Manufacturing & Technology News articles from May 2008

Manufacturing & Technology News archives from May 2008

China displaces United States in Georgia Tech's Technology index.
May 16, 2008... China has surpassed the United States in a key measure of high tech competitiveness. The Georgia Institute of Technology's bi-annual "High-Tech Indicators" finds that China improved its "technological standing" by 9 points over the period of...

Vast requirement for defense operations & maintenance is depleting funding for future weapons.
May 16, 2008... Modernizing defense weapons used by the U.S. military is going to be a major challenge for the next presidential administration, says the Aerospace Industries Association. The U.S. defense industrial base "is in serious danger" of being...

D.C. trade lobby declares tentative victory over Customs' proposal to change duty system.
May 16, 2008... The powerful trade lobbying community in Washington seems to have been successful in blocking the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) from moving forward with a plan to change the so-called "first sale" rule on collecting duties on imported...

Offshore outsourcing topic of Science Committee hearing.
May 16, 2008... The House Science Committee is revisiting the debate about the benefits of offshore outsourcing of U.S. industry and research and development. The committee has scheduled a hearing for May 22 to question economists, legal experts and U.S....

U.S. economic slowdown hits Los Angeles ports.
May 16, 2008... Container traffic in and out of the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports has slowed down, declining by 0.6 percent last year due mainly to the housing slump, according to the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC). But exports...

Economic downturn hurts countries dependent on U.S.
May 16, 2008... The economic downturn in the United States will have a big impact on Central and South American countries that are heavily dependent on exports to the United States, according to the Center for Economic and Policy Research based in Washington,...

Canon.(New Plants In The United States)
May 16, 2008... Canon has announced plans to spend $600 million to expand its U.S. production facility in Virginia, thanks in large part to the falling dollar. Japan's largest producer of office equipment says it will add more than 1,000 jobs to its current...

BMW manufacturing Co.(New Plants In The United States)
May 16, 2008... BMW Manufacturing Co. has announced plans to increase production at its Spartanburg, S.C., plant from 160,000 to 240,000 vehicles by 2012 with an investment of $750 million. "The car plant in the U.S. helps us on the natural hedging side--it...

Nordic Windpower.(New Plants In The United States)
May 16, 2008... Nordic Windpower, a company headquartered in Sweden, has selected the city of Pocatello, Idaho, to be the site of a new turbine manufacturing plant. The 43,000-square-foot facility will create 160 jobs and produce 20 turbines per month by 2009....

I/N Kote.(New Plants In The United States)
May 16, 2008... I/N Kote, a 50-50 joint venture between ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel, has announced plans to double its galvanized steel production operation in New Carlisle, Ind., and create 100 new jobs by 2010. The companies will invest more than $240...

TRW.(New Plants In The United States)
May 16, 2008... TRW has announced plans to invest $27 million in new production operations in Lafayette, Ind., to make steering gears for heavy-duty trucks. The company will equip a new 300,000-square-foot plant and will start hiring 200 new workers later this...

IKEA's Swedwood.(New Plants In The United States)
May 16, 2008... IKEA's Swedwood industrial division has opened a new plant in Danville, Va., its first furniture production facility in the United States. The plant will produce a variety of wood-based IKEA products such as bookshelves, coffee and side tables,...

Smak plastics.(New Plants In The United States)
May 16, 2008... Smak Plastics has opened a new rotational molding manufacturing plant near Vancouver, Wash. The company, which makes playground equipment, sports equipment and aftermarket parts for recreational vehicles, chose the location because it is on the...

OptiSolar, Inc.(New Plants In The United States)
May 16, 2008... OptiSolar, Inc., based in Hayward, Calif., has announced plans to build a new 600,000-square-foot solar panel manufacturing plant in Sacramento, Calif. The plant is expected to create 500 new jobs over three years. The company received economic...

MED institute.(New Plants In The United States)
May 16, 2008... MED Institute, the product development subsidiary of Cook Medical based in Bloomington, Ind., has expanded its research and development center in West Lafayette, Ind., and plans to hire 250 employees at the site by 2011. The 92,000-square-foot...

Casting Technologies Co.(New Plants In The United States)
May 16, 2008... Aluminum auto parts manufacturer Casting Technologies Co. has announced plans to expand its manufacturing and headquarters operations in Franklin, Ind., creating 40 new jobs. The aluminum auto parts manufacturer will invest $3 million to...

Honeywell Aerospace.(Plants Closing In the United States)
May 16, 2008... Honeywell Aerospace has announced plans to cut 420 manufacturing jobs at its north Phoenix, Ariz., facility and outsource those positions to Indonesia and Malaysia starting in the fall. The company employs 2,500 workers at the Phoenix site.

Harley-Davidson.(Plants Closing In the United States)
May 16, 2008... A slowdown in orders for Harley-Davidson motorcycles is impacting the company's production schedule for the year, leading to layoffs of 700 workers. Sales were down 13 percent during the first quarter of this year, and the company expects total...

Superior Essex.(Plants Closing In the United States)
May 16, 2008... Superior Essex, an Atlanta, Ga.-based maker of wire and cable, has announced plans to close its 250-worker plant in southern Indiana by the end of the year. Production at the company's plant 50 miles north of Evansville, Ind., will be shifted...

Bolton metal products.(Plants Closing In the United States)
May 16, 2008... Bolton Metal Products has announced plans to close its plant in Centre County, Penn., eliminating 6 percent of that county's remaining manufacturing jobs. "That's a lot of jobs in one area," says Joe Merlina of Pennsylvania's Center for...

Champion enterprises.(Plants Closing In the United States)
May 16, 2008... Champion Enterprises, a manufacturer of modular homes, has announced plans to close manufacturing plants in Silverton, Ore., and LaGrange Ind., due to the slumping housing market. The Troy, Mich.-based company will move production to its...

K.O. Lee.(Plants Closing In the United States)
May 16, 2008... K.O. Lee's 120-year-old manufacturing plant in Aberdeen, S.D., which produces grinding machines for the machine tool industry, is expected to close. Company officials say they have not been able to sell the firm and slowing demand "has made the...

United industries.(Plants Closing In the United States)
May 16, 2008... United Industries, a maker of stainless steel tubing used by automakers, has announced plans to close its plant in Beloit, Wisc., and move production to an affiliated company (United Stainless) in Selmer, Tenn. The company has experienced a...

Whirlpool.(Plants Closing In the United States)
May 16, 2008... Whirlpool will close two refrigerator plants: one in LaVergne, Tenn., and the other in Reynosa, Mexico. Production from LaVergne will move to Fort Smith, Ark., and Reynosa's output will move to Ramos Arizpe, Mexico. "The changes will help the...

Mitsubishi.(Plant Closing Overseas)
May 16, 2008... Mitsubishi has announced plans to close its Adelaide, Australia, assembly operations, and lay off up to 1,200 employees. "It is with much regret that Mitsubishi has taken the decision to cease production activities in Australia," said company...

Fisher & Paykel appliances.(New Plants In Mexico)
May 16, 2008... Fisher & Paykel Appliances has announced plans to close manufacturing plants in California, New Zealand and Australia and move production to Reynosa, Mexico. The company will start manufacturing its appliances at the recently closed Whirlpool...

Greaves cotton Ltd.(New Plants In India)
May 16, 2008... Greaves Cotton Ltd. has opened a new manufacturing plant in Gummidipoondi, Tamil Nadu, India, to manufacture road compaction equipment. The plant, the company's fourth in its Infrastructure Equipment Group, will produce up to 1,200 compaction...

ZF friedrichshafen.(New Plants In India)
May 16, 2008... ZF Friedrichshafen, a German automotive parts supplier, has announced plans to build a 20-million euro manufacturing plant in Pune, Maharashtra, India. The factory will produce vehicle transmissions for heavy trucks and agriculture and...

Shipping Corp. of India (SCI).(New Plants In India)
May 16, 2008... Shipping Corp. of India (SCI), a state-owned entity, has formed a partnership with government-run Indian ports to enter the business of manufacturing diesel engines for ships. The alliance, which includes Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, Mumbai...

Mitsubishi Motors Corp.(New Plants In China)
May 16, 2008... Mitsubishi Motors Corp. has announced plans to nearly double the manufacturing capacity of its Shenyang, China, plant to 420,000 small engines per year by 2010. Another new facility under construction will have production capacity of 100,000...

Gleason Corp.(New Plants In China)
May 16, 2008... Gleason Corp., one of a half a dozen large remaining U.S. makers of machine tools, has opened a new factory in Suzhou, China. The plant will produce machines that make cylindrical gears. The 22,600-square-foot facility is the company's second...

Littelfuse.(New Plants In China)
May 16, 2008... Littelfuse, based in Des Plaines, Iowa, has announced plans to close its semiconductor assembly and test production plant in Matamoros, Mexico, and move production to Wuxi, China. The move will lower production costs by $7.5 million annually....

Chem-Trend.(New Plants In China)
May 16, 2008... Chem-Trend, a Howell, Penn.-based maker of specialty lubricants, has announced plans to build a 300,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in China. The facility near Shanghai will have an annual capacity of 13,000 metric tons of release agents...

Syngenta.(New Plants In China)
May 16, 2008... Switzerland-based Syngenta has announced plans to build a new biotech research and technology center in Beijing, China, and invest $65 million in its operation over five years. Its focus will be on the genetic modification of corn and soy in...

Commercial aircraft corporation of China.(New Plants In China)
May 16, 2008... China has established a new company to make passenger jumbo jets to rival those produced by Boeing and Airbus, according to a report from the Chinese government. The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China intends to develop, build and sell...

General motors.(New Plants In China)
May 16, 2008... General Motors says it will invest $1 billion a year for the next five years in China in new automobile and engine production facilities in order to keep up with demand. The company expects to sell one million autos in China in 2008. The...

Taiwan semiconductor manufacturing Co.(New Plant In Taiwan)
May 16, 2008... Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world's largest contract chip maker, has announced plans to spend $5 billion to expand its manufacturing facility in Hsinchu, Taiwan, and use the new production lines for conducting research and...

Congress reacts to continued hemorrhage of U.S. high-tech industrial base with a policy based on 'trusted sources'.
May 30, 2008... Congress is growing increasingly worried about the Department of Defense's ability to buy "trusted" components for national security systems from a supply chain that is increasingly shifting offshore. In its latest Defense Authorization...

EADS tanker win over Boeing will lead to transformation of DOD procurement rules.
May 30, 2008... Congress has reacted to the recent Air Force selection of the European air tanker over Boeing with legislation requiring the military to consider the impact on American jobs and industrial base when awarding military contracts. In the...

China's currency doesn't match China's growth.
May 30, 2008... China's decision on July 1, 2005, to allow the value of its yuan to "float" against the U.S. dollar within a basket of currencies has led to a 16 percent adjustment in the currency, from 8.62 yuan per dollar to 7.0. But that change pales in...

Projected increase in health spending to sap U.S. wealth.
May 30, 2008... Growth in health care spending this year should reach almost 7 percent, and is expected to remain at that level for the next 10 years, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services at the Department of Health and Human Services....

NIST invites research construction grant proposals.
May 30, 2008... The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is seeking applicants for a one-time grant program for the construction of science research buildings. The congressionally directed program, which NIST did not request, has $29 million...

DOE runs fuel cell competition.
May 30, 2008... The Energy Department will award $130 million to companies, universities and national labs for R&D into hydrogen fuel cells. DOE hopes to award 50 projects for research into automotive, stationary and portable power systems. It will require a...

American workers pay the price for executive compensation.(Science Committee Hearing On Globalization)
May 30, 2008... The social compact that existed over the past century between American corporations and the people who worked for them, their families and their communities has been severed, according to half a dozen witnesses testifying before a House Science...

Industry reduces [CO.sub.2] emissions.
May 30, 2008... U.S. carbon dioxide emissions increased by 1.6 percent last year, to 5,984 million metric tons, up from 5,888 million metric tons in 2006, according to the Energy Information Administration. But the U.S. industrial sector's emissions declined...

Federal government sponsors dueling competitiveness events.
May 30, 2008... The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) has set a date for the congressionally mandated "Science and Technology Summit." But the event is in direct conflict with one that is being sponsored by the Commerce Department on...

Interstates hurt by high gas prices.
May 30, 2008... The high price of gasoline will soon bite into the money the federal government has to spend on highways. Americans traveled 245 billion vehicle miles in March 2008, 4.3 percent less than in March 2007. It is the first time since 1979 that...

Asia fuels growth in steel production and consumption.
May 30, 2008... Global steel demand, production and capacity continue to grow at rapid rates, thanks in large part to the surging economies of developing nations, according to the OECD. "Global steelmaking capacity continues to increase rapidly," says a May 23...

China slows down its reform of non-complying trade issues.
May 30, 2008... China is not doing a very good job of fixing its trade system, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Between 2002 and 2007, the United States Trade Representative identified 180 Chinese trade compliance...

Think tank in India says developing world has little to gain from Doha Round.
May 30, 2008... Developing countries "should pull the plug" on the Doha Round of trade negotiations because they have little if anything to gain by the conclusion of the round, according to Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), a...

China auto parts export surge.
May 30, 2008... China exported $41 billion worth of autos and auto parts last year, an increase of 45 percent over 2006, according to the Chinese Association of Automobile Manufacturers. The United States was the number-one destination for Chinese made auto...

Congress has to legislate automobile innovation.
May 30, 2008... Real-time fuel efficiency gauges would be a requirement on all vehicles, allowing drivers to know exactly how much fuel they are consuming while they are driving, under legislation introduced by U.S. Sens. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) and John Kerry...

Quotable.(Quotation)
May 30, 2008... "For a very long time, most of the work of the world was done on farms or in small shops. An individual could learn the printing trade or shoe making and graduate to his own shop; a family could run a farm. In both cases an individual or very...

Airbus orders on the rise.
May 30, 2008... EADS, the maker of the Airbus civilian aircraft, is slowly turning itself around. The company had a record number of orders last year, 1,341 aircraft, which increased its backlog to 3,421 aircraft. In 2007, it made 453 Airbus deliveries to...

Letter to the editor.(Letter to the editor)
May 30, 2008... In his letter that appeared in the April 17 issue of Manufacturing & Technology News, David Huether of the National Association of Manufacturers attacked us by name and suggested that Americans' lived experience of manufacturing decline--and...

NAM & Deloitte: Mfgrs. are happy with NAFTA.
May 30, 2008... The majority of manufacturers in North America say that NAFTA has been good for their business, which is "contrary to popular perceptions," according to a survey conducted by the National Association of Manufacturers and Deloitte. "Only a small...

Auto suppliers are hurt by slowdown in sales.
May 30, 2008... Small- and medium-sized automotive industry suppliers are falling on tough times, according to a report from the Financial Times. "The reverberations of weakening U.S. motor vehicle sales are being felt far beyond carmakers' assembly plants,"...

Training the Industrial Athlete for the Future.(Manufacturing Skills Standards Council)
May 30, 2008... The Manufacturing Skill Standards Council (MSSC) is on the cutting edge of a historic change in the way industrialized nations train their workforce. Fast-moving technologies are not only transforming the nature of work, but also the nature of...