Manufacturing & Technology News articles from September 2004

Manufacturing & Technology News archives from September 2004

U.S. furniture industry fights a battalion of lawyers representing Chinese interests.
September 1, 2004... When 31 bedroom furniture manufacturers and five labor unions from 18 different states decided to take legal action against Chinese furniture producers and exporters, they hired a law firm to file the largest anti-dumping case of its kind with...

A small mfg. company owner is so concerned about free trade he's running for Congress.(David Vs. Goliath:)
September 1, 2004... It is not often that an owner of a small manufacturing company decides to make a run for Congress out of conviction that the country is headed down the wrong track. Jack Davis, founder and owner of I Squared R Element Co. of Akron, N.Y., a...

Patent applications are posted online.
September 1, 2004... The Department of Commerce's U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has reached a "major milestone" in making its patent examination process fully transparent to the public. For the first time, anyone in the world can use USPTO's Web site...

Letter to the editor.(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2004... I was disappointed to see no mention of the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program in the July 7 Manufacturing & Technology News article "Companies Not Taking Advantage of Economic Development Incentive Programs." TAA helps domestic...

U.S. aerospace sector is showing signs of life.(Industry is Poised for Sustained Growth)
September 1, 2004... Many mid-to large-sized companies in the industrial, aerospace and military sectors look to be in the early stage of a long period of sustained growth, says financial analyst Cliff Ransom of Ransom Research. The last two industrial cycles ran...

Air Force wants Lockheed Martin to nourish smaller manufacturers.(Industry is Poised for Sustained Growth)
September 1, 2004... The Air Force has signed a memorandum of understanding with Lockheed Martin that seeks to improve the fortunes of small manufacturers. The MOU "will help increase the small business manufacturing base for the Air Force," says Joseph Diamond,...

U.S. defense companies succumb to Foreign demands to win contracts.(Industry is Poised for Sustained Growth)
September 1, 2004... Defense offsets--the requirement by foreign countries that U.S. weapons producers shift production to their country in order to win a contract--continue to impact the U.S. supplier community, according to the latest data from the Commerce...

Resources, reports, analysis, intelligence.
September 1, 2004... U.S. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE'S INTERNATIONAL PLATFORM RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE PARTIES says in order for the United States to stay competitive it must re-devote itself to education, enforce trade agreements and improve the investment climate. "While...

Materials industries form trade group to combat Bush administration's desire to kill DOE R & D program.
September 17, 2004... The largest basic materials industries in the country have formed a new lobbying organization to promote a small Department of Energy collaborative research program. The Alliance for Materials Manufacturing Excellence (AMMEX) consists of more...

House budget proposal puts science community on edge.
September 17, 2004... President Bush signed a bill two years ago that authorized doubling the budget for the National Science Foundation. But the intent of that bill is about to be eviscerated by the approval of a House of Representatives appropriations bill that...

ASTRA appoints a high-profile board of directors.(People on the Move)
September 17, 2004... The Alliance for Science and Technology Research in America (ASTRA), a fledgling group created by Mary Good, former Undersecretary of Commerce for Technology and chair of the National Science Board, has named its first board of directors. The...

Republican leaves Congress to lead biotech association.(People on the Move)
September 17, 2004... Rep. James Greenwood (R-Penn.) has been named president of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), a Washington trade group of more than 1,000 companies, universities and research centers. Greenwood is chairman of the Energy and Commerce...

NAM hires international trade specialist.(People on the Move)
September 17, 2004... The National Association of Manufacturers has named a new director of international trade policy. Christopher Wenk joins NAM from his post at the House Small Business Committee. His job at NAM will be to help promote the trade interests of...

Former Ireland prime minister joins EC in Washington.(People on the Move)
September 17, 2004... John Burton, former prime minister of Ireland, has been named to head the European Commission delegation to the United States in Washington, D.C. "This decision reflects the joint wish of the Commission and the member states to raise the...

NIST director to become full-time NSF director.(People on the Move)
September 17, 2004... Arden Bement has been named by President Bush to be the director of the National Science Foundation, a post in which he has been serving for the past seven months. During that time, Bement has also been director of the National Institute of...

Demand for technology workers is evaporating.
September 17, 2004... Demand for the country's highest skilled information technology workers is dropping, according to the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA). While the IT workforce will grow by 2 percent this year, demand for IT workers forecast...

Government now accounts for same percentage of GDP as manufacturing.
September 17, 2004... Manufacturing's share of total gross domestic product slipped by a large amount during the past five years. The manufacturing sector counted for 15.4 percent of the economy in 1998, but its share has fallen in each of the last five years and...

Grass roots manufacturing groups to discuss political strategy.
September 17, 2004... Organizers of the many grass-roots manufacturing organizations that have been created over the past two years to publicize the plight of small manufacturers have scheduled a meeting in October to discuss why their issue has not gained political...

China commission to meet in Ohio.
September 17, 2004... The United States -- China Economic and Security Review Commission is continuing its broad investigation into the impacts China is having on U.S. industry. The congressionally funded group is traveling to Akron, Ohio, on Sept. 23 for a meeting...

Business to Congress: fix FSC now!
September 17, 2004... Business groups are urging Congress to pass the Foreign Sales Corp/ETI legislation this year. European tariffs on U.S. goods continue to rise, as Congress is unable to make it a priority to reform what has been ruled by the WTO as an illegal...

BLS to open west to wind farms.
September 17, 2004... The Department of Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLS) has issued its first draft environmental impact statement (EIS) on wind energy development on federal lands in the western United States. The EIS is in response to growing pressure to...

Fall calendar of manufacturing & technology events.(Calendar)
September 17, 2004... Sept. 28-30 Canadian Manufacturing Week, Mississauga, Ont., http://www.cmwshow.ca. Oct. 3 Council of Logistics Management's 2004 Annual Conference, Philadelphia, Penn. Call 630-574-0985. Oct. 4-5 Lean Essentials: Leading Organizing &...

Physicists pass over Stanford's design of proposed atom smasher.
September 17, 2004... The world's physics community has decided upon the basic design for the next generation 20-mile-long linear accelerator that will cost billions of dollars and take at least a decade to design and build. The International Committee for Future...

Photovoltaics industry takes an unexpected dip in 2003.
September 17, 2004... It was a tough year last year for the solar power industry. Producers of photovoltaics recorded their first decline in total peak kilowatt production of PV cells since statistics started being kept in 1986, according to the Energy Information...