Manufacturing & Technology News articles from January 2006

Manufacturing & Technology News archives from January 2006

DOD is vulnerable to loss of circuit board industry: half the U.S. PCB industry workforce has vanished.
January 4, 2006... The rapid decline of the U.S. printed circuit board industry should be raising red flags and a plan of action at the Pentagon, according to a new report from the National Research Council. With U.S. production projected to fall below 10 percent...

Congress tells bush to develop plan for aeronautics.
January 4, 2006... Congress is putting President Bush in charge of developing a far-reaching aeronautics research policy aimed at setting national goals and describing "the role and responsibilities of each Federal agency" involved in carrying it out, according...

Health care is not what ails big three auto makers.
January 4, 2006... Recent concerns over health care cost increases at GM, Ford and Chrysler are just another item in the very long list of "corporate excuses" for poor competitiveness--and also for providing cover for cutting health benefits, pensions and moving...

Congress snubs Bush; bumps up research funding for aeronautics at NASA.
January 4, 2006... Aiming to prevent spending on aeronautics research at NASA from going into the steep dive charted for it by the Bush administration, Congress has set funding levels for aeronautics activities in its latest NASA authorization bill that exceed by...

Wal-Mart lawyers outsmart Labor Department regulators.
January 4, 2006... Lawyers for Wal-Mart were able to write their own settlement agreement with the federal government's Employment Standards Administration (ESA) after having been cited for allegations that the company violated child labor laws written in 1938,...

Nokia.(New (And Old) Plants)
January 4, 2006... Nokia will double its production capacity for mobile phones in China. The company's plant in Dongguan will expand employment from 1,100 to 1,900 in order to keep up with growing demand in Asia. Nokia employs about 6,000 people in China and sold...

Gould Electronics.(New (And Old) Plants)
January 4, 2006... Gould Electronics, a manufacturer of copper foil, has announced plans to close its Chandler, Ariz., manufacturing plant and U.S. headquarters by April 2006. The company, a division of Nippon Mining Holdings, says "depressed U.S. market...

BMW.(New (And Old) Plants)
January 4, 2006... BMW will build a new manufacturing plant in Chennai, India. The company has signed an agreement with the Tamil Nadu government to build an assembly plant alongside plants operated by Ford and Hyundai.

Solectron Corp.(New (And Old) Plants)
January 4, 2006... Solectron Corp. has opened a new medical manufacturing plant in the "Medical Center of Excellence" technology park in Chai Chee, Singapore. Solectron will produce liquid chromatographs and fluidics subassemblies. The plant "allows Solectron to...

RTP Co.(New (And Old) Plants)
January 4, 2006... RTP Co., a maker of specialty thermoplastic materials based in Winona, Minn., has opened its first manufacturing plant in China. The 16,000 square-meter facility located in the Suzhou Industrial Park "is a strategic move towards globalization...

Air Products & Chemicals.(New (And Old) Plants)
January 4, 2006... Air Products & Chemicals has finished construction of a new air separation plant in Tangshan, Hebei Province, China. The facility will supply gaseous oxygen via pipeline to Guo Feng Steel and Fufeng Steel. The plant will also produce 300 tons...

Whirlpool.(New (And Old) Plants)
January 4, 2006... Whirlpool says it will invest about $250 million in its U.S. and Mexican manufacturing facilities in 2006 and will shift some production from Arkansas to Mexico. In the last 12 months, Whirlpool has equipped its Clyde, Ohio, and Marion, Ohio,...

Sipex Corp.(New (And Old) Plants)
January 4, 2006... Sipex Corp., a Milpitas, Calif.-based maker of semiconductor wafers, has decided to ship all of its production to China. The company will close its U.S. BiPolar and BiCMOS wafer manufacturing facility and send the production equipment to...

Colortrac.(New (And Old) Plants)
January 4, 2006... UK-based Colortrac, a maker of electronic scanners, will start production of scanners and components in China. The company has created a wholly-owned Chinese subsidiary based in the Suzhou Industrial Park 80 kilometers outside of Shanghai to...

AMD.(New (And Old) Plants)
January 4, 2006... AMD has announced plans to build a new $230-million plant in Malaysia. It is also considering construction of another fab in China, according to AMD President and CEO Hector Ruiz at a press conference in Sunnyvale, Calif., the first week of...

SciGen.(New (And Old) Plants)
January 4, 2006... Singapore-based SciGen, a maker of insulin, has announced plans to build a $30-million manufacturing facility in Hefei, China, in response to growing demand for Hepatitis B (HBV) vaccine and insulin. The company says the plant will enable it to...

3M.(New (And Old) Plants)
January 4, 2006... 3M has announced plans to build a liquid crystal display (LCD) optical film manufacturing facility in Wroclaw, Poland, to support the fast-growing LCD television market in Europe. The plant, about 340 kilometers from Warsaw, is located near...

Pfizer International.(New (And Old) Plants)
January 4, 2006... Pfizer International has signed a contract with the India-based drug manufacturer Nicholas Piramal Ltd. The company will perform contract manufacturing-related research and development services for at least seven years, says Nicholas Piramal.

Bodine Aluminum.(New (And Old) Plants)
January 4, 2006... Bodine Aluminum, a subsidiary of Toyota, is finishing construction of a new 85,000-square-foot addition to its engine casting plant in Jackson, Tenn. The company, based in St. Louis, produces aluminum cylinder heads, cylinder blocks and other...

Samsung.(New (And Old) Plants)
January 4, 2006... Samsung has announced plans to open a new cell phone handset manufacturing plant in Gurgaon, Haryana, India. The plant will have an initial production capacity of one million cell phones per year, with plans of increasing that number to 20...

Rest of the world is catching up with U.S. manufacturing wages.
January 4, 2006... Most countries are catching up to the United States in hourly compensation, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Compensation costs relative to the United States rose in nearly all the economies covered in 2004, with Europe showing a...

Deconstructing the U.S. space business: government policy in search of a purpose.(Company Profile)
January 4, 2006... The U.S. space business is being ripped apart by a combination of market forces, U.S. governmental policy and challenges from new foreign government policies and competitors. The deconstruction of the U.S. space business is clear; the outcome...

America's superpower dilemma.
January 4, 2006... The world systems we have known over the last several decades have experienced tectonic shifts. Since the end of the Cold War, the changes have accelerated. Our future is now uncertain and the Global War on Terrorism has only exacerbated this...

NIST director to TA's rescue.
January 4, 2006... William Jeffrey, confirmed in July as Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), has added the role of Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Technology. In the latter capacity he will head up the Technology...

Tech sector back on track.
January 4, 2006... The U.S. technology sector has rebounded from its freefall in 2001, according to a new "U.S. Tech Sector Index" created by the Information Technology Association of America and Forrester Research. IT employment, spending and vendor profits and...

The Wisconsin manufacturing study: an analysis of manufacturing statewide and in Wisconsin's seven economic regions.(Reports & Analysis)
January 4, 2006... THE WISCONSIN MANUFACTURING STUDY: AN ANALYSIS OF MANUFACTURING STATEWIDE AND IN WISCONSIN'S SEVEN ECONOMIC REGIONS says Wisconsin manufacturers have to make a monumental shift from "old-economy" manufacturing that stresses low-cost high-labor...

The state of working Illinois.(Reports & Analysis)
January 4, 2006... THE STATE OF WORKING ILLINOIS from the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability and the North Illinois University says that some job changes in the state have been for the better "but many have been for the worse" over the past 15 years. ...

Expanding the frontiers of our digital future: reducing software piracy to accelerate global benefits.(Reports & Analysis)
January 4, 2006... EXPANDING THE FRONTIERS OF OUR DIGITAL FUTURE: REDUCING SOFTWARE PIRACY TO ACCELERATE GLOBAL BENEFITS from the Business Software Alliance says cutting the global piracy rate of 35 percent by 10 percentage points over four years "could generate...

Commerce Dept. 'disses' Congressional Democrats.
January 19, 2006... The Commerce Department has refused to provide Democratic members of Congress with information they requested concerning a controversial report on outsourcing of jobs in the high tech sector. In a letter to ranking minority member of the House...

Specialty metals industry is on offense on defense.
January 19, 2006... The U.S. specialty metals industry has issued a stern warning to the U.S. government and the Department of Defense: create an industrial policy that encourages investment in domestic production now, or risk the loss of an essential industry...

Toyota has another record year of sales.
January 19, 2006... Toyota sold 10.4 percent more vehicles in the United States in 2005 than it did in 2004. The company had year-end sales of 2,260,296 vehicles, the 10th consecutive year of record sales. Camry was the best selling car in America, with sales of...

Terrorists' new target: economic interests.
January 19, 2006... Terrorists are now intent on causing economic as well as political and social damage, according to a report from the Milken Institute. "They may be accomplishing their economic objective," says the study entitled "The Economic Impacts of Global...

DOD faces ballooning medical costs.
January 19, 2006... The Department of Defense is going to be spending a lot more money in future years on operations and support, especially for health care and pharmaceuticals. Real medical spending is projected to increase by 80 percent, from $37 billion in 2006...

Iraq war fuels U.S. mfg. sector.
January 19, 2006... The war in Iraq is helping to keep a large portion of the basic manufacturing enterprise in the country healthy, says Dave Frengel of Penn United Technology in Cabot, Penn. Metal benders, precision die and machine shops are in good shape, but...

NAPA seeks link between offshore outsourcing and job loss.
January 19, 2006... A National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) panel charged by Congress with making a $2-million review of offshoring's nature, causes, and impact on the U.S. (MTN, June 22, 2005, p. 5) has concluded that it must go where no statistician...

The economic state of the union.
January 19, 2006... The December jobs report confirms that since the bursting of the 1990s financial bubble the United States has faced the slowest job creation on records going back to 1939. Indeed, because jobs lost paid for more hours worked per week than did...

"Wanted: an intellectually honest debate about trade policy".(Letter to the Editor)
January 19, 2006... National Association of Manufacturers Vice President Hank Cox's recent letter to Manufacturing & Technology News (December 22, 2005) on trade policy and outsourcing is noteworthy only for making clear how intellectually dishonest our national...

Europe enters GPS marketplace.
January 19, 2006... Europe is officially entering the global positioning systems (GPS) business. The continent successfully launched its first GPS satellite on December 28 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, atop a Soyuz-Fregat launch vehicle. The launch "is the proof that...

GAO: USTR lacks system to institutionalize memory.
January 19, 2006... The Office of the United States Trade Representative does little to train the next generation of trade negotiators, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). "Although a key element of strategic human capital leadership...

Nanotechnology needs to avoid a stillbirth.
January 19, 2006... There needs to be a "new approach to nanotechnology oversight," otherwise the fledgling industry faces stagnation, says the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. "Better and more aggressive oversight and new resources are needed to...

Americans surveyed say China will surpass America.
January 19, 2006... A majority of Americans believe the United States faces a "competitiveness crisis" and that China will become the world's strongest economy in 20 to 30 years, according to a new Business Roundtable survey conducted over the past four months....

Workplace injuries and illnesses.(Recent Reports, Resources, Analyses)
January 19, 2006... Workplace Injuries and Illnesses, the annual report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, says 4.3-million nonfatal injuries and illnesses were reported by the private sector in 2004, down from 4.4 million in 2003. There were 4.8 cases per 100...

Decent work--safe work.(Recent Reports, Resources, Analyses)
January 19, 2006... Decent Work--Safe Work, a study from the United Nation's International Labor Office (ILO), says at least 2.2 million people die every year in work-related accidents worldwide. But that figure might be "vastly underestimated due to poor...

China's great leap forward.(Recent Reports, Resources, Analyses)
January 19, 2006... China's Great Leap Forward, High Technology and Military Power in the Next Half Century from the Hudson Institute, says the United States has to prepare for a "war of complex technologies that others may be planning to fight that requires us to...

The U.S. patent and trademark office 2005 performance and accountability report.(Recent Reports, Resources, Analyses)
January 19, 2006... The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office 2005 Performance and Accountability Report says there were a record number of patent and trademark applications in fiscal year 2005. The agency received 406,302 applications for patents and 323,501...

The triumph of india's market reforms: the record of the 1980s and 1990s.(Recent Reports, Resources, Analyses)
January 19, 2006... The Triumph of India's Market Reforms: The Record of the 1980s and 1990s, from the Cato Institute, describes India's impressive record of economic growth since reforms were put in place in 1991. Other developing countries can learn a lot from...

Rising above the gathering storm: energizing and employing america for a brighter economic future.(Recent Reports, Resources, Analyses)
January 19, 2006... Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future from the National Academies can be read online at http://www.nap.edu/books /0309100399/html.

2005 report to congress of the u.s.-china economic and security review commission.(Recent Reports, Resources, Analyses)
January 19, 2006... 2005 Report To Congress of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission is located at http://www.uscc.gov.

The emerging chinese advanced technology superstate.(Recent Reports, Resources, Analyses)
January 19, 2006... The Emerging Chinese Advanced Technology Superstate, a 237-page book from the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI, can be ordered by calling 703-647-5139 or visiting http://www.mapi.net.

Tapping America's potential.(Recent Reports, Resources, Analyses)
January 19, 2006... Tapping America's Potential from the Business Roundtable is available online at http://www.business roundtable.org/pdf/20050803001TAPfinalnb.pdf.

The profit squeeze for U.S. manufacturers.(Recent Reports, Resources, Analyses)
January 19, 2006... The Profit Squeeze for U.S. Manufacturers, from the National Association of Manufacturers, is located at http://www.nam.org/s_nam /bin.asp?CID=201715&DID =235347&DOC=FILE.PDF.

Report of survey conducted at northrop grumman electronic systems, baltimore, Md..(Recent Reports, Resources, Analyses)
January 19, 2006... Report of Survey Conducted at Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems, Baltimore, Md., from the Best Manufacturing Practices Center for Excellence, outlines dozens of best practices at the facility that employs 7,200 workers. A free copy of the...

Outsourcing America: what's behind our national crisis and how we can reclaim American jobs.(Recent Reports, Resources, Analyses)
January 19, 2006... Outsourcing America: What's Behind Our National Crisis and How We Can Reclaim American Jobs, a 256-page book by Ron Hira and Anil Hira, is available in bookstores or on Amazon and is published by the American Management Association for $22.

Fourth report to the leaders on the U.S.-Japan Regulatory Reform and Competition Policy Initiative.(Recent Reports, Resources, Analyses)
January 19, 2006... Fourth Report to the Leaders on the U.S.-Japan Regulatory Reform and Competition Policy Initiative, from the United States Trade Representative, says Japan still has a long way to go to reform its overly regulated markets. But the country is...

Activating knowledge.(Recent Reports, Resources, Analyses)
January 19, 2006... Activating Knowledge from the United Nations University, Maastricht, says the biggest challenging facing the European continent is creating policies that activate research, innovation, knowledge diffusion, education and training. Dependence...

Increase in U.S. industrial R&D expenditures reported for 2003 make up for earlier decline.(Recent Reports, Resources, Analyses)
January 19, 2006... Increase in U.S. Industrial R&D Expenditures Reported for 2003 Make Up for Earlier Decline, from the National Science Foundation, says companies performed $204 billion in R&D in 2003, compared with $194 billion in 2002. The 5.2 percent...

Federal support for R&D projected at $110 billion for FY 2005.(Recent Reports, Resources, Analyses)
January 19, 2006... Federal Support for R&D Projected At $110 billion for FY 2005, a report from the National Science Foundation, says the amount represents an increase of 3.5 percent (1.4 percent in inflation-adjusted 2000 dollars) over 2004, and a 1.5 percent...

Science in NASA's vision for space exploration.(Recent Reports, Resources, Analyses)
January 19, 2006... Science in NASA's Vision for Space Exploration, from the National Research Council's Committee on the Scientific Context for Space Exploration, 37 pages, is available at http://books.nap.edu/catalog/11225.html.

The annual report on research and technological development activities of the European Union in 2004.(Recent Reports, Resources, Analyses)
January 19, 2006... The Annual Report on Research and Technological Development Activities of the European Union in 2004 says that almost 16,000 proposals were received under the Sixth Framework Program involving more than 84,400 participants. The EU awarded...

2005 R&D scoreboard.(Recent Reports, Resources, Analyses)
January 19, 2006... 2005 R&D Scoreboard published by the UK Department of Trade and Industry finds that the "United States is proving stronger than Europe and the Asia-Pacific region in terms of increases in overall sales growth, profitability and R&D levels." The...

Real science.(Recent Reports, Resources, Analyses)
January 19, 2006... Real Science, a report by the UK National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts, calls for a more hands-on approach to science teaching in schools, warning that experiments are being squeezed out due to health and safety concerns. It...

The future of the global positioning system.(Recent Reports, Resources, Analyses)
January 19, 2006... The Future of the Global Positioning System from the Defense Science Board says the Air Force plan to maintain only 24 satellites in the nation's global positioning system "involves a significant risk" in the system's viability. The Air Force...

Instituting stability operations within DOD.(Recent Reports, Resources, Analyses)
January 19, 2006... Instituting Stability Operations Within DOD, from the Defense Science Board, 66 pages, is located at http://www.acq.osd.mil/dsb/reports/2005-09-Stability_Final.pdf.

Aerial targets.(Recent Reports, Resources, Analyses)
January 19, 2006... Aerial Targets, from the Defense Science Board, says DOD is "projected to run out of the inventory of our single full-scale target, the qF-4, a drone version of the F-4 aircraft, in about 2011. A decision on a replacement aircraft is needed...

Management oversight in acquisition organizations.(Recent Reports, Resources, Analyses)
January 19, 2006... Management Oversight in Acquisition Organizations, from the Defense Science Board, finds that "no amount of rules, processes and/or legislation can prevent illegal or unethical behavior by a determined individual" such as Darleen Druyun, former...

High performance microchip supply.(Recent Reports, Resources, Analyses)
January 19, 2006... High Performance Microchip Supply says the rate of migration of high-technology capability to foreign countries "is alarming because of the strategic significance this technology has on the U.S. economy and the ability of the United States to...

Computational science: ensuring America's competitiveness.(Recent Reports, Resources, Analyses)
January 19, 2006... Computational Science: Ensuring America's Competitiveness, a report from the President's Information Technology Advisory Committee, says the federal government "should commission a fast-track study to recommend changes and innovations in...

Munitions system reliability.(Recent Reports, Resources, Analyses)
January 19, 2006... Munitions System Reliability, from the Defense Science Board, 81 pages, is located at http://www.acq.osd.mil/dsb/ reports/2005-09-MSR_Report%20_Final.pdf.

Electric Power Annual.(Recent Reports, Resources, Analyses)
January 19, 2006... Electric Power Annual says electricity generation and sales rose for the third straight year to record levels in 2004, growing by 2.3 percent, according to the report from the Energy Information Administration. Net additions to generating...

The Annual Coal Report.(Recent Reports, Resources, Analyses)
January 19, 2006... The Annual Coal Report from the Energy Information Administration finds the price of coal rose steadily in 2005. The price-per-short-ton for the electric utility industry increased by 5.7 percent, while the increase was 3.9 percent for...

Big Box Mart.(Recent Reports, Resources, Analyses)
January 19, 2006... Big Box Mart, an Internet comedy video from JibJab, is a commentary on the loss of manufacturing jobs due to cheap imports and the rise of big box retailers: http://www.jibjab.com/Movies/MoviePlayer.aspx?contentid =122&adp=1.