Industry Week articles from April 2003

Industry Week archives from April 2003

U.S. manufacturing will rise again. (Editor's Page).(Editorial)
April 1, 2003... IT'S BEEN A PARTICULARLY BRUTAL RECESSION FOR MANUFACTURERS, AND many economists believe it's not going to get better for them any time soon. While a number of economic statistics point to an improving economy overall, others suggest that the...

Letters.(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2003... Wanted: A Manufacturing Stimulus Package [Re: Stronger Leadership Is the Answer, February 2003, Page 11] Yes, there are some good and helpful things in [President Bush's economic] proposals. However, releasing money from taxes may only...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
April 1, 2003... In the Executive Word interview of Ken Mehrling, Sigma-Tau Pharmaceuticals [February 2003. Page 19], the number of potential patients for Camitor is 50,000 to 70,000.

Extending Ethernet everywhere: manufacturing's embrace of the compelling advantages of Ethernet is rapidly extending the corporate network solution onto the factory floor. Watch it get better. (Emerging Technologies).
April 1, 2003... PRODUCTION'S SPECTACULAR ACCEPTANCE of Ethernet is all about enhancing the connectivity of information throughout a manufacturing organization. But why borrow an office tool for harsh factory environments--especially a tool designed for...

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation. (Advertisement).
April 1, 2003... Corporate Strategy * The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) is a partnership between the state of Michigan and local communities. The MEDC promotes smart economic growth by developing strategies and providing services to...

Ready or not, here comes HIPAA: new federal health-information regulations have companies scrambling to comply. (Regulation).(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)
April 1, 2003... LAST SEPTEMBER, THE SOCIETY FOR Human Resource Management (SHRM) held a teleconference for its members on the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Lots of people attended, which is not unusual--normally SHRM...

How Ghosn's driving Nissan. (Bookshelf).(CEO Carlos Ghosn)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Using cross-cultural, cross-functional teams to help turn around Nissan Motor Co. probably came pretty naturally to Carlos Ghosn, the Japanese automaker's CEO since the summer of 1991. After all, he is a Brazilian-born, French-educated man of...

Manufacturers reign. (Corporate Reputation).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... There's no dearth of talk about the United States becoming a services-oriented nation, but when it comes to identifying companies with the best corporate reputations nationwide, manufacturers reign. So indicate the findings of a recent...

No 'crowding out' yet for U.S. firms. (Finance).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Even as the federal budget deficit climbs, U.S. corporations continue to focus on repairing their balance sheets and are not significantly increasing their investments. As a result government borrowing to finance the deficit has yet to crowd...

Lower altitude. (Aerospace).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Like the horizon along the U.S. Great Plains, 2003 appears pretty flat to general aviation manufacturers. They're not foreseeing much change from 2002, a year that saw both shipments and billings of airplanes manufactured worldwide decrease...

Taming the animal instinct: consulting firm taps animal behavior, psychology biology to help companies make better business decisions. (Risk Management).
April 1, 2003... AT FIRST BLUSH OXFORD RISK RESEARCH and Analysis (ORRA) Ltd. seems ill equipped to offer business advice to corporations. Its founders are zoologists, and psychology, evolutionary biology and animal behavior are among the areas of expertise it...

IW wants to hear from yen: subscribers are encouraged to join new reader panel. (Research).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... AS A BUSINESS LEADER YOU PLAY a crucial role in how the business of manufacturing evolves. Because of this, INDUSTRY WEEK wants to tap into your expertise. INDUSTRY WEEK invites you to join the new 1W Reader Panel--an editorial advisory...

Pay is not enough. (Human Resources).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Think that "fair pay" is enough of a reason for manufacturing workers to want to hold onto their jobs in the current lackluster, relatively high unemployment U.S. economy? Think again. Fair pay is No. 3 on the list of reasons employees in...

Executives say 'no' to Iraq war. (Executive Word).(Interview)
April 1, 2003... Since October 2002 an organization called Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities (BLSP) has run ads in the national media condemning the Bush Administration's drive to launch a war in Iraq. The group, whose members include 500 current or...

Soldiers of fortune? At ease! The military's methods work but not in the corporate world. (Brandt on Leadership).
April 1, 2003... AMERICAN BUSINESS HAS A Recurring infatuation with military leadership models. CEOs speak loosely of business as a "war for market share" and then see respectful 19-year-olds skillfully handling weapons of mass destruction and $30 million...

Surviving information overload: successful companies focus on strategic data, invest wisely in a limited number of technologies and build appropriate data streams. (Management Strategies).
April 1, 2003... INFORMATION IS TO TODAY'S MANUFACTURING executives what fire was to prehistoric cavemen. Properly controlled and applied, it sustains life and perpetuates evolution. But mishandle or neglect it, and it can quickly destroy. This modern...

Long live EDI! Think it's time to abandon your investment in EDI? Think again. The granddaddy of e-commerce protocols has survived XML and the Internet. (Information Technology).
April 1, 2003... AROUND THE TIME THAT THE GROUP THAT APPROVES SUCH THINGS signed off on XML 1.0 in February of 1998, the trade press began to write the obituary for electronic data interchange (EDI), which it predicted would soon fade into extinction along with...

The next material world. (Trends: Nanotechnology Part One of a Two-Part Series).(Industry Overview)
April 1, 2003... Get ready to research reenginer, reinvent and innovate new products and processes. The national science foundation has predicted a $1 trillion market by 2015 for Nano products. FUNDAMENTAL SHIFTS IN CIVILIZAtion traditionally are initiated...

Our fuel-cell future: after more than 50 years of mostly government-backed research, pioneering companies will bring fuel cells to the masses--once they hurdle a few obstacles. (Energy).
April 1, 2003... WHEN THE U.S. GOVERNMENT - SPECIFICALLY the newly formed NASA-started looking into the benefits of fuel cells, the Berlin Wall just had been built, the country was in the Beatles of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Beatles were invading...

Adding excitement to e-learning: simulation programs ease the cost, stress of training. (Information Technology).
April 1, 2003... FUN AND EMPLOYEE training aren't usually words that companies use in the same sentence. In fact, much of e-learning is e-boring, but several computer training companies are aiming to lighten up the learning process with games and simulations...

From theory practice: business simulations help people learn to apply lean to apply concepts-beyond the factory floor. (Best Practices).
April 1, 2003... FINAL ASSEMBLY IS NOT THE USUAL WORKPLACE of Stephen Segal, vice president and CIO of Price Industries, a manufacturer of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning products located in Atlanta and Winnipeg, Canada. Yet that's where he found...

Siemens hears sounds of success: high-tech hearing-aid facility in LA Mirada, Calif. (Locations).
April 1, 2003... PLANT: Located in La Mirada, Calif., about 10 miles southeast of Los Angeles, the plant was once the site of the Gateway 5 Edwards movie theater, a place where patrons heard soundtracks as well saw the pictures. Since Jan. 10 the location has...

Gateway Inc. (People).(Joe Formichelli named vice president)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Gateway Inc., Poway, Calif., announced that Joe Formichelli has joined the company as executive vice president of operations. He will be responsible for maximizing the company's operational efficiency. Formichelli has worked in various...

Bosch Rexroth Corp. (People).(names Wolfgang Dangel CEO)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Bosch Rexroth Corp., Hoffman Estates, Ill., has a new CEO as of April 1. Wolfgang Dangel, a former executive vice president and CFO for the company, replaces Bob Rickert, who will remain an adviser to the industrial motors and drives...

UPS Supply Chain Solutions. (People).(names Bob Stoffel president)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Bob Stoffel has been named president of UPS Supply Chain Solutions, Atlanta. Stoffel, a 28-year veteran of the company, will oversee operations for the $2 billion unit, which includes the recent integration of UPS Logistics Group and UPS...

CoCreate Software Inc. (People).(appoints John Alpine CTO)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... CoCreate Software Inc., a provider of collaborative product development software, has named John Alpine to the newly created position of chief technology officer. Alpine formerly was director of R&D for CoCreate's collaborative design software....

MRO Direct Inc. (People).(appoints Brent Fitch as COO)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... MRO Direct Inc., a procurement services provider, has appointed Brent Fitch as COO. Fitch most recently worked at Denso International America.

Schneider National Inc. (People).(appoints Richard Palmieri)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Schneider National Inc., a Green Bay, Wis., transportation services provider, announced that Richard Palmieri has joined the company as president of its Financial Services Division. In this role, Palmieri will lead both Schneider Finance, an...

The Society of Manufacturing Engineers. (Associations).(elects seven to executive committee)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... The Society of Manufacturing Engineers elected seven members to its executive committee. They are: President David G. Lee, director of the manufacturing engineering program at the University of Detroit Mercy; President-elect Richard C. Peters,...

Specialty Steel Industry of North America. (Associations).(names Paul A. Kelly president)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Paul A. Kelly, president and CEO of Slater Steel Inc., has been named chairman of the Specialty Steel Industry of North America (SSINA). Jack Shilling, an executive vice president with Allegheny Technologies, has been named vice chairman. SSINA...

Lippincott Mercer. (Companies).(company formation)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Lippincott Mercer, an identity and brand strategy consultancy, has formed from the unification of Lippincott & Margulies and the brand science offering of Mercer Management Consulting. Joining the New York-based firm in January were Eric...

Events.(industry meetings)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... April 7-9: Supply-Chain World--North America Supply-Chain Council Inc. Hyatt Regency Atlanta www.supplychainworld.org May 4-6: American Iron and Steel Institute General Meeting Hyatt Regency San Diego www.steel.org May...

Playing the China card. (Financial & Economic Trends).(outsourcing of manufactured goods to China)
April 1, 2003... EVEN AS "THE ECONOMIST," A BRITISH publication, asserts that China's economic success should be seen more as an opportunity than a threat, a detailed analysis by the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI shows a striking increase in U.S. imports of...

Recovery hopes move to 2004: meanwhile, 2003 will be a replay of 2002. (Evans on the Economy).(US economic conditions)(Column)
April 1, 2003... IT IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY obvious that the U.S. economy will not perform any better in 2003 than it did in 2002. For manufacturing executives and everyone else that means inflation-adjusted GDP will grow just 2.5% this year, profits will be...

Online poll.(about the purchase of fuel-cell-powered vehicles)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Online poll. When will consumers be able to routinely purchase fuel-cell-powered automobiles? IndustryWeek.com readers respond: Never 4.4% Less than 10 years 39.4% 10-20 years 45.5% 21-30 years ...