Industry Week articles from December 2005

Industry Week archives from December 2005

Reinvesting in U.S.-based production: a Wisconsin consortium demonstrates a win-win way to address challenges confronting U.S. manufacturers.(John Deere, Harley-Davidson and Oshkosh Truck formed a consortia)(Editorial)
December 1, 2005... IT'S NO SECRET THAT SUPPLIERS AND SMALLER manufacturers have borne the brunt of globalization's less positive results, while the mighty OEMs have leveraged size, strength and global reach to reap the benefits. Indeed, it's this reality that has...

Readers divided.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2005... Re "Filling Manufacturing's Leadership Void," Editor's Page, Page 7, November 2005, and "A House Divided," Page 34, November 2005. I was greatly disappointed to read Doug Bartholomew's erroneous account of an alleged "civil war" between large...

MetaMorphosis: with Herbert L. Henkel at the helm, Ingersoll-Rand buys and sells as it strives to be more nimble, less subject to economic fluctuations.(Interview)
December 1, 2005... IN THE PAST FIVE YEARS, INGERSOLL-RAND CO. LTD. has undergone a transformation. The company, incorporated in Bermuda, divested some $3.3 billion in asset-intensive businesses that operated in industries the company described as very vulnerable...

The integration advantage: Rockwell software builds Factory Talk strategy.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... WHAT IF data integration had originated and succeeded starting from the factory floor? In that dream world, the leading problem in manufacturing would not be the presence of thousands of point solutions from hundreds of vendors, says Kevin...

Dollar dance: warm up for the End-of-the-Year Budget Watusi.
December 1, 2005... OK, YOU CRAZY CORPORATE BOYS AND GIRLS, it's time for that December financial dance I call the End-of-the-Year Budget Watusi. It's easy; it's fun; and it's guaranteed to improve your personal bottom line, no matter how badly it wrecks the...

Connecting profits and preservation: as chairman and ceo of general Electric Co., Jeffrey R. Immelt has embraced the cause for global and national preservation by turning it into multiple growth opportunities via innovative new products.
December 1, 2005... EACH YEAR INDUSTRYWEEK names a Technology Leader of the Year und Technologies of the Year. See the INDUSTRYWEEK Website for information on the program und on archive of past reports: www.industryweek.com. SALES GROWTH HAS ALWAYS BEEN an...

A toolpath revolution: surfware's new toolpath technology redefines milling.
December 1, 2005... "A QUANTUM LEAP in CAM software." That's how production manager Bruce Thomas of RPM-PSI Inc. describes his beta testing of Surfware's TrueMill toolpath technology. Thomas is specifically referring to the productivity increase enabled by...

Notable innovations.(from Broin Co., Dana Corp. and International Business Machines Corp.)
December 1, 2005... Other submitted technologies with a notable potential are: aPriori Cost Management Platform (aPriori Technologies Inc., Concord, Mass.) targets the need for real-time, predictive cost assessments throughout product development. Use the...

Enzyme alternative healthier, safer: ADM and Novozymes' chemical-free fat modification process works without creating trans fats, harmful byproducts.(Archer Daniels Midland Co.)
December 1, 2005... PUBLIC AND REGULATORY pressure pushing food manufacturers to lower trans fats in their products also could benefit the environment. That's why in June the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) presented Novozymes A/S and Decatur,...

USG Corp's teamcenter 2005: PLM leader offers an integration platform for collaboration beyond point solutions.(product lifecycle management)
December 1, 2005... SUCCESS FOR MANUFACturers requires more than departmental optimization in developing, producing and marketing innovation, contends UGS Corp. The ultimate goal is to close the gap between idea capture and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM),...

Harvesting hydrogen: engineers at Purdue University have developed a new way of producing hydrogen for fuel cells that automatically recharge.
December 1, 2005... THINK OF IT AS A BETTER mousetrap--except the engineers at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind., aren't hunting mice. They are harvesting hydrogen. While fuel-cell technology is nothing new, methods for producing hydrogen--the fuel that...

MEMS the word: Siemens' Micro-Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) is nanotechnology that will drive sensing, communicating, processing and power management in tiny silicon chips.
December 1, 2005... IMAGINE DEVICES IMBEDDED in paint of at the bottom of a water cooler with the equivalent of human sensory capacity and intelligence. Imagine that these tiny silicon chips (Micro-Electro Mechanical Systems--or MEMS for short) can process...

Easing into e-kanban: perfecting system internally first can increase comfort levels.
December 1, 2005... TRADITIONAL KANBAN systems give simple signals to suppliers that materials required to keep production lines running at optimum speeds have to be restocked. This usually means a pull approach to inventory control. The signal (i.e., posting...

On the up and up: revenue and productivity rose for many manufacturers during the past year, but escalating raw material, energy and health-care costs clawed at those gains.
December 1, 2005... THE STORY OF U.S. MANufacturing in the past year is one of good news heavily diluted by bad. Indeed, the 2005 INDUSTRY WEEK/ Manufacturing Performance Institute Census of Manufacturers delivers a wealth of good financial news: Production output...

Transcending business intelligence with response management.
December 1, 2005... Business Intelligence (BI) is a hot technology in many industries--and justifiably so. Its ability to help organizations harness and leverage data is critical, since people can't be expected to make the right decisions without access to the...

Rush to remit? A potentially beneficial tax provision expires soon. Manufacturers need to determine now whether pursuing it makes financial sense.
December 1, 2005... MANUFACTURERS HAVE about six weeks left during which they can bring back to the United States at favorable tax rates some of the money they have made abroad. That said, the terms under which the transfer can take place are so exacting that...

Microsoft makes it a double: manufacturer adds capacity in Puerto Rico with expansion for new products.
December 1, 2005... REDMOND, WASH.-BASED Microsoft Corp. is investing $65 million to expand its presence in Humacao, Puerto Rico. The company's current plant (which Microsoft has occupied since 1990) employs 84 workers and produces CDs for Microsoft end users. The...

Building profit bridges: the decentralized businesses of North American Saint-Gobain Corp. share knowledge and skills to improve products, sales and operation profits.
December 1, 2005... ALL AROUND THE WORLD bridges are built to better the flow of cars, trucks, trains and people. In the U.S. and elsewhere, Saint-Gobain Corp. builds bridges by e-mail, telephone and face-to-face contact to boost the flow of knowledge, skills and...

Donaldson Co. Inc.(Sandra N. Joppa joined)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Filtration systems manufacturer Donaldson Co. Inc. announced that Sandra N. Joppa joined the company as vice president/human resources and communications. Joppa has 16 years of human resources experience at General Mills Inc., most recently as...

Lauren Manufacturing Co.(Freeman Henderson and Kelly Burtscher joined)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Lauren Manufacturing Co. has named Freeman Henderson senior manufacturing engineer. Henderson's job responsibilities will include mentoring Lauren's engineering staff in achieving lean objectives through process improvement and machine design....

James C. Stevens, a research fellow at The Dow Chemical Co., has received the 2006 American Chemical Society (ACS) award in industrial chemistry.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... James C. Stevens, a research fellow at The Dow Chemical Co., has received the 2006 American Chemical Society (ACS) award in industrial chemistry. The award recognizes outstanding contributions to industrial chemical research in North America....

Less-than-zero-savings? Don't believe it: the real numbers explain why consumers continue to buy.
December 1, 2005... DURING THE PAST THREE YEARS, THE PRINCIpal engine of economic growth in the U.S. has been the surge in amount of money people have been taking out of their homes, a phenomenon that economists like to call equity extraction from owner-occupied...

How the best lead, thrive and survive: unfiltered commentary from the nation's top manufacturing executives on hot issues.
December 16, 2005... WITH THIS SPECIAL ISSUE OF INDUSTRYWEEK, we've asked a few of your peers to tell you directly about how they are addressing some of the most vexing challenges facing U.S. manufacturers today. But we didn't ask just anybody. We asked the best in...

IW 50 best manufacturing companies.(Industry Week )(Illustration)
December 16, 2005... COMPANY REVENUE PROFIT ($MILLIONS) MARGIN (%) Amphenol Corp. $1,530.45 10.67 Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. $14,934.20...

Grant Thornton.(manufacturing companies, awards)
December 16, 2005... On behalf of the professionals at Grant Thornton LLP, I offer my sincere congratulations to all those companies named as one of IndustryWeek's 50 Best Manufacturing Companies for 2005. We applaud your employees and leaders for their...

Leaders look inside for the future: clear-minded thinking at top companies gives insight into the next generation of U.S. manufacturing.(SPECIAL ISSUE)(Cover Story)
December 16, 2005... AFTER THREE YEARS OF NAMING THE IW 50 Best Manufacturing Companies on market and manufacturing metrics, INDUSTRYWEEK decided to dig a little deeper into the leading minds of those panies that rose to the top. > To do so, we asked executives at...

Follow the leader: how companies are led translates into how well they perform.(LEADERSHIP)(Brief Article)
December 16, 2005... BECOMING A LEADER OF A company is an easier task than becoming a great leader of a company. To achieve greatness, leaders must learn from their mistakes and listen to others. > Indeed, "There is much great leadership out there, and many of the...

Focus on customers and core values: today's manufacturers must look beyond squeezing out costs.(management of Procter & Gamble Co.)
December 16, 2005... AT PROCTER & GAMBLE, we talk a lot about "moments of truth." In our business, there are two moments of truth--when the consumer stands at the store shelf and chooses our brand and when she uses our product at home and decides whether it lives...

Grant Thornton survey: manufacturing CEOs embrace high-risk growth.(Executive Insights)
December 16, 2005... Manufacturing companies are under tremendous performance pressures. With stakeholders scrutinizing every move, customers continually raising the bar on service and product expectations, and competition chipping away at market share,...

Day-to-day details are crucial: tying decisions and actions to competencies will move manufacturers in the right direction.(foecast of Nucor Corp. on its profitability)
December 16, 2005... LET'S START WITH A DEFINITION. The words sustain" or "sustainable' in a literal sense might mean maintain, support, assist, endure or even keep alive, according to Webster's. In a global business sense it might be a combination of Webster's...

Questioning globalization: competition on a global scale is squeezing manufacturers dry.(GLOBALIZATION)(Brief Article)
December 16, 2005... GLOBALIZATION IS ON THE MINDS of everyone--from manufacturing executives at multibillion-dollar corporations to local craftsmen who now have to compete with products made half a world away. > Learning how to compete on a global scale has gone...

Times call for tough ethical choices: CEOs must make unpopular decisions to keep companies competitive, but the bigger picture for U.S. manufacturing is gloomy.(GLOBALIZATION)(Valassis Communications Inc.)(Column)
December 16, 2005... IF I COULD HAVE LUNCH WITH anyone in the world, I'd choose Alan Greenspan. My choice might not make me the most exciting guest at a cocktail party, but I have been wrestling with a question and would really like to know if he has an answer. How...

The global language: 3-D design technology unites far-flung process managers.(GLOBALIZATION)
December 16, 2005... THERE'S NO DOUBT about it--outsourcing is continuing full-throttle in the manufacturing sector. But AMR Research recently observed that as outsourcing becomes the norm, manufacturing will become a services industry. The urgency for...

Communication is key to happy customers: be aware of preferences and desires.(GLOBALIZATION)
December 16, 2005... MANUFACTURERS ARE all marketers. In the world of marketing and media, we've seen mass marketing graduate to a world of targeted, measurable dialogue with customers--individual customers. We've also seen customers become empowered as never...

Securing a stellar supply chain: only as strong as its weakest link, the supply chain can make or break manufacturers.(SUPPLY CHAIN)(Brief Article)
December 16, 2005... ONE MISMANAGED LINK IN THE supply chain could prove disastrous, especially ill today's economy. * Competition from low-cost-labor countries has every manufacturer poring over their supply chains with a fine-tooth comb, magnifying glass and a...

Tying supply chain to customers: how Dell succeeds in an increasingly competitive market.(SUPPLY CHAIN PRACTICES)
December 16, 2005... SUCCEEDING IN TODAY'S competitive operations landscape requires patience, ingenuity, focus, an obsessive adherence to a clearly defined strategy and unwavering commitment to core values. For a manufacturing organization to succeed, it must have...

Rockwell Automation integrated architecture: turning information into decision-making power.(Advertisement)
December 16, 2005... Aberdeen Group, in a 2004 report, identified poor data collection as the number one reason production optimization efforts failed. Today's factories generate incredible amounts of raw data that, when used efficiently, can be turned into...

Keeping up with the times: switch to demand planning reflects changes in consumers habits.(SUPPLY CHAIN PRACTICES)
December 16, 2005... WHETHER YOUR business is cars, computers, or corn flakes, it's generally safe to build inventory based on yesterday's demands. That is, of course, if today's demand is the same as yesterday's. At Deluxe Corp., our primary product is...

Partners for life: Varian Medical Systems' "Value Managed Relationships" program helps foster long-term partnerships.(SUPPLY CHAIN PRACTICES)
December 16, 2005... VARIAN MEDICAL Systems Inc. is the world's leading manufacturer of integrated systems for treating cancer with radiotherapy. Varian technology is used in the treatment of thousands of patients every day--a responsibility that the company takes...

Cost reduction essential to competition: a global look at costs gives the big picture and a big advantage.(SUPPLY CHAIN PRACTICES)(Lexmark International Inc.)(Column)
December 16, 2005... CAN EFFECTIVE SUPPLY-chain management help deliver substantial cost reductions year over year while continuing to achieve substantial improvements in cash-to-cash cycle time and customer satisfaction? While these objectives can sometimes seem...

Analyzing infrastructure: support behind infrastructure is where the focus should lie.(INFRASTRUCTURE)(Brief Article)
December 16, 2005... THE 21ST CENTURY DELIVERS many challenges to manufacturers--challenges that have never before been addressed because the challenges never existed. The way companies (read customers) do business today is real-time. Manufacturers know they need...

Foundations for success: employing and developing the right people supports the entire enterprise.(INFRASTRUCTURE)
December 16, 2005... DIFFERENT COMPANIES measure the success of their infrastructure in different ways, whether through state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities, leading-edge products or streamlined business processes and systems. All of these elements are...

Unleashing the entrepreneurial spirit: employees are at the center of lean model.(INFRASTRACTURE)(lean manufacturing)
December 16, 2005... AS THE GLOBAL MANUFACTURING base has developed over the past 50 years, U.S. manufacturing companies in their effort to maintain a competitive advantage have been blessed with a highly developed infrastructure. We have had an abundance of...

Sustaining the future: how companies manage resources today determines what is to come tomorrow.(SUSTAINABILITY)(Brief Article)
December 16, 2005... COMPANIES STRIVE TO ENSURE their businesses will be in existence in the future--and that the footprint the companies leave on the earth is not intrusive. Companies are working to reduce CO2 emissions, to add more recyclable content to their...

A rewarding journey: each step makes life better for our business and for the communities we call home.(SUSTAINABLE MANUFACTURING)(Johnson Controls Inc.)
December 16, 2005... SUSTAINABLE MANUFACTURING is a journey. It s also a cause that touches every corner of a business. The beauty is that a sustainable approach--social benefit, environmental responsibility and economic performance--creates a cycle of improvement....

Good corporate citizens sustain companies: Winnebago manages its company in the interest of its employees, environment and community.(SUSTAINABLE MANUFACTURING)
December 16, 2005... SUSTAINABLE MANUFACTURING as it incorporates environmental and social criteria is part of Winnebago Industries' legacy. As the annual report for the company states, "The company must pursue conduct in a manner that is socially responsible and...

Stars of the IW 50 best: IndustryWeek looks at the best manufacturing companies that rose to the top in six categories.(Illustration)
December 16, 2005... THE FORMULA FOR NAMING THE IW 50 Best Manufacturing Companies was based on six categories: profit margin, sales turnover, inventory turns, revenue growth, return on assets and return on equity. While each company on the IW 50 list is a stellar...