WILL FEDS ACQUIESCE TO PRESSURE FROM IMPORTERS?)
April 30, 2008... Importers, foreign companies selling products into the United States, law firms that represent them in trade cases, retailers, trade associations and members of Congress have reacted with vigorous opposition to a proposal by U.S. Bureau of...

On China trade, English has heard enough excuses from Democrats.
April 30, 2008... After being in power for 16 months, House Democrats have not introduced a single piece of legislation aimed at China's unfair trade practices, "a dismal record," says Rep. Phil English (R-Penn.), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee....

Lack of R&D on health impacts of nanotech could stunt industry.
April 30, 2008... The European Union is spending twice as much as the United States on assessing the potential health, safety and environmental risks of nanotechnology. The U.S. spent $13 million in 2006 on risk-related analysis of nanotechnologies, versus $24...

Nuclear regulators issue alert on counterfeit parts.
April 30, 2008... The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued a notice to all nuclear power plant operators in the United States warning them of counterfeit parts and systems being sold to utilities. "In November, NRC became aware that Hatch 2 had...

Two Washington think tanks propose creation of a new federal agency.(NATIONAL INNOVATION FOUNDATION)
April 30, 2008... The United States government should create an agency focused solely on innovation, according to the Brookings Institution and the Information, Technology & Innovation Foundation. A new National Innovation Foundation would help improve...

DOE creates centers program.
April 30, 2008... The Department of Energy's Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES) has launched a new "Energy Frontier Research Centers" program. The agency issued a funding announcement in early April and expects to spend $100 million in 2009 to award grants...

Manufacturing job loss hurts African Americans the hardest.
April 30, 2008... African American workers have been hit especially hard by the decline in U.S. manufacturing employment, according to a study from the Center for Economic and Policy Research. "In 1979, almost one-in-four black workers in the United States had a...

MAPI index indicates slower growth.
April 30, 2008... The Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI quarterly survey of the business outlook took a tumble during the first quarter, with many executives saying they expect U.S. production capacity to decline. When asked about their plans over the next five years...

Earmarks once again inflate govt. spending.
April 30, 2008... This is turning out to be a good year for congressional earmarks--better known as pork projects. There were 11,610 earmarks tucked into 12 appropriations bills worth $17.2 billion in the 2008 budget passed by Congress in December. The number of...

View from the Middle East: oil = lots of cash.
April 30, 2008... DOHA, QATAR--While Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama joust over answering early morning phone calls and Senator John McCain pledges to keep troops in Iraq for a hundred years in the current U.S. presidential campaign, the future of...

Science funding needs rescue; supplemental bill might help.
April 30, 2008... When Congress decided in December 2007 to kill funding for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), it didn't take time to read the fine print concerning U.S. involvement in the demonstration project based in France. It...

Mfg. barometer heads down.
April 30, 2008... "Economic optimism plummets among U.S. industrial manufacturers," screams PricewaterhouseCoopers in the title of its latest "Manufacturing Barometer" issued for the first quarter on April 29. Only 12 percent of senior executives in the...