Manufacturing & Technology News articles from July 2007

Manufacturing & Technology News archives from July 2007

Oldest U.S. industry on brink of extinction.
July 17, 2007... The once healthy U.S. glassware industry, America's oldest industrial sector, is down to one remaining company. All of the major companies are either out of business or in bankruptcy, due to unfair foreign competition, according to John Meier,...

Natural gas R&D funding is drying up.
July 17, 2007... The U.S. natural gas transmission and distribution industry has experienced a dramatic reduction in spending on research and development. "R&D funding in the transmission and distribution sector has declined about $25 million and is roughly...

Bureau of Economic Analysis responds to Business Week.
July 17, 2007... The Bureau of Economic Analysis, smarting over a cover story in the June 18 issue of Business Week entitled "The Real Cost of Outsourcing" stating the agency's productivity and GDP statistics are "flawed" due to the effects of outsourcing,...

Analyst Cliff Ransom: Don't give up yet on good industrial (lean) companies.
July 17, 2007... The U.S. economy and stock market are experiencing a massive industrial up-cycle, which in all likelihood will continue, says independent institutional financial analyst Cliff Ransom. This long-term trend requires investors to stay active in...

Government steps in to save defunct Mfg. co. pensioners.
July 17, 2007... The federal government's Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. has been busy picking up unfunded pension liabilities of ailing manufacturing companies. On July 13, the PBGC assumed responsibility for the unfunded portion of Louisville, Ky.-based...

Middle managers biggest barrier to implementing a lean system.
July 17, 2007... Middle managers are the biggest roadblock to implementing a lean production and management system, according to a survey of 2,500 business people conducted by the Lean Enterprise Institute. Middle management resistance was cited by 36 percent...

Six Sigma pays off for Cummins.
July 17, 2007... Cummins Inc. is experiencing a big payoff due to its embrace of the Six Sigma quality management system. The company saved $340 million last year and completed 2,200 Six Sigma projects, according to Cummins CEO Tim Solso. "Since the inception...

AIA CEO John Douglass to retire.
July 17, 2007... John Douglass, president and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association, has decided to retire from his post at the end of the year. Douglass, 66, helped build AIA into a trade association powerhouse, increasing its regular membership from 52...

Malaysia attracts Mfg. capital.
July 17, 2007... The Malaysian manufacturing sector attracted 244 new manufacturing plants during the first five months of the year and another 135 major expansions, worth a total of $7.4 billion, according to Malaysia's Minister for International Trade and...

Congress gives science & technology agencies a healthy budget boost.
July 17, 2007... The agencies funding and conducting civilian research into the physical sciences will receive substantial increases in their budgets next year. The Senate has finished work on its 2008 appropriations bill for the National Science Foundation,...

National Academies of Sciences seeks feedback from state & local economic development agencies.
July 17, 2007... The National Academies of Sciences (NAS) wants to find out what has happened as a result of its highly publicized report two years ago entitled "Rising Above the Gathering Storm." The report, along with a well-attended convocation discussing...

Circuit board industry experiences soaring materials costs.
July 17, 2007... The costs of key metals used by the printed circuit board industry are skyrocketing and supplies are stressed, according to the IPC's Solder Product Value Council. "The cost of tin and silver have reached 19-year highs and it is important for...

U.S. and Mexico file complaint against China with WTO.
July 17, 2007... The United States and Mexico have asked the World Trade Organization to establish a dispute settlement panel to investigate illegal Chinese industrial subsidies. "Although our two rounds of WTO consultations with China have been constructive,...

Carbon steel pipe industry files dumping case against China.
July 17, 2007... The International Trade Commission has initiated an antidumping and countervailing duty investigation on circular welded carbon steel pipe imported from China to determine if the United States industry is being injured by unfair imports....

Calendar of upcoming events.(Calendar)
July 17, 2007... July 22 - 24 2nd International Conference on Changeable, Agile, Reconfigurable and Virtual Production, Toronto, Canada. Sponsored by the Intelligent Manufacturing Systems Center at the University of Windsor, Canada and the Institute for Machine...

U.S. should not blame China for its own problems.(GUEST EDITORIAL)
July 17, 2007... China is growing--fast. It is doing what Japan did in the 50s and 60s, what Korea and Taiwan did subsequently, and what Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, and a host of others are trying to do right now. But China is different...

Who benefits most from the iPod being produced mostly overseas? Apple and its knowledge workers.
July 31, 2007... Not much of Apple's iPod is manufactured in the United States, but the majority of value added is captured by Apple, according to the Personal Computing Industry Center in Irvine, Calif. In hiring a company to dismantle an actual iPod and...

India is experiencing a surge of foreign investment.
July 31, 2007... Foreign direct investment into India is skyrocketing, due in large part to the country's recent liberalization of foreign investment regulations. "Global investors have responded with enthusiasm," says the U.S. International Trade Commission in...

Former Treasury Sec. John Snow comes to Chrysler's rescue.
July 31, 2007... John Snow, former Secretary of Treasury, is going to save Chrysler Corp., or so he says, so long as he gets the money, which suddenly became increasingly difficult in the past two weeks. Snow, chairman of Cerberus Capital Management, LTD, a...

American farmers plant a lot more corn.
July 31, 2007... Farmers in the United States this year planted the largest corn crop since 1944, in hopes of capitalizing on the growing demand for ethanol, foreign consumption and higher prices. In 2007, 93 million acres of farmland were devoted to corn, up...

Business bankruptcies surge this year.
July 31, 2007... Business bankruptcies in the United States are projected to increase by 51 percent this year, due to an economic slowdown, lower profits, high gas prices and an adjustment on behalf of business to the changes in the bankruptcy law enacted in...

Manufacturers need to re-stock their human resource toolbox for Gen Y.
July 31, 2007... Manufacturing companies have not done a very good job of trying to figure out how to work with Generation Y, the group of people born between 1982 and 1993 that will constitute almost 60 percent of the workforce in 2025, according to Deloitte...

ABB growth is fueled by growing markets.
July 31, 2007... The rising global demand for energy is leading to surging growth and profits at Asea Brown Boveri, based in Zurich. The company's net income doubled from $367 million in the second quarter of 2006 to $729 million for the same quarter in 2007....

UK groups fret over future of manufacturing.
July 31, 2007... Manufacturing in the United Kingdom will end by the year 2030 if jobs continue to be lost at the present rate, according to an analysis from the British Transport and General Workers" Union. Although there are still 3.41 million people employed...

GAO issues fiscal warning to state, local and fed. govts.
July 31, 2007... Federal, state and local governments face a potential fiscal meltdown if they don't immediately start addressing the growth of public spending on health care, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). There are 87,575 state...

Trade shows are impacted by loss of manufacturing.
July 31, 2007... The shift of production offshore is impacting manufacturing trade shows and exhibitions, according to the publication TradeShow Week and Skyline Exhibits. "About three out of five exhibitors indicate their market has been impacted by the...

Ways & means chairman explains his trade philosophy.
July 31, 2007... Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, is determined to work in a bi-partisan way on trade legislation impacting manufacturers. Rangel was contemplating not running again for Congress last November if...

General motors.(PLANTS OPENING IN THE UNITED STATES)
July 31, 2007... General Motors has announced plans to invest $63 million in its Saginaw, Mich., metal casting plant to produce cylinder heads for 3.6 liter V-6 engines. The investment includes plant renovation and installation of new tooling and machinery to...

Palram America.(PLANTS OPENING IN THE UNITED STATES)
July 31, 2007... Palram America has completed a 92,000-square-foot, $10.6-million expansion at its plant in Kutztown, Penn. The facility will employ an additional 80 workers and manufacture PVC corrugated foam products. The Pennsylvania Department of Community...

General Electric.(PLANTS OPENING IN THE UNITED STATES)
July 31, 2007... General Electric has announced plans to build a new $135-million plant in the Rensselaer, N.Y., Technology Park to produce digital X-ray mammography machines. The 150,000-square-foot-plant will employ 150 workers making an average of $65,000...

Keihin Indiana Precision Technology (KIPT).(PLANTS OPENING IN THE UNITED STATES)
July 31, 2007... Keihin Indiana Precision Technology (KIPT), a subsidiary of Japanese auto parts supplier Keihin Corp., has broken ground on a $22-million factory in Michigan. The 120,000-square-foot facility in Capac will employ 260 people and supply Honda of...

Honda aero.(PLANTS OPENING IN THE UNITED STATES)
July 31, 2007... Honda Aero has announced plans to build a new jet engine manufacturing plant in Burlington, Vt. The facility will employ 70 people and will house the company's headquarters, which will move from Reston, Va. The jet engines will be made in a...

Cybex international.(PLANTS OPENING IN THE UNITED STATES)
July 31, 2007... Cybex International has opened a new, $15-million, 340,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Owatonna, Minn. The plant will produce premium exercise equipment for the commercial and consumer markets.

BD biosciences.(PLANTS OPENING IN THE UNITED STATES)
July 31, 2007... BD Biosciences, the pharmaceutical and medical manufacturing firm formerly known as Becton Dickinson, is expanding its 190,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Durham, N.C., by 50,000 square feet. The facility currently employs 285 people...

General Tobacco.(PLANTS OPENING IN THE UNITED STATES)
July 31, 2007... General Tobacco has announced plans to build a new manufacturing plant in Mayodan, N.C., to replace its current facility in Colombia, N.C. The company expects to invest $50 million in the plant that should be operational within a year. General...

Solaicx.(PLANTS OPENING IN THE UNITED STATES)
July 31, 2007... Solaicx has announced plans to build its first high-volume solar manufacturing facility in Portland, Ore. The 136,000-square-foot, $52-million mono-crystalline ingot and wafer manufacturing plant will employ 100 workers by the end of 2007. ...

Visteon Corp.(PLANTS OPENING IN THE UNITED STATES)
July 31, 2007... Visteon Corp. has announced plans to build an automotive assembly plant in Eureka, Missouri, that will employ about 200 people. The plant will produce door panels, consoles and cockpits for the Chrysler plant in Fenton. "Our significant...

Advanced Micro Devices Inc.(NEW PLANTS OPENING OVERSEAS)
July 31, 2007... The European Commission has approved a 262 million euro aid package from the German government to Advanced Micro Devices Inc. for construction of a 2.2-billion euro upgrade to its plant in Dresden. The new microprocessor wafer facility will...

Rieter.(NEW PLANTS OPENING OVERSEAS)
July 31, 2007... Rieter, the Switzerland-based industrial firm, has announced plans to open a large manufacturing facility in India to produce textile machinery for use in the automotive industry. The company will invest between $100 million and $120 million in...

Lenovo Group Ltd.(NEW PLANTS OPENING OVERSEAS)
July 31, 2007... Lenovo Group Ltd. plans to ramp up its PC production by spending $30 million on two new manufacturing and fulfillment plants in Mexico and India. The world's third-largest PC manufacturer is also looking for new plant locations in central and...

Sanmina SCI.(NEW PLANTS OPENING OVERSEAS)
July 31, 2007... Sanmina SCI, one of the world's largest electronics manufacturing services (EMS) companies, has announced plans to build its first major manufacturing facility in India. The $50-million plant in Tamil Nadu will be on a 100-acre site to be...

Klockner Pentaplast.(NEW PLANTS OPENING OVERSEAS)
July 31, 2007... The Klockner Pentaplast group, the German producer of packaging products, is opening a new manufacturing plant in India to make films for pharmaceutical and food packaging. The facility will supply the Indian market as well as China, Pakistan,...

Genentech.(NEW PLANTS OPENING OVERSEAS)
July 31, 2007... Genentech has started construction of a $140-million microbial manufacturing plant in Singapore. The plant represents "another shot in the arm for Singapore's biologics industry," says S. Iswaran, Singapore's Minister for Trade and Industry....

Denso manufacturing.(NEW PLANTS OPENING OVERSEAS)
July 31, 2007... Denso Manufacturing, based in Guelph, Ontario, plans to expand its 112,442-square-foot plant that makes radiators, condensers and electric fans by approximately 215,200 square feet. The cost: $63.7 million. The company expects to create 300...

Springs global.(PLANTS CLOSING)
July 31, 2007... Springs Global, a producer of bed fabrics and sheets, has announced that it will close two major manufacturing plants in South Carolina in the towns of Lancaster and Fort Lawn. The company will lay off 750 employees. "This marks the end of 120...

HellermannTyton.(PLANTS CLOSING)
July 31, 2007... HellermannTyton of Milwaukee has announced plans to close its 110,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Naples, Fla., by the end of the year, and lay off 120 employees. "We have been extremely pleased with the high performance of the people...

STMicroelectronics.(PLANTS CLOSING)
July 31, 2007... STMicroelectronics has announced plans to shut down its six-inch wafer fab in Carrollton, Texas, its eight-inch fab in Phoenix, Ariz., and a packaging and testing facility in Morocco. It will move production to plants in Singapore and other...

Lennox international.(PLANTS CLOSING)
July 31, 2007... Lennox International has announced plans to shift production from two U.S. plants to a new 300,000-square-foot manufacturing operation in Saltillo, Mexico. Production of Lennox's "Merit" air conditioners will shift to Mexico from Marshalltown,...

3M.(PLANTS CLOSING)
July 31, 2007... 3M has announced plans to close its New Zealand production facility next year and lay off 50 people. The plant makes foil adhesive tape for export, with sales last year of about $20 million. 3M wants to place its manufacturing production closer...

New president for NCMS.(NEW PLANTS, AND OLD)
July 31, 2007... The National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) has a new president: Rick Jarman, who joins the Ann-Arbor, Mich.-based consortium from his post at Eastman Kodak Co. He will succeed Richard Pearson on Sept. 4, 2007. At Kodak, Jarman was...

Wal-Mart comes under shareholder wrath.
July 31, 2007... The National Legal and Policy Center (NCPC) isn"t very happy with Wal-Mart's management, which it says is catering to environmental and left-wing zealots. The group is sponsoring a shareholder petition asking management to disclose its...

TAA program certifies fewer workers.
July 31, 2007... The number of petitions for Trade Adjustment Assistance certified by the Department of Labor for companies and workers being displaced by foreign imports has declined substantially in the past three years, from 1,700 in 2004 to 1,400 in 2006,...

Bush's top economic team says no to currency bills.
July 31, 2007... The secretaries of Commerce and Treasury, along with the United States Trade Representative, have urged the Senate not to adopt legislation that could force China to stop manipulating its currency. Bills in the Senate Finance and Banking...