Manufacturing & Technology News articles from October 2006

Manufacturing & Technology News archives from October 2006

NAM board votes in favor of multinationals in debate over China's currency.
October 10, 2006... For members of the National Association of Manufacturers' Domestic Manufacturers Group, September 28 will be a day to remember. Their two-year effort to persuade NAM to endorse a currency manipulation bill was rejected by the association's...

Competitiveness bill rises in the senate.
October 10, 2006... A new attempt at competitiveness legislation is rising from the ashes of numerous stalled bills that had been introduced over the past 10 months in response to a pair of influential reports, the National Academies' "Rising Above the Gathering...

2007 federal budget remains in limbo.
October 10, 2006... Managing to pass only two of 11 appropriations bills for 2007, those for the Department of Defense (DOD) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS), before going home to campaign, Congress has left most of the federal government funded under a...

FDA issues final regs to assure quality of drug manufacturing.
October 10, 2006... The Food and Drug Administration has issued its final rules for regulating drug manufacturing processes. The "Quality Systems Guidance" utilizes regulations that "incorporate modern quality principles into FDA's approach to manufacturing,...

U.S. R&D tax credit is weaker than that of most foreign rivals.
October 10, 2006... The United States is no longer offering the world's best incentive for research and development, according to the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF). The country's R&D tax credit, considered to be the most generous tax...

Feds say IPR protection is a priority.
October 10, 2006... The federal government is ramping up enforcement of intellectual property protection, according to a report from the Bush administration's National Intellectual Property Law Enforcement Coordination Council (NIPLECC). Since 2001, the Department...

Manufacturer is making headway against incumbent.
October 10, 2006... Manufacturing company owner Jack Davis, who is running for Congress against Rep. Tom Reynolds (RN. Y.), has pulled ahead in the polls, due to Reynolds' role in the Foley congressional sex scandal. The latest Zogby International poll taken of...

Japanese auto firms buy lots more U.S. parts.
October 10, 2006... Japanese automobile manufacturers' purchases of parts made in the United States reached a new record of $48.4 billion last year, up 7 percent from 2004, according to the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA). Japanese purchases of...

Technology sector adds jobs, even in manufacturing.
October 10, 2006... The United States technology industry added 140,000 new jobs during the first half of 2006, nearly double the growth from the first half of 2005 and the strongest gains in employment since 2001, according to the American Electronics...

Government to develop hand-held rad detectors.
October 10, 2006... The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has awarded $22 million in contracts to develop pocket-sized radiation detectors. The agency awarded 27-month contracts under a competitive solicitation to General Electric Global Research, Lawrence...

July trade deficit ten years ago.
October 10, 2006... U.S. trade deficit in goods is spiraling deeper into the red. July set a monthly record deficit for goods at $74.4 billion, an increase of $3 billion from the previous month and up by $10 billion from the same month last year. Exports of...

The lessons from Sematech should be applied to many other industries.
October 10, 2006... The semiconductor industry sits at the world pinnacle of technology, and to stay there requires a unique collaboration of competitors working closely together to advance the state of the art. No other industry can claim a similar level of...

The American Forest & Paper Association.(People On The Move)
October 10, 2006... The American Forest & Paper Association has a new president. Juanita Duggan, currently president and CEO of the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America, has been selected to replace retiring Henson Moore, who said: "She brings all the necessary...

The Association for Manufacturing Excellence.(People On The Move)
October 10, 2006... The Association for Manufacturing Excellence has a new president: Ralph Keller, who is described as being "a longtime leader and innovator in manufacturing processes." Keller was also named to the board of the Chicago Manufacturing Center.

Taffy Kingscott, IBM's Washington, D.C.-based executive in charge of technology policy issues, has taken a job as a professor at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces at the National Defense University.(People On The Move)
October 10, 2006... Taffy Kingscott, IBM's Washington, D.C.-based executive in charge of technology policy issues, has taken a job as a professor at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces at the National Defense University. Kingscott has been named to the IBM...

The National Council for Advanced Manufacturing.(People On The Move)
October 10, 2006... The National Council for Advanced Manufacturing has named Paul Fowler to be its new director of research. Fowler joins NACFAM from the National Academy of Sciences, where he was a senior research associate. Fowler spent 13 years in production,...

Microsoft.(People On The Move)
October 10, 2006... Microsoft has named John Fikany to be vice president in charge of its manufacturing industry division, a group that generates $1.5 billion in revenue and supports more than 1,100 customers. Fikany served as general manager of Microsoft's...

Olwen Huxley, a professional staff aide on the House Science Committee's subcommittee on environment, technology and standards, has left her post and moved to Hawaii.(People On The Move)
October 10, 2006... Olwen Huxley, a professional staff aide on the House Science Committee's subcommittee on environment, technology and standards, has left her post and moved to Hawaii. Huxley was in charge of authorization bills related to the Manufacturing...

The Aerospace Industries Association.(People On The Move)
October 10, 2006... The Aerospace Industries Association has named Cord Sterling to be its new vice president of legislative affairs. Sterling joins AIA from the Capitol Hill office of Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), chairman of the Senate Armed Service Committee. AIA...

National Association of Manufacturers.(People On The Move)
October 10, 2006... The National Association of Manufacturers has seen some turnover and new additions. Long-time technology policy specialist David Peyton has left to start his own firm representing a number of manufacturers in Washington, D.C. Nathan Koble has...

Quotable.
October 10, 2006... "The chemical industry, which relies on natural gas for both energy and as a feedstock, has lost 100,000 jobs and $50 billion in business because of rising prices. Of 120 chemical plants worth $1 billion or more being built in the world today,...

New trade association in Washington will pursue interests of U.S. producers: a new coalition is being organized in Washington, D.C., aimed at promoting the interests of U.S. producers of manufactured goods and agricultural products. Labor organizations and ranchers are also expected to be involved.
October 25, 2006... Organizers are in the early stages of creating the Coalition of American Producers, a tentative name that could change. The effort involves about a dozen individuals and is being led by David "Skip" Hartquist, a partner with the law firm of...

Industry support of academic R&D: a three-decade trend comes to an end.
October 25, 2006... United States industrial companies are no longer increasing their investment in university research and development, according to the National Science Foundation. "Where has all the money gone?" NSF asks rhetorically in an analysis of the...

Steel industry, house democrats react bitterly to NAM vote on China currency.
October 25, 2006... The National Association of Manufacturers' Board of Directors' decision not to endorse a popular bill in the House of Representatives aimed at addressing China's manipulation of its currency is spurring something of a backlash against the...

Myopia pervades U.S. manufacturing.
October 25, 2006... U.S. manufacturing companies are generally not looking overseas as a means to increase revenues and expand markets, according to a survey by Grant Thornton. Fifty-seven percent of manufacturing executives said increasing their company's market...

U.S. Steel executive claims UN group promotes China's unfair trade practices; global trade faces a 'decision point'.
October 25, 2006... The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is fostering a world trading system that allows countries--especially China--to break the rules of trade for their benefit, according to John Goodish, chief operating officer of...

CEOs receive big pay increases.
October 25, 2006... The chief executive officers of 3,075 publicly traded firms in 14 major industry groups made a lot more money in 2005 than they did in 2004, reports the Conference Board in its annual report on CEO pay. In every industry group, CEOs made more...

Guest editorial: forever in their debt.(Editorial)
October 25, 2006... For a generation, transnational financial interests--and the politicians, pundits and analysts they promote have claimed soaring economic benefits from unregulated "free" trade. But over the past 25 years of deregulation and "free" trade...

Retailers tell Bush to change trade agreement with Vietnam.
October 25, 2006... A group of apparel retailers, importers and trade associations is "insisting" that the Bush administration rescind a commitment it provided to the two U.S. senators from South Carolina in exchange for them to lift their block on a Senate floor...

Interview with Sen. Byron Dorgan author of 'Take This Job and Ship It'.(Interview)
October 25, 2006... There aren't many U.S. senators writing books about offshore outsourcing, save for one, that is: Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) author of the recently released book "Take This Job and Ship It: How Corporate Greed and Brain-Dead Politics Are Selling Out...

U.S. PCB industry shrinks.
October 25, 2006... The United States slipped from fourth to fifth place last year in the world in printed circuit board production, according to the IPC--Association Connecting Electronics Industries. U.S. production of PCBs now represents 10 percent of the world...

Competitiveness Council: 20.
October 25, 2006... The Council on Competitiveness is planning a celebration bash for its 20th anniversary on Nov. 14 in Washington, D.C. The group will host an "Innovation Symposium to Celebrate America's Competitive Edge." The group will release its latest...