Industry Week articles from August 2005

Industry Week archives from August 2005

Online poll.
August 1, 2005... Which Washington, d.c.-based group best represents the views of manufacturers on public-policy issues? IndustryWeek.com readers respond: National Federation of Independent Business 6% United States Chamver of Commerce ...

Measuring success in a global economy: are our economic statistics keeping up with manufacturing's structural changes?(Editorial)
August 1, 2005... We've never in history been so sophisticated in our use of benchmark metrics, economic statistics and trending indices as we are now. But we desperately need to learn how the twin game-changers of the 21st century--globalization and information...

Free trade policies hurt U.S.(Letter to the Editor)
August 1, 2005... Your July editorial--"Globalization, Freer Trade and Labor," Editor's Page, Page 8, July 2005--struck a chord with me. One need only to drive through the small towns and cities of South Carolina to see the economic devastation wrought by free...

King Coal makes a comeback: new technology, capacity pressures have producers, regulators considering it as fuel.(Roger W. Gale, president and CEO of GF Energy LLC analyzes electric power plants)
August 1, 2005... THE U.S.' ELECTRICAL power producing plants are at--or beyond--maturity, and electrical power producers are looking at building replacement and new capacity. So what's the preferred raw material for most of this new electricity? Goal. ...

GE's Immelt sees green in being green: his "Ecomagination" initiative includes a doubling of GE's investment in cleaner technologies and a commitment to reduce the company's own emissions.(3 QUICK QUESTIONS)(Jeffrey Immelt )(Interview)
August 1, 2005... JEFFREY R. IMMELT SUCCEEDED THE LEGENDARY JOHN F. "JACK" Welch Jr. as General Electric Co.'s chairman and CEO on Sept. 7, 2001. In less than four years, 49-year-old Immelt has put his own stamp on $152.4 billion GE, with particular emphasis on...

On edge.(The Only Sustainable Edge)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
August 1, 2005... HOW DIFFERENT WOULD YOUR BUSINESS strategies be if you operated in a world where dynamism was the dominant characteristic and relationships were not zero-sum? You already do, and, as a result, you need to shift your world view and act anew,...

Overseas investments boom: U.S. manufacturers set record in 2004; 'high-wage paradox' continues.(FINANCE)
August 1, 2005... AFTER THREE YEARS OF stagnant activity, foreign direct investment (FDI) by U.S. manufacturers reached a record level of more than $54 billion in 2004, reports Deloitte Research in a new study. The figure is a 90% increase over the approximately...

Building PLM's potential: UGS strengthens a new release of its PLM platform with digital manufacturing prowess.(Emerging Technologies)(product lifecycle management)
August 1, 2005... HAS PRODUCT LIFECYCLE management (PLM) software become mission critical? Has it joined the ranks of such software solutions as enterprise resource planning (ERP), supply chain management (SCM) or customer relationship management (CRM)? ...

Ultracapacitor advances.(Emerging Technologies)(new products from Maxwell Technologies Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... HIGH PERFORMANCE AND LONG LIFE DIFFERENTIATE A NEW family of ultracapacitors from Maxwell Technologies Inc., San Diego. Intended for industrial and automotive applications, the units bring advantages in terms of energy storage, power delivery...

Masking candor with catch phrases: what's behind comfy comparisons, breezy bromides and cute cliches? A fear of the truth.(bosses attitude)(Column)
August 1, 2005... LEADERSHIP IS AN ART, NOT A SCIENCE. Except when it's a War. Or, then again, a Baseball Game, where it's almost always the bottom on the ninth, with two down, three on and the Leader at bat. Mostly, though, the leadership I see these days...

Smarter solutions: the evolution of machine intelligence has roots in several major breakthroughs.(INDUSTRIAL MACHINERY/FARM EQUIPMENT)
August 1, 2005... RICH CURLESS KNOWS WHERE MACHINE tool customers are headed: They want an operator to be able to walk up to a machine, push the start button and have that machine make all its own decisions on how to start pumping out the parts automatically."...

Unconventional mettle: with a unique strategic vision and distinctive operating practices, Mittal Steel Co. NV is the leader in defining a truly global steel market. Only a few producers will survive contends COO Malay Mukherjee. And China, he believes, won't be a market spoiler.(MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES)
August 1, 2005... IN AN INDUSTRY NOT NOTED FOR being creative or acting courageously, $22.2 billion Mittal Steel Co. NV is gambling boldly. Already the world's largest steel producer, Mittal is betting that its future depends upon being even bigger among a very...

Leveraging response management to improve operations performance.(Response Management)
August 1, 2005... Frequent changes to demand, supply, capacity, and product can spread over a multi-site enterprise and global supply chain, creating ripples that may swell to a tidal wave by the time they hit the point of action--the moment just before...

From sea to shining sea: U.S. manufacturers span industries and states to serve their markets: here, there and everywhere.(IW 500 LARGEST U.S. MANUFACTURERS)(Cover Story)
August 1, 2005... OF THE 41 STATES THAT HOUSE MANUFACTURERS ON the IW 500 list, the concentration is typical: The eastern half of the U.S. boasts the lion's share of top manufacturers with 355 or 71%. The biggest concentration of those manufacturers (46%) dwell...

Not eligible for R&D tax credits in the past? Updated regulations may offer companies a new means for increasing their bottom line.(Research and development tax credit)(Advertisement)
August 1, 2005... Finding the capital to spend on the research and development (R&D) of new and improved products can mean the difference between success and failure for many businesses. As a result, the ability to minimize or defer income tax payments can be...

Cream of the crops: comparing apples and oranges isn't easy, but it can be done. Indeed, IW's best U.S. manufacturers cover Myriad Industries.(IW 50 BEST U.S. MANUFACTURERS)
August 1, 2005... LOOKING AT INDUSTRYWEEK'S THIRD ANNUAL LIST OF THE 50 BEST U.S. Manufacturers, it is evident that this is a diverse group of manufacturers that truly have mastered their markets. To be sure, companies such as Dell Inc. and Lexmark...

Driving Lean: expanding Lean's envelope with e-Learning.(SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION)(Advertisement)
August 1, 2005... MOST AUTOMAKERS HAVE EMBRACED LEAN MANUFACTURING PRINCIPLES WITH AMAZING RESULTS IN COST SAVINGS, SHORTER LEAD TIMES, REDUCED INVENTORIES, IMPROVED PRODUCT QUALITY AND INCREASED CUSTOMER SATISFACTION. But in today's global marketplace, the...

Two steps forward, one step back? Leaders such as Motorola and IBM have embraced nanomaterials, but by spending less on R&D, the U.S. manufacturing sector could be stumbling in the race for more innovative products.(NANOTECHNOLOGY)
August 1, 2005... THE NANOTECHNOLOGY CONCEPT is as old as the constituents of the pottery glazes used by the ancient Romans and as new as some of the coatings and composites used by automakers. Current applications taking advantage of the unique properties...

Beefed up boards: more diligent and accountable, today's directors are scrutinizing executive compensation like never before.(COMPENSATION)(Boards of directors)
August 1, 2005... MEET YOUR FIRM'S NEW BOARD of directors. More independent of the company it serves. More accountable for the accuracy of financial statements. Better informed about how the company is run. And, maybe, less a pal to the company's chief executive...

CRM gears up for manufacturing: software firms improve service, parts, dealer contact functions.(Customer relationship management software)(SAP AG)(mySAP CRM2005)
August 1, 2005... IMPROVING SALES MANAGEMENT, tightening contacts with dealers and keeping better track of service parts are a few of the business functions that customer relationship management (CRM) software companies are emphasizing in their latest offerings....

Agenda.(IW SMART MFG 2005)(industrial tours of aircraft industries)(workshops)(Calendar)
August 1, 2005... Monday, September 19 8:00 A.M. TO 4:20 P.M. PLANT TOURS Uncover proven plant strategies through a behind-the-scenes tour at a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility including: Northrop Grumman Corp. Defensive Systems...

Investment in Michigan tied to growth: $150 million R&D center is planned for York Township.(TOYOTA MOTOR CORP.)
August 1, 2005... BY MARCH 2009, Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. could be displaying a $150 million state-of-the-art R&D center in York Township, Mich., directly west of Detroit and about 15 minutes from the city's Metropolitan Airport. The project, now in the due...

Collaborating to grow: KPMG study foresees increase in strategic alliances and joint ventures.(ALLIANCES)
August 1, 2005... ALTHOUGH THEY SOMETIMES bitterly disappoint both executives land investors, joint ventures and strategic alliances are apparently increasing in popularity among U.S. companies. Sixty-four percent of U.S. executives responding to a March...

Next, scrap the euro: Europe's common currency and its trappings are retarding growth.(ON THE ECONOMY)(common monetary policy)
August 1, 2005... IN THE WAKE OF THE FRENCH AND DUTCH defeats of a proposed constitution for the European Union (EU), there are modern echoes of an ancient chant heard when one king replaced another: Europe is dead. Long live Europe. But does the death of the...