Industry Week articles from February 2003

Industry Week archives from February 2003

Baldor Electric Company: time is money. (Advertisement).
February 1, 2003... In today's hypercompetitive manufacturing climate, time is indeed money, and when that time is spent waiting for critical industrial equipment while operations sit idle, time is so much more - lost sales opportunities, reduced profit margins,...

Stronger leadership is the answer. (Editor's Page).(Editorial)
February 1, 2003... FROM THE LOOKS OF IT, LEADERS OF THE MAJOR ASSOCIATIONS REPRESENTing manufacturing and business are pretty happy with President Bush's economic stimulus plan, despite the fact that many items on their tax relief/pro-growth agendas are not...

Letters.(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2003... Tariffs Revived Harley, Will Steel Follow Suit? I don't want to take issue with anything in "Fueled By Innovation" [December 2002, Page 52] but rather with one glaring omission. For the last 20 years there seems to have been a concerted...

Early warning deadline looms: manufacturers in the auto industry have spent the past few years ramping up for a far-reaching product safety regulation. Their efforts are about to be tested. (Product Safety).
February 1, 2003... OUT OF CRISIS RISES REGULAtion for the automotive industry in the form of the Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability, and Documentation (TREAD) Act. Although Congress passed the act in November 2000--on the heels of the...

Remaking HP. (Bookshelf).("Perfect Enough")(Book Review)
February 1, 2003... In the beginning, in 1939, there were the perfectionists William Hewlett and David Packard, the garage, and a $538 investment. Sixty years later, in 1999, Cara Carleton "Carly" Florina began to re-invent Hewlett-Packard Co. Among others,...

Study diminishes promise of renewables. (Energy).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Don't count on renewable energy sources to replace America's enormous consumption of fossil fuels, say ecologists from Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. Even if all renewable energy sources were implemented to their maximum level, they would...

Short-term gain, long-term pain. (Innovation).(cost-cutting in recessions)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... COMPANIES THAT FOCUS ON COST CUTTING boost earnings in a recession, short-changing innovation, may sacrifice future growth opportunities according to a recent study by the Accenture Institute for Strategic Change, Cambridge, Mass. Surveying...

GE's growing bet--wind power: with a new prototype turbine rated at 3.6 megawatts, GE wind energy prepares for growth in 'green' power. (Emerging Technologies).
February 1, 2003... WIND ENERGY IS NO LONGER A SCIENCE project," says Steve Zwolinski, president and CEO of GE Wind Energy, a subsidiary of GE Power Systems, Atlanta. Government policies (tax structure and subsidies) and issues such as the Kyoto treaty are...

Metal cutting tools. (Emerging Technologies).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... How current is your approach to metal cutting? A passing grade depends on a manufacturer's ability to contend with the fast-paced trend to higher cutting speeds, dry machining and difficult-to-machine materials, says Don Graham,. turning...

Make good deeds part of business strategy. (Executive Word).(Interview)
February 1, 2003... This year marks the 20th anniversary of The Orphan Drug Act (ODA), which provides incentives to companies that develop drugs for disorders that affect 200,000 or fewer people. Such groups usually are too small to be considered profitable...

Earnings didn't quite cut the mustard? Break out the baloney. There's lots to go around. (Brandt on Leadership).
February 1, 2003... ANNUAL REPORT SEASON IS almost upon us, which makes this as good a time as any to remember one of the oldest rules of executive survival: It's never too early to start planning your excuses for poor performance. Indeed, even a cursory glance at...

Special delivery: logistics service providers want to manage your supply chain. Are they ready? (Information Technology).(Industry Overview)
February 1, 2003... WITH SALES OF $177 BILLION IN 2001, General Motors Corp. (GM) is the second-largest manufacturing company in the world (as ranked on the IW1000). At No. 4 and $162 billion, Ford Motor Co. is not far behind As large as they are, both companies...

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation. (Advertisement).
February 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...

Ford's formidable challenge. (Industry Focus: Autos).
February 1, 2003... Chairman and CEO William Clay Ford Jr. faces environmental, manufacturing, marketing and financial issues as he continues to remodel ford motor co. In its centennial year. Is he up to the job? THE SIERRA CLUB ISN'T GIVING WILLIAM CLAY FORD...

Y'all come: car and truck makers-as well as suppliers-are driving deeper into the U.S. South. (Industry's Focus: Autos).(Industry Overview)
February 1, 2003... FROM THE BORDER STATES OF KENTUCKY AND TENNESsee to such Deep South states as Alabama and Mississippi, making cars and trucks and the things that go in them is becoming as common as a southern accent. Although the economics climes, the...

Rethinking the car and manufacturing. (Industry Focus: Autos).
February 1, 2003... "The industry of industries" is how Peter Drucker, the management guru, described the automakers ("Concept of the Corporation," 1946 John Day). Auto making, still the major economic activity on the planet, has twice redefined all of...

One size does not fit all: manufacturers still need custom software. (Information Technology).
February 1, 2003... JUST A FEW YEARS AGO, PACKAGED SOFTWARE was all the rage for large manufacturers seeking to automate various business processes such as dealing with customers, processing orders and managing inventories. Now the pendulum is swinging back, and...

5 on the up swing: expect these manufacturers to make news in 2003. (Management Strategies).
February 1, 2003... RARELY DOES A SINGLE EVENT CAUSE CORPOrate performance to nosedive. Nonetheless, lightning-rod issues capture public, media and market attention and become "the reason" for whatever ails a company. So why not reverse the polarity on that...

GE picks Garching for German R and D initiative: the U.S.-based conglomerate plans its first technical center in europe. (Locations).
February 1, 2003... FACILITY: General Electric Co. is building an R&D center on the Garching campus of the Technical University of Munich, Germany. It is the Fairfield, Conn.-based conglomerate's technical center in Europe. Construction of the research and...

Back to basics: auto supplier leverages internal expertise to retain world-class processes. (Be Practices).
February 1, 2003... Bright ideas can die in isolation. To prevent untimely deaths, Collins & Aikman, like many other manufacturers, nurtures its best-practices initiatives in a program appropriately named "Best Practices." The company, an automotive component...

Iraq's unknown impact. (Financial & Economic Trends).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... FOR MANUFACTURING EXECUTIVES TRYING to figure out what kind of economic environment they'll be managing in this year, the big question mark has not been U.S. GDP growth, world oil prices or the not-always-predictable political control of the...

Growth, finally. (Financial & Economic Trends).(manufacturing indicators)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... In December, for the first time in tour months, the manufacturing sector of the U.S. economy grew. The index of manufacturing activity compiled by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) closed last year at 54.7%, some 5.5 percentage paints...

Industrial Products/Paper Divisions-Europe for Sonoco. (People).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... *James Harrell has been promoted to division vice president of Industrial Products/Paper Divisions-Europe for Sonoco, Hartsville, S.C. Previously, he was senior director of operations-Europe. Harrell replaces Charles F. Patemo, who will return...

Bosch Rexroth Corp. (People).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... * Bosch Rexroth Corp. recently named James F. Brys and Paul A. Swann as vice president, Automotive and Great Lakes Region, and vice president, West and Southwest regions, respectively. In their new positions, Brys and Swami will direct the...

Johnson Controls Inc. (People).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... * Johnson Controls Inc., a supplier to the automotive industry as well as a provider of facility management and control to various industries, has appointed Agostino Renna director of life sciences for the controls group of the Milwaukee-based...

Houston-based Cooper Industries Ltd. (People).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... * Houston-based Cooper Industries Ltd., maker of electrical products, tools and hardware, has named Terry A. Kiebe senior vice president and CFO. He will be responsible for Cooper's accounting, tax, treasury, internal audit and...

Associations. (Update).(manufacturing industry trade groups)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... * The president and representatives from several member companies of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) will be appointed to the President's Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations (ACTPN). Appointed to two-year terms...

DuPont Co. (Companies).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... * DuPont Co. awarded Excel, a supply-chain management provider, with a Responsible Shipper Award at each of the seven facilities within DuPont's transportation network. The award recognizes DuPont vendors that comply with the company's safe...

Continental Teves. (Companies).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... * Continental Teves, a unit of Continental AG, produced its five-millionth vehicle stability system and donated it to the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Mich. It will be placed in a display as part of a vehicle safety...

Events.(Brief Article)(Calendar)
February 1, 2003... March 23-25: American Institute for International Steel National Convention & Customs Seminar Omni Royal Orleans Hotel New Orleans www.alis.org May 4-6: American Iron and Stool Institute General Meeting Hyatt Regency San Diego ...

And now for the 'Evans' stimulus plan: it's all about taxes, exchange rates and tort reform. (Evans on the Economy).
February 1, 2003... PRESIDENT BUSH HAS MADE HIS $670 billion proposal to revive the U.S. economy. The House Democrats have released their more modest $136 billion plan. Now it's my turn. I have three suggestions. First, send the value of the U.S. dollar back...