Manufacturing & Technology News articles from December 2004

Manufacturing & Technology News archives from December 2004

Loss of 50 percent of U.S. commercial mask industry raises national security alert.
December 17, 2004... The U.S. photomask industry has launched a new research and development consortium, but it might be too little, too late as the beleaguered industry is failing under competitive assault. The photomask industry received a $1.75-million line-item...

Labor Department creates Advanced Mfg. Initiative aimed at training a new generation of skilled workers.
December 17, 2004... The Department of Labor has created a new $24.2 million "Advanced Manufacturing Initiative" aimed at providing funding to a new group of organizations to train workers in advanced manufacturing skills. The Labor Department's Employment and...

NASA told to elevate tech transfer function.
December 17, 2004... Technology transfer should be a "core element" of NASA's mission, according to a new report from the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA). Organizational changes, budget difficulties, lack of program focus and a significant increase...

SBA finds small firms have no export skills.
December 17, 2004... Most small companies that export products do so because they are simply responding to orders sent to them from foreign customers. Most small firms are "reactive in their [exporting] motivations," says a study conducted for the Small Business...

European Union proclaims mfg. essential to its future; develops new R&D initiative.
December 17, 2004... The European Union is developing a sweeping new strategy for a manufacturing research initiative called "ManuFUTURE." The investment strategy, which will be part of the EU's Seventh Framework Program (FP7) for research, is intended to "assure...

Ford, GM, DaimlerChrysler create partnership with Commerce Dept.
December 17, 2004... The Big Three automobile companies have entered into a new partnership with the federal government to "facilitate technological research and technology policy analysis focused on improving the manufacturing competitiveness of the U.S....

U.S. Aerospace Industry leaves 'modest' 2001 recession in its wake.
December 17, 2004... Sales of aerospace products are "soaring" thanks to a big increase in military spending, according to the Aerospace Industries Association's annual market analysis. "The good news should continue into next year with growth likely to rival that...

Ag trade surplus will vanish next year, USDA predicts.
December 17, 2004... The decades-long U.S. trade surplus in agriculture is projected to evaporate next year, according to a forecast by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Imports of agricultural products are forecast to increase from $52.7 billion in 2004 to $56...

MEP is expecting another tough fight.
December 17, 2004... The Northeast Midwest Institute has taken over temporary operations of the American Small Manufacturing Coalition, the group that has replaced the Modernization Forum in representing the interests of the nation's Manufacturing Extension...

Disappointed Democrats question their role in upcoming trade debates.
December 17, 2004... Some Democrat staff members in Congress are wondering how aggressive the party should be on issues related to "fair" and free trade and "protecting" small-and medium-sized U.S. manufactures and workers from an onslaught of cheap imports....

Imported socks to be labeled.
December 17, 2004... A country-of-origin label will soon be on every pair of socks sold in America. The Miscellaneous Tariff Bill signed by President Bush on December 3, requires that labels be placed on socks starting in March, 2006. The provision was placed in...

Council on Competitiveness calls on U.S. to recommit itself to innovation, or cede its role as the world's economic power.
December 17, 2004... Many of the biggest names in industry, science, technology, labor and academia have placed their stamp of approval on a sweeping proposal to reinvigorate the innovation complex of the United States. The Council on Competitiveness's National...

Japanese automakers in the United States purchased a record.(TRENDS)
December 17, 2004... Japanese automakers in the United States purchased a record $41.5 billion in parts from U.S. suppliers in 2003, up from $37.3 billion the year before, according to the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association. Seventeen years ago, Japanese...

Manufacturing worker confidence.(TRENDS)
December 17, 2004... Manufacturing worker confidence in November slipped by 8.3 points in the monthly Hudson Employment Index, to 92.7. "The latest drop in worker confidence is the most dramatic that the manufacturing industry has witnessed this year," says Hudson....

Employers in November announced plans to reduce their workforces.(TRENDS)
December 17, 2004... Employers in November announced plans to reduce their workforces by 104,530, the third consecutive month in which planned job cuts surpassed 100,000, says outplacement firm Challenger Gray & Christmas. "This is the first time that job cuts have...

Seventy-three percent of companies worldwide will increase spending on "innovation" next year.(TRENDS)
December 17, 2004... Seventy-three percent of companies worldwide will increase spending on "innovation" next year, up from 64 percent in 2004, according to a survey conducted by the Boston consulting Group (BCG). Innovation spending, defined in terms of creating...

U.S. airlines carried 7.5 percent more domestic passengers.(TRENDS)
December 17, 2004... U.S. airlines carried 7.5 percent more domestic passengers and flew 3.7 percent more domestic flights during the first nine months of this year than during the same period last year, according to the Department of Transportation's Bureau of...

The steel industry is having a better year.(TRENDS)
December 17, 2004... The steel industry is having a better year. Shipments from U.S. mills for the first nine months of this year are up 6.9 percent over the same period in 2003, to 85,413,000 net tons, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. Shipments...

Nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses.(TRENDS)
December 17, 2004... Nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses decreased by 7.1 percent in 2003, according to the latest tally by OSHA. A total of 4.4 million nonfatal injuries and illnesses were reported in private industry workplaces during 2003, resulting in a...

Worldwide spending on information and communications technologies.(TRENDS)
December 17, 2004... Worldwide spending on information and communications technologies (ICT) should grow at a fairly robust pace of 8 percent per year over the next four years, according to the World Information Technology and Services Alliance. The U.S. is...

Association executives experienced a modest increase in pay.(TRENDS)
December 17, 2004... Association executives experienced a modest increase in pay over the last two years, according to the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE). In its annual survey of salaries, ASAE found that median total compensation for a wide...

Toyota has the highest number of repeat customers.(TRENDS)
December 17, 2004... Toyota has the highest number of repeat customers, according to the J.D. Power and Associates' latest Customer Retention Survey. Nearly half of all vehicle owners purchase another vehicle from the same brand, but Toyota was tops by retaining...

National Council for Advanced Manufacturing (NACFAM).(People On The Move)
December 17, 2004... Eric Mittelstadt, former CEO of Fanuc Robotics, is taking over the reins at the National Council for Advanced Manufacturing (NACFAM). NACFAM founder and current CEO Leo Reddy will still be active in NACFAM, but will move to the position of...

The National Association of Manufacturers'.(People On The Move)
December 17, 2004... The National Association of Manufacturers' new president, former three-term Michigan Gov. John Engler, is building his inner circle with cohorts from Michigan. LeAnne Wilson, director of Michigan's Washington office from 1991 to 2003, has been...

World Trade Organization.(People On The Move)
December 17, 2004... Ambassadors from 25 European Union countries have expressed unanimous support for Pascal Lamy to become the new director general of the World Trade Organization. France, which is Pascal Lamy's country of origin, will nominate Lamy, the EU trade...

Secretary of Labor.(People On The Move)
December 17, 2004... Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, the first Asian-American woman appointed to a president's cabinet in U.S. history, is staying on the job. John Henshaw, in charge of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, is leaving his post.

The Council of Manufacturing Associations.(People On The Move)
December 17, 2004... The Council of Manufacturing Associations has elected Bruce Parker, president and CEO of the Environmental Industry Associations, as its new chairman. The Washington-based council run by the National Association of Manufacturers, has also...

European Union's.(People On The Move)
December 17, 2004... Former Irish Prime Minister John Bruton has taken over as the European Union's new ambassador to the United States. Bruton hopes that his appointment represents a "fresh start" in building a stronger alliance between the United States and...