Manufacturing & Technology News articles from March 2009

Manufacturing & Technology News archives from March 2009

The metrics of national decline.
March 9, 2009... "Bush Boom Continues" trilled the headline over CNBC's Lawrence Kudlow column, as George W. Bush closed out his seventh year in office. "You can call it Goldilocks 2.0," purred Kudlow. Yes, you could. But what a difference 12 months can...

Obama's top economic aide praises the 'Wal-Mart economy'.
March 9, 2009... A top new economic policy advisor to President Obama believes that Wal-Mart and "the Wal-Mart economy" have been very good for American workers, low-income Americans who can't afford to buy more expensive products made in America, and American...

The nation ignores the defense industry in its quest for an 'economic stimulus'.(The F-35 As A Manufacturing & Export Model)
March 9, 2009... Last year, Manufacturing & Technology News editor Richard McCormack in a commentary on the defense sector [MTN, Oct. 18, 2008] underscored the importance of manufacturing in this sector for the U.S. economy. He wrote: "Few talking heads have...

Letter to the editor.(Letter to the editor)
March 9, 2009... One of my long time largest customers, Brake Parts Mfg. in Litchfield, Ill., is closing its doors. They are relocating manufacturing operations to China. After 28 years of my doing business with them things tend to get personal. You come to...

Research community perplexed by Buy American.
March 9, 2009... The American Association for the Advancement of Science isn't quite sure how various "Buy American" statutes contained in the $787-billion Stimulus Bill will impact the research community. These "less-noticed" Buy American provisions "are...

U.S. is far behind in machine tool use and production.
March 9, 2009... China's consumption of machine tools jumped by 20 percent in 2008, to $19.4 billion, almost three times the amount of machine tools purchased in the United States (at $6.7 billion), according to Gardner Publications. Germany was the world's...

Trends analyst suggests the economic end is near.
March 9, 2009... The "Greatest Depression" is under way and it is going to get strange really soon, according to the Trends Research Institute, which has been predicting economic Armageddon for years. "Global financial markets are collapsing," says Trends...

MAPI expects economic upturn by end of year.
March 9, 2009... It's going to be a rough year for manufacturing production in the United States, according to the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI. As the recession intensifies, MAPI projects manufacturing production in 27 major American industries will decline by...

'Some of us are looking at the stars'.
March 9, 2009... Amidst a nerve-wracking crash of the stock market (and the article contiguous to this one), here is a worthy diversion: wit and levity from the play that made the Irishman Oscar Wilde famous, "Lady Windermere's Fan." * I can resist...

ArcelorMittal.(Far More Plants Are Closing Than Opening In The U.S.)
March 9, 2009... ArcelorMittal plans to indefinitely close its Cleveland, Ohio, steel plant, and lay off 960 workers, due to the downturn in the automobile industry. ArcelorMittal's Cleveland plant "is the company's most efficient facility and perhaps the most...

Integrity Manufacturing.(Far More Plants Are Closing Than Opening In The U.S.)
March 9, 2009... Integrity Manufacturing of Shepherdsville, Ky., a metal fabricator, has shut down, and laid off as many as 400 workers, according to the Business First newspaper in Louisville. "An employee who answered the door at the company's factory and who...

Spartan Corp.(Far More Plants Are Closing Than Opening In The U.S.)
March 9, 2009... Spartan Corp. has announced plans to close its Jackson, Mich., electronics manufacturing plant and lay off 210 workers. The company will shift production from the factory to plants in Florida and Vietnam.

Jabil.(Far More Plants Are Closing Than Opening In The U.S.)
March 9, 2009... Jabil, the St. Petersburg, Fla.-based electronics contract manufacturing firm, has announced plans to lay off 3,000 of its 85,000 workers. It will close 10 of its manufacturing plants throughout the world.

Burgess Norton Manufacturing.(Far More Plants Are Closing Than Opening In The U.S.)
March 9, 2009... Burgess Norton Manufacturing has announced plans to close its automotive and truck piston plant in Claremore, Okla., and lay off 105 employees. "It's with great regret that we take this step," said company president Brett Vasseur. "Business...

International Game Technology.(Far More Plants Are Closing Than Opening In The U.S.)
March 9, 2009... International Game Technology, a maker of slot machines, has announced plans to lay off 660 workers, about 200 of which will be at the company's manufacturing plant in Reno, Nev. The company last year had 5,600 employees.

Cabot Corp.(Far More Plants Are Closing Than Opening In The U.S.)
March 9, 2009... Cabot Corp., a maker of carbon black, has announced plans to close four of its manufacturing plants, mothball two others and delay opening a factory in China. The Boston-based company did not say which of its 39 manufacturing facilities would...

Cesna.(Far More Plants Are Closing Than Opening In The U.S.)
March 9, 2009... Cesna has announced plans to lay off an additional 2,000 workers on top of the 2,600 announced in December. About 4,000 workers in Wichita, Kansas, will be leaving the company, along with 200 people from its plant in Independence, Kansas....

Dow Chemical.(Far More Plants Are Closing Than Opening In The U.S.)
March 9, 2009... Dow Chemical has announced plans to lay off 5,000 employees and start closing plants throughout the world. The company in December said it will close 20 plants worldwide, and cut output in another 180 plants. Dow will cut production at its...

BASF.(Far More Plants Are Closing Than Opening In The U.S.)
March 9, 2009... BASF has announced plans to temporarily close 80 manufacturing plants throughout the world and reduce production at 100 other plants, impacting 20,000 workers.

Advanced Micro Devices.(Far More Plants Are Closing Than Opening In The U.S.)
March 9, 2009... Advanced Micro Devices announced plans in January to cut 1,100 jobs and spin off its manufacturing operations into a separate company in partnership with the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund. The company cut 600 workers in December after firing...

Milliken.(Far More Plants Are Closing Than Opening In The U.S.)
March 9, 2009... Milliken has announced plans to close its 50-year-old textile plant in Barnwell, S.C., and lay off 120 people.

OptiSolar Inc.(Far More Plants Are Closing Than Opening In The U.S.)
March 9, 2009... OptiSolar Inc. of Los Angeles is laying off 300 workers--half of its workforce--and has halted construction of a manufacturing plant because it cannot secure funding needed to expand. The 550-megawatt solar plant would have been built in...

The windpower industry.(Far More Plants Are Closing Than Opening In The U.S.)
March 9, 2009... The windpower industry is experiencing layoffs. Clipper Windpower of Carpinteria, Calif., will lay off 90 of its 390 workers at its plant in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, according to the Associated Press. LM Glasfiber will lay off 150 workers and stop...

Sunoco.(Far More Plants Are Closing Than Opening In The U.S.)
March 9, 2009... Sunoco has announced plans to close a polypropylene manufacturing facility in Bayport, Texas, and take a charge of $35 million. The company says the plant, which produced 400 million pounds per year of polypropylene, was no longer financially...

Multi-Color Corp.(Far More Plants Are Closing Than Opening In The U.S.)
March 9, 2009... Multi-Color Corp., a maker of labels, has announced plans to close its heat-transfer label plant in Framingham, Mass.

Bardon Homes.(Far More Plants Are Closing Than Opening In The U.S.)
March 9, 2009... Bardon Homes of Syracuse, N.Y., has closed its manufacturing plant in Preble, N.Y., and will lay off 20 workers. The company will move all of its manufacturing of precut floors, interior and exterior walls and roof trusses to a factory in...

Ethan Allen Interiors.(Far More Plants Are Closing Than Opening In The U.S.)
March 9, 2009... Ethan Allen Interiors has announced plans to close its Eldred, Penn., upholstery manufacturing facility and lay off 350 workers.

Dubuque Stamping & Manufacturing.(Far More Plants Are Closing Than Opening In The U.S.)
March 9, 2009... Dubuque Stamping & Manufacturing in Dubuque, Iowa, has laid off about 25 percent of its workforce, or 40 workers, due to the recession. The company makes stampings, tools and dies for the automotive, appliance, agriculture and heavy truck...

Cianbro Corp.(Far More Plants Are Closing Than Opening In The U.S.)
March 9, 2009... Cianbro Corp. in Brewer, Maine, has announced plans to cut 110 workers from its new manufacturing plant making equipment for the oil refinery industry. The drop in oil prices has impacted its business,

Bridgestone.(Far More Plants Are Closing Than Opening In The U.S.)
March 9, 2009... Bridgestone has announced plans to stop making passenger and light truck tires at its manufacturing plant in La Vergne, Tenn., and lay off 534 workers. In all, the company will have laid off 802 workers at the facility since it started...

Dott Manufacturing Co.(Far More Plants Are Closing Than Opening In The U.S.)
March 9, 2009... Dott Manufacturing Co., in Deckerville, Mich., is expected to close up shop and lay off 160 people, according to Rhonda Heilig, president of the United Steelworkers local. The plant makes molded and decorated surface acrylics and car emblems.

Intel Corp.(Far More Plants Are Closing Than Opening In The U.S.)
March 9, 2009... Intel Corp. is closing its last manufacturing plant in Santa Clara, Calif., bringing an end to an era of manufacturing in Silicon Valley. Intel also plans to close a plant in Oregon and assembly and test facilities in Malaysia and the...

Herff Jones Inc.(Far More Plants Are Closing Than Opening In The U.S.)
March 9, 2009... Herff Jones Inc. has announced plans to close its manufacturing plant and photography lab in Lewiston, Minn., a facility that employs 275 workers. The company will shift its operations to its site in Charlotte, N.C. The company is based in...

Dell.(Far More Plants Are Closing Than Opening In The U.S.)
March 9, 2009... Dell has announced plans to close its manufacturing plant in Ireland and move production to Poland and outsource to third-party manufacturing partners. The company says it will lay off 1,900 employees at the Limerick, Ireland, facility, which...

Danaher.(Far More Plants Are Closing Than Opening In The U.S.)
March 9, 2009... Danaher will close 13 factories and lay off 1,700 employees. "Global economic conditions have continued to deteriorate over the last several weeks impacting many of our customers as well as a number of our businesses," said Danaher CEO Lawrence...

Boeing.(Far More Plants Are Closing Than Opening In The U.S.)
March 9, 2009... Boeing has announced plans to reduce employment at its Commercial Airplanes business by 4,500 in 2009 "as part of an effort to ensure competitiveness and control costs in the face of a weakening global economy," says the company. The reduction...

Interface Inc.(Far More Plants Are Closing Than Opening In The U.S.)
March 9, 2009... Interface Inc., an Atlanta, Ga.-based maker of flexible floor coverings for offices, has announced plans to close its manufacturing plant in Belleville, Canada, and reduce its worldwide employee base by a total of 530, or 14 percent of its...

Affinia Group Inc.(Far More Plants Are Closing Than Opening In The U.S.)
March 9, 2009... Affinia Group Inc. has announced plans to close automotive brake component manufacturing facilities in Dallas, Texas, Litchfield, Ill., and Milton, Ontario. The facilities employ about 400 and will close within the next four months. The...

Deluxe Corp.(Far More Plants Are Closing Than Opening In The U.S.)
March 9, 2009... Deluxe Corp. has announced plans to close its Greensboro, N.C. manufacturing facility and lay off 117 people. The company, which makes custom printed items such as business cards, stationary labels and retail packaging supplies, will also close...

ProTech Systems.(NEW PLANTS IN THE UNITED STATES)
March 9, 2009... ProTech Systems, a maker of venting systems for residential and commercial heating equipment, has opened a new 24,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in the City of Albany, N.Y.

ProSeal America.(NEW PLANTS IN THE UNITED STATES)
March 9, 2009... ProSeal America, a division of ProSeal Holdings in Manchester, England, has announced plans to locate a new facility in Richmond, Va., to import and manufacture heat-sealing machinery and tools for the food processing industry.

Toshiba Corp.(NEW PLANTS OVERSEAS)
March 9, 2009... Toshiba Corp. has announced plans to construct a new factory for the production of its rapid rechargeable lithium ion battery intended for use in the automotive industry. The company started shipping the batteries in April 2008 and has...

Toshiba.(NEW PLANTS OVERSEAS)
March 9, 2009... Toshiba has announced plans to open a manufacturing facility in Vietnam for its Industrial Products Division. The company will manufacture high-efficiency industrial motors rated under 100 horsepower, plus parts. The $77-million factory will be...

Kyocera Corp.(NEW PLANTS OVERSEAS)
March 9, 2009... Kyocera Corp. has announced plans to build a new large-scale solar cell manufacturing facility in Yasu City, Japan. It will be the company's largest manufacturing facility in Japan. Construction is starting early this year with production...

Finisar Corp.(NEW PLANTS OVERSEAS)
March 9, 2009... Finisar Corp. of Sunnyvale, Calif., has opened a new manufacturing and R&D facility in Shanghai, China. The company has hired 650 local workers to man its new state-of-the-art factory making fiber optics, lasers and passive devices, and man its...

Sanofi-Aventis SA.(NEW PLANTS OVERSEAS)
March 9, 2009... Sanofi-Aventis SA, the third largest pharmaceutical company in the world, announced that it will increase its investment in research and development in China. The French company will work with the Shanghai Institute for Biological Sciences...

Hong Kong Highpower Technology.(NEW PLANTS OVERSEAS)
March 9, 2009... Hong Kong Highpower Technology, a manufacturer of nickel-metal hydride and lithium-ion batteries, has started building a new battery manufacturing facility in Huizhou, Guangdong Province, China. It is the company's second battery plant in...

DuPont's Liquid Packaging Systems.(NEW PLANTS OVERSEAS)
March 9, 2009... DuPont's Liquid Packaging Systems division has opened a new manufacturing facility in Manchester, England, making pre-made bags for bag-in-box applications. The company will sell its output throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The...

Laird Technologies.(NEW PLANTS OVERSEAS)
March 9, 2009... Laird Technologies, a maker of wireless and electronics products, has opened its first manufacturing plant in India in Sriperumbudur near Chennai. The factory will employ more than 1,200 people and will produce antennas, battery packs and other...

H.B. Fuller Co.(NEW PLANTS OVERSEAS)
March 9, 2009... H.B. Fuller Co. of St. Paul, Minn., has announced plans to build a new factory in China to produce specialty adhesive for textiles and wood applications including insulating glass, textile lamination and footwear. The company will also build a...

Wipro Infotech.(NEW PLANTS OVERSEAS)
March 9, 2009... Wipro Infotech has opened a new manufacturing plant at Kotdwar in Uttarakhand, India, to manufacture computer servers, storage devices, notebooks and desktops. The factory produces more than 1,000 computers a day and supplies India's northern...

Powers Fasteners.(NEW PLANTS OVERSEAS)
March 9, 2009... Powers Fasteners, a Brewster, N.Y.-based maker of concrete anchoring systems, has expanded into China with offices that will act as a quality checkpoint for products manufactured in China and shipped to the United States. "We see this as an...

The lesson from Toyota: respect science, especially in a crisis.(Reprint)
March 9, 2009... The current recession is the fifth in my working career. And it is beginning to feel like the worst. I can't imagine that any manager or improvement team member in any industry in any country isn't feeling a bit queasy at this point, as the...

U.S. long way from being the world's most competitive country.
March 9, 2009... The United States is no longer the world's leader in innovation and competitiveness, and, in fact, is not even close to being the world's most competitive nation, according to a new analysis from the Information Technology & Innovation...

How does an industry survive without any orders?(U.S. Machine Tools)
March 31, 2009... The U.S. machine tool industry is on the verge of oblivion. What was once considered to be one of America's most important strategic industries--described by President Ronald Reagan in a statement on May 26, 1986, as being a "vital component of...

GE realizes finance is a failure.(U.S. Machine Tools)
March 31, 2009... GE chairman Jeffrey Immelt has seen the light. "I have learned something about my country," he writes in his 2009 letter to shareholders. "I run a global company, but I am a citizen of the U.S. I believe that a popular, 30-year notion that the...

Letter to editor.(Editorial)(Letter to the editor)
March 31, 2009... We must respectfully disagree with some of the content of the February 20, 2009 edition's article, "A Stimulus for Everyone Save Domestic Manufacturers" as it fails to recognize a major breakthrough for manufacturers contained in HR-1, the...

White House auto team did not like what car companies submitted.
March 31, 2009... "The plans submitted by GM and Chrysler on February 17, 2009, did not establish a credible path to viability," states the first "key finding" in the Obama administration's March 30 analysis of the GM and Chrysler future viability plans. "In...

Mass layoffs reach record levels.
March 31, 2009... The number of mass layoff events continues to skyrocket, reaching record levels. In February, employers enacted 2,769 mass layoff events, an increase of 542 from January and up by 1,100 from the same month in 2008. There were 295,477 workers...

More countries consider nuclear.
March 31, 2009... A growing number of countries are expressing interest in building new nuclear power plants, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). More than 40 countries that do not have a nuclear reactor are considering building a plant...

Global mfg. wage comparison.
March 31, 2009... American manufacturing workers do not make much more money than their overseas competitors, save for those in Mexico and China. American manufacturing workers are paid less than many of those in Europe, and slightly more than those in Japan,...

New trade association opens in D.C.
March 31, 2009... Washington, D.C., has a new trade association. The Biomass Thermal Energy Council (BTEC) has been created by nine companies to promote the use of biomass for heat and thermal energy applications. "There is enormous potential for wood pellets,...

DOD assesses China's military intentions.
March 31, 2009... China has done a commendable job of "taking on a greater share of responsibility for the stability, resilience and growth of the global system," according to the latest assessment of China from the Department of Defense. "However, much...

EDA has $ to spend.
March 31, 2009... The Economic Development Administration is looking to spend $150 million it received under the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act on projects "that will advance economic growth in communities and regions experiencing chronic high unemployment...

Interview: the man in charge of the House Trade Working Group, Rep. Michael Michaud.
March 31, 2009... The House Trade Working Group is gearing up to confront the "free-trade" agenda that has been the dominant policy of the United States for the past 60 years. The organization sent a letter signed by 54 members to President Obama in March,...

Department of Energy.(Grant $ Available At DOE, NIST)
March 31, 2009... The Department of Energy is seeking proposals for an $84-million grant program for research into geothermal energy to heat buildings and generate electricity. The agency's "Enhanced Geothermal Systems" program will fund component R&D and...

Technology Innovation Program.(Grant $ Available At DOE, NIST)
March 31, 2009... The Technology Innovation Program at the National Institute of Standards and Technology has opened competitions for research into advanced materials in manufacturing, and civil infrastructure. The agency has $15 million for 25 new R&D projects...

WTO chronicles 'collapse' of global trade.
March 31, 2009... Global trade is experiencing a "collapse" and will decline by 9 percent this year, the greatest contraction since World War II, according to the World Trade Organization in its annual assessment of global trade. "For the past 30 years, trade...

Steel industry.(Market Watch: Steel, Airlines, Paper, Mail)
March 31, 2009... The U.S. steel industry is hurting. Shipments dropped by 50.5 percent from 9,246,000 net tons in January 2008 to 4,576,000 net tons shipped in January 2009, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. Shipments to auto companies fell by...

Airline industry.(Market Watch: Steel, Airlines, Paper, Mail)
March 31, 2009... The economic downturn is taking the lift out of the airline industry. Revenue for the major airlines from passenger travel dropped by 19 percent in February, as compared to the same month in 2008, according to the Air Transport Association of...

Paper.(Market Watch: Steel, Airlines, Paper, Mail)
March 31, 2009... The paperless office is almost here. The shipment of paper sank by 24.5 percent in February, as compared to the same month in 2008, according to the American Forest & Paper Association. Imports of paper are dropping even faster: down 44.2...

United States Postal Service.(Market Watch: Steel, Airlines, Paper, Mail)
March 31, 2009... The United States Postal Service says that it expects to deliver 180 billion pieces of mail in its fiscal year 2009, down from 212 billion pieces in 2007. With plunging volume and revenue, plus huge pensions and operating costs, the United...

Rep. Tim Ryan defends Earmarks & Manufacturing.
March 31, 2009... There might be a debate raging in the country about the legitimacy of congressional earmarks, but one member of Congress doesn't really care. Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), head of the House Manufacturing Caucus, says earmarks can help save his corner...

Rep. Tim Ryan's 2009 Earmarks are intended to save his district.
March 31, 2009... In the federal 2009 "Omnibus" budget bill passed by the House and Senate and approved by President Obama, Rep. Ryan secured $30 million in earmarks for 29 projects including sewers, roads, urban renewal, teen parent programs, domestic violence...

Goldman's IT spending forecast.(Survey)
March 31, 2009... Global corporate spending on information technology this year will decline by 9 percent, according to Goldman Sachs. Virtually every area of the IT sector will get hit, including hardware, software, IT services, communications and...

R&D credit could get mfg. makeover.
March 31, 2009... Two members of the House of Representatives from heavy manufacturing districts want to remake the R&D tax credit. Reps. John Boccieri (D-Ohio) and Chris Lee (R-N.Y) have introduced legislation (HR-1545) that would make the R&D tax credit...

China supports its exports.
March 31, 2009... China has recently been criticizing the United States for its "protectionists" policies, but it is doing whatever it can to continue to have exports fuel economic growth. China has increased export rebates on 3,800 items "to maintain growth,"...

In hard times, cell phones become an expensive luxury.
March 31, 2009... As many as 60 million Americans are considering either dropping their cell phone contracts or their cell phones altogether, due to the deepening recession, according to research conducted by the New Millennium Research Council. "Millions of...