Industry Week articles from April 2009

Industry Week archives from April 2009

DJO aims to never stop getting better: benchmarking helps DJO improve customer service while maintaining a competitive advantage over its competition.(THE BIG PICTURE: Leadership Insights from the IW Best Plants)(dj Orthopedics)
April 1, 2009... Why is benchmarking important? Not nearly enough companies even in today's competitive market spend enough time on it. How do you know if you are keeping up or being left behind? At DJO (formerly dj Orthopedics), benchmarking is part of the way...

Buyers beware! With economic uncertainty shaking the foundation of the global supply chain, a tactical response is only natural but buyers still need to think strategically about their sourcing decisions to ensure long-term results.(GLOBALIZATION)
April 1, 2009... The current financial crisis is enough to keep anyone awake at night. Every day another huge company announces yet another layoff that's usually even bigger than the last. Those once thought impervious to even the most trying of economic times...

You write the caption.
April 1, 2009... >> Congratulations to casagran, who has achieved the lofty title of CWE (Caption Writer Extraordinaire). You, too, can earn fame (but, alas, no fortune) by joining in the latest "You Write The Caption" contest, featuring gags from cartoonist...

Online poll.
April 1, 2009... SHOULD THE NEW ADMINISTRATION CREATE INCENTIVES TO BRING MANUFACTURING PLANTS BACK TO THE U.S.? Industryweek.com readers respond: 86.3% Yes 10.6% No 3.1% I'm Undecided

Gaining a supply chain edge.(New Blog)
April 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Thoughts for today's global businesses and supply chains Forums.industryweek.com Jim Tompkins, CEO of Tompkins Associates, shares his insights. Recent entries include: * What to Do About the Global...

IW manufacturing business challenge.(eNewsletters)(IndustryWeek)(Brief article)
April 1, 2009... The IW Manufacturing Business Challenge is a monthly IndustryWeek e-newsletter produced with Kinaxis devoted to exploring one specific manufacturing business challenge per issue--and how experts would solve the problem. Learn from leading...

Times are tough but not as unusual as you might think: companies should reinforce their continuous improvement efforts to be best prepared for the economy's recovery.(CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT)
April 1, 2009... Every day, we are assaulted by the media with bad news about the economy--declining equity markets reducing people's 401k plans and net worth, massive job losses, mounting numbers of home foreclosures, and on and on. No wonder automobile sales...

Energy efficiency: doing more with less: myriad opportunities exist to drive down energy usage in your plant and across your enterprise. That's good for your bottom line and good for the environment.(SUSTAINABLE MANUFACTURING)(Cover story)
April 1, 2009... Ever walk out of your manufacturing plant, stroll toward the parking lot and watch waste heat lazily exit the stacks? Did you take it one step further and think, "There must be a way to capture and reuse that heat?" And then did you go even...

Getting started: begin your energy efficiency program by identifying your current power usage. Then rely on real data.
April 1, 2009... For a manufacturing plant just embarking on an energy efficiency program, a good first step is to contact your utilities providers to gain access to your site's energy usage. So suggests Lonnie Russell, production manager at AN Corps...

W.R. Grace tries to overcome safety program pitfalls: getting complacent with low injury and illness rates could lead to painful incidents down the road.(FACILITIES & OPERATIONS)(W.R. Grace & Co.)
April 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] One of the greatest safety dangers manufacturers face on the plant floor is complacency. Outright negligence, such as the alleged oversights at the Peanut Corp. of America linked to a salmonella outbreak,...

By the numbers: women's earnings in 2007.(FACILITIES & OPERATIONS)(Survey)(Brief article)
April 1, 2009... In 2007 women who worked full time had median weekly earnings that were about 80% of their male counterparts, according to the latest figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). President Obama's signing of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair...

How to play fair pay.(FACILITIES & OPERATIONS)
April 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] On Jan. 29 President Barack Obama signed into law an equal-pay bill that extends the statute of limitations for filing a discrimination claim against an employer. Named after a longtime Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co....

Toyota begins production at Ontario plant.(GLOBAL SITINGS)
April 1, 2009... Toyota Motor Corp. has opened a $1.1 billion plant in Ontario, Canada, where the company will produce up to 100,000 vehicles per year, including the new RAV4. The first vehicles started rolling off the line at the Woodstock plant in December...

New plant processes steel.(GLOBAL SITINGS)
April 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Steel processing and distribution company Friedman Industries Inc. has begun full production at its newest steel coil processing plant in Decatur, Ala. The facility is designed to convert hot-rolled coils received...

The growing move to multi-tasking: even the economy is motivating the acceptance of multi-tasking machine tools, reports one builder.(FACTORY AUTOMATION)(Report)
April 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "In this current business climate, customer buying motivation shifts. They're not buying a machine to add capacity. They're much more likely to buy those things that can give them really...

The Kaizen Event Planner: Achieving Rapid Improvement in Office, Service and Technical Environments.(BOOKSHELF)(Brief article)(Book review)
April 1, 2009... The Kaizen Event Planner: Achieving Rapid Improvement In Office, Service and Technical Environments By Karen Martin and Mike Osterling Productivity Press, 2009, 240 pages, $50 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Designed as a...

Justifying multi-tasking: as flexible as multi-tasking solutions appear, maximum success depends on closely matching the capability to the parts and the business model.(FACTORY AUTOMATION)
April 1, 2009... "Multi-tasking decisions ultimately depend on doing a real analysis of the number of parts to be processed, the kinds of operations to be done and whether it makes sense to tie up several machines doing individual tasks or a more complex...

The road to recovery goes through IT: companies look to IT departments to improve their operational efficiency.(INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY)(Survey)
April 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Improving operational efficiency is the main objective for corporate IT departments as they seek to get through the recession, according to a survey of more than 300 IT leaders conducted by talent solutions firm...

Tech scorecard: turbulent times in the tech marketplace.(INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY)(HighJump Software Inc.)(3M)(i2 Technologies Inc.)(JDA Software Group Inc.)(mValent Inc.)(Oracle Corp.)(Table)
April 1, 2009... Supply chain technology companies have been among the most active in the mergers & acquisitions arena in recent months. In particular, HighJump Software, fresh off its divestiture from industrial giant 3M, has been busy plugging up holes in its...

Five benefits of an MES: properly used, an MES can help reduce scrap, waste and inventory.(manufacturing execution system)(Plex Systems Inc.)
April 1, 2009... "Today's manufacturers are under tremendous pressure to develop high-quality products quickly and cost-effectively," observes Mark Symonds, CEO of Plex Systems Inc., a provider of software solutions for manufacturing companies. "OEMs are paring...

Manufacturing is not an ideology: if you were hoping the government would pull us out of this recession, it's time for a new strategy.(JUST IN TIME)(Editorial)
April 1, 2009... If you believe the national media, the 2008 elections were a referendum on the economy, but as it's becoming increasingly clear, what really was being decided was what the role the government should play in dictating how business gets conducted...

Maximize the use of our skills.(IW READER: FEEDBACK)(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2009... >Re: "Manufacturers Consider Migrating Back to U.S.," www.industryweek.com/articles/manufacturers_consider_migrating_back_to_us- _18486.aspx I liked your article concerning divested or migrated manufacturing operations. I myself...

Focus on your strengths and weaknesses.(IW READER: FEEDBACK)(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2009... >Re: "Just In Time: Lean You Can Believe In" (Feb. 2009) It is very difficult for companies these days to stay focused. It is difficult to hold lean events, perform training, execute projects, or even discuss forward progress when your...

RFID hype comes full circle.(IW READER: FEEDBACK)(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2009... >Re: "The Five Stages of RFID" (Jan. 2009) I think this article is a fair assessment of where the market is today and what actually drives people to adopt RFID technology solutions within their supply chains. Regulatory mandates are great...

Confidence among manufacturers sinks to record low levels: most companies believe downturn in production will last at least until second half of 2009.(MANUFACTURING INDEX)(Survey)
April 1, 2009... Following three consecutive quarterly declines, confidence among small manufacturers (those that employ less than 1,000 workers) plummeted in the fourth quarter of 2008 to the lowest level in the 11-year history of the survey, with just 39% of...

How to choose a PLM provider: start with the process, not the product.(PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT)(Product life cycle management software)(Collaborative Product Development Associates)
April 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Who is the best PLM solution provider? That's how many businesses begin their discussion of selecting a product lifecycle management (PLM) technology provider, says Michel Vrinat, PLM...

By the numbers: flat forecast for R&D spending.(research and development)(Survey)(Brief article)
April 1, 2009... Generally speaking, investment by companies in research and development will be flat in 2009, according to the latest R&D trends forecast from the Industrial Research Institute (IRI). Indeed, 44% of respondents to the forecast survey say 2009...

Autodesk has announced plans for Inventor Fusion Technology, a digital prototying technology that combines the control of parametric, history-based modeling and the ease of use of direct, history-free modeling.(Product Development Solutions)
April 1, 2009... Autodesk has announced plans for Inventor Fusion Technology, a digital prototying technology that combines the control of parametric, history-based modeling and the ease of use of direct, history-free modeling. The solution will give users the...

Conformia's Version 3.0 of its product/process lifecycle management (PPLM) solution features integrated, inclusive real-time development operations system for a variety of process manufacturing verticals.(Product Development Solutions)(Brief article)
April 1, 2009... Conformia's Version 3.0 of its product/process lifecycle management (PPLM) solution features integrated, inclusive real-time development operations system for a variety of process manufacturing verticals. The release allows process...

With Goldfire 5.0 software from Invention Machine, users can track enterprisewide innovation trends and programs in real time.(Product Development Solutions)
April 1, 2009... With Goldfire 5.0 software from Invention Machine, users can track enterprisewide innovation trends and programs in real time. Executives and managers can navigate through more than a dozen innovation tasks--from designing new products to...

Content-searching capabilities have been improved with the release Kinnosa 4.1, an engineering document management solution from FirstTrace.(Product Development Solutions)
April 1, 2009... Content-searching capabilities have been improved with the release Kinnosa 4.1, an engineering document management solution from FirstTrace. Kinnosa's serve-oriented architecture and open data repository make the solution adaptable for managing...

Planview has introduced a comprehensive product portfolio management solution through the combination of new product offerings and enhanced existing products.(Product Development Solutions)
April 1, 2009... Planview has introduced a comprehensive product portfolio management solution through the combination of new product offerings and enhanced existing products. The Planview Enterprise for Product Development solution includes the new Enterprise...

Quicker configuration capabilities arrive in Teamcenter Express 4.1 from Siemens PLM Software.(Product Development Solutions)
April 1, 2009... Quicker configuration capabilities arrive in Teamcenter Express 4.1 from Siemens PLM Software. This collaborative product data management (cPDM) solution release includes a new administration tool to simplify the process for configuring the...

Lawsuit: Reducing the Risk of Product Liability for Manufacturers.(BOOKSHELF)(Book review)
April 1, 2009... Lawsuit: Reducing the Risk of Product Liability for Manufacturers By Randall l. Goodden John Wiley & Sons Inc., 2009, 359 pages, $79.95 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Despite the potential risk that accompanies the...

What the customer wants.
April 1, 2009... "Clearly the challenge for us now and in the future will not be whether we can have the idea and get the patent; it's whether or not we can convert that into business value in the form of a product that customers really appreciate and will pay...

The organized climb: GE takes a big step to improve the flow of information through a complex supply chain.(PURCHASING)(General Electric Co.)
April 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Having detailed and precise information from each and every one of your suppliers is a critical part of making good purchasing decisions. It can provide buyers with invaluable resources from which to see new...

What are the odds? Predictions are difficult in an unstable economy, but there are still ways to turn your material forecast into more than an educated guess.(PURCHASING)
April 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Even when business is booming, it can be tough to predict what twists and turns might affect key variables to your bottom line, such as product demand and commodities prices. The prospect seems even more unlikely in...

A smarter way to gather intelligence.(PURCHASING)
April 1, 2009... "Quality of data was key for how we want our supplier information managed. We need the process to be flawless." -Tom Hattier, shared sourcing services manager for GE's corporate initiatives group

Matters of capital importance: the recession is driving many companies to reduce spending and production capacity.(PURCHASING)(Survey)(Brief article)
April 1, 2009... No one is immune to the effects of the ongoing turmoil churning through the financial markets. Not surprisingly, many companies are planning to respond by making fairly sizable reductions to both capital spending and production capacity,...

Toshiba brings more green into the picture.(PURCHASING)(Toshiba America Consumer Products Inc.)
April 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] At a time when making the most affordable purchases can take priority over everything else, can be easy to forget about making the most responsible ones. However, electronics maker Toshiba America Consumer Products...

Better, faster, cheaper ... and smarter: as risks increase in the marketplace, supply chains are evolving into more intelligent and interconnected networks.(SUPPLY CHAIN & LOGISTICS)
April 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In the wake of severe sickness and even deaths attributed to breakdowns in the global supply chain (e.g., salmonella traced back to peanut butter in the United States, contaminated dairy products in China), risk...

"Recession will hurt software companies, too.(Brief article)
April 1, 2009... "During the last recession, software suppliers argued that supply chain solutions helped companies to cut costs, which was of paramount importance during a recession, and thus while their growth might slow, they still expected to continue to...

'Green' supply chain movement: hits a speed bump: very few companies are actively pursuing sustainability initiatives.(SUPPLY CHAIN & LOGISTICS)(Survey)
April 1, 2009... The idea of "green" supply chains is taking a backseat to "staying in the black" supply chains, at least in the current economic malaise. Based on the results of a recent survey conducted by consulting firm Accenture, a mere 10% of companies...

Portrait of best-in-class warehouse management: optimizing warehouse management often involves an automation strategy.(SUPPLY CHAIN & LOGISTICS)(Survey)
April 1, 2009... "Doing more Dwith less" is standard operating procedure in most warehouses these days, as companies are being challenged to support increasing volumes of products (often due to channel consolidation) without adding staff or expanding available...

The Supply-Based Advantage.(BOOKSHELF)(The Supply-based Advantage: How To Link Suppliers To Your Organization's Corporate Strategy)(Brief article)(Book review)
April 1, 2009... Stephen C. Rogers AMACOM, 2009, 368 pages, $39.95 This book, subtitled "How to link suppliers to your organization's corporate strategy," draws largely from the author's 30-year career in strategic sourcing at consumer goods giant...

What you need to know about workforce optimization: sustained commitment to employee training and development counters downturns and results in long-term growth and recovery success.(LABOR MANAGEMENT & WORKFORCE STRATEGIES)
April 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] QUESTION: How serious are companies about workforce development? ANSWER: "Wait for a recession and workforce development is the first thing management stops doing. That's the primary error in a typical business...