Industry Week articles from February 2005

Industry Week archives from February 2005

New and improved.(periodical publishing)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Explore IW's new and improved Web site and discover how its enhanced design makes it easier than ever to find all the information you need. Investigate new categories of information, including: Strategy & Leadership, Operations, Economic &...

Online poll.(Brief Article)(Illustration)
February 1, 2005... Online Poll How is the (relatively) weak U.S. dollar affecting your company's exports from the U.S.? IndustryWeek.com readers respond: Exports Are Up More Than 5% 26% Exports Are Up 3% To 5% 13% Exports Are...

Ready or not: here comes Kyoto.( )(Editorial)
February 1, 2005... NOW THAT RUSSIA HAS RATIFIED TIIE KYOTO Protocol, the United Nations' pact setting mandatory reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions, executives of U.S. multinational manufacturing companies are living in a carbon-constrained world. Though the...

Sound off on offshoring.( )(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2005... Re "Before Offshoring, Try This," Emerging Technologies, December 2004, Page 16: It's in our best interest to keep manufacturing in the U.S. as it provides challenges for our current and future engineers, jobs for our local line workers, truck...

Innovation found?( )(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2005... Re "Searching For Innovation's Source," Editor's Page, January 2005, Page 7: Bravo--you are right on target. Those who say that innovation is simply new technology are extremely limited in their thinking. As an example, ask people what had the...

The business of reform: a NAM-founded coalition promises to be in the forefront of overhauling Social Security.( )
February 1, 2005... AS THE BUSH ADMINISTRAtion presses its plan for Social Security reform, and Congress considers a hopper of options, the U.S. business community will be lobbying the issue from, among other places, the Pennsylvania Avenue offices of the National...

Restoring credibility: Ed Breen, Tyco International's chairman and CEO, works to gain the trust of investors, customers, government regulators and employees.( )(Interview)
February 1, 2005... TWO YEARS AGO, WHEN TELEVISION PORTRAYED TYCO INTERNAtional Ltd., a Bermuda-incorporated conglomerate, the focus usually was on the alleged misdeeds of previous management. Today, Tyco still is seen on television but in commercials that...

Daley's routine.( )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... BUSINESS INSIDERS USED WORDS LIKE "LOW-PROfile" and "no-nonsense" to describe William M. Daley to INDUSTRY WEEK in a 1998 profile of the then-U.S. Secretary of Commerce ("Commerce Back On Course," July 20, 1998). Daley arrived as secretary in...

Not simply a tweak: executives say survival of core business requires significant change, study shows.( )
February 1, 2005... SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES WILL be needed to compete and grow in the years ahead, say business executives who participated in a recent survey that asked them to look five years down the road. The survey results, released by global consulting firm...

The new workforce.( )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... THE WORLD HAS CHANGED. NOT ONLY DO YOU have to manage global operations, but you also must manage workforce changes. Changes in how workers manage their time amid the responsibilities they have--childcare, elder rare, self care--have...

On the road to invention: the "next big thing" may be conceived in a car, study suggests.( )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... ARE YOU A COMPANY THAT relies on a steady stream of new product ideas or innovative ideas to generate profits? Then maybe you should send your best and brightest on the road--alone. Nearly 20% of American adults say they think most...

Seeking stellar plants.( )
February 1, 2005... NOMINATIONS ARE OPEN FOR INDUSTRY WEEK'S annual salute to outstanding manufacturing facilities in North America. IW's Best Plants Program recognizes plants on the leading edge of efforts to improve competitiveness and encourages other...

Win with co-injection: the technology gives molders new ways to add value.( )
February 1, 2005... HOW DO CUSTOM MOLDERS in the plastics industry differentiate themselves from a commodity imported from China? That was only one of the questions answered for customers at Milacron Inc.'s Big Machine Open house last December in Batavia, Ohio....

EU compliance? UL's solution.( )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... MARKETING ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION? Better add hazardous substance compliance as a core competence--or be prepared for some serious consequences, says Maxime Elbaz, general manager of Underwriters Laboratories Inc.'s Program...

Hooked on lean? It's more than just an improvement process, it's a fashion accessory. Are you going to take the bait?
February 1, 2005... LADIES AND GENTLEMEN OF THE BILGEWATER Consulting firm, our sales have lagged those of our competitors. We've been puzzled by this; indeed, independent evaluations affirm that our services are every bit as ill-focused and self-serving as those...

China checklist: managers must rethink HR practices to keep skilled workers - free lunches and Popsicles may help.
February 1, 2005... MOVING OPERATIONS TO CHINA takes more than a good logistics plan--you also have to accommodate the Chinese workforce. Retention of employees is crucial in any country, but, unlike the U.S., a shortage of educated and qualified workers in China...

Paper or ether? While manufacturers have embraced e-procurement, they have resisted using Internet technology to make payments to supply-chain partners. But that could change as more companies cut costs via "e-payments.".(Cover Story)
February 1, 2005... THOSE CHECKS YOUR COMPANY sends out every month to pay suppliers may soon be going the way of the Model T. That's because the traditional accounts payable process, which, ever since anyone in corporate America can remember, has entailed...

King of the road: where Detroit's big three once dominated, Toyota now reigns, but conservative styling and an increasingly fragmented market could tarnish its crown.( )
February 1, 2005... DESPITE THE APPEAL OF FORD MOTOR Co.'s RE-designed Mustang, despite DaimlerChrysler AG's remarkable urban market inroads with the Chrysler 300C and Dodge Magnum, despite the continued standout styling of Nissan Motor Co. Ltd., and despite the...

Green machines: with worldwide automobile sales expected to more than double in the next 50 years, the drive for waste reduction is accelerating. When specifying materials, product development staffs must now equally embrace design for disassembly and recycling as well as design for manufacturing.
February 1, 2005... CONCERNS ABOUT ENERGY USE AND WASTE GENERation are nothing new to the automotive sector. They have been bottom-line issues since the industry s beginnings, and Henry Ford in his 1926 book, "Today and Tomorrow" offered his guiding philosophy:...

Managing supply chain risk in an outsourced relationship.( )(Advertisement)
February 1, 2005... Today's companies increasingly use outsourcing to enhance financial performance. Managing the process effectively, however, can be challenging. Original equipment manufacturer (OEM) expectations often exceed the terms and conditions of a...

It came from Japan! The most terrifying--but ultimately revolutionary and influential--trend in modern U.S. manufacturing is still reducing costs and improving efficiency. But today's lean thinking tackles all corporate processes.( )
February 1, 2005... IN THE 1970S, U.S. MANUFACTURers--including automakers--did not comprehend the true nature of the worsening productivity crisis. While today's factories undergo process optimization and technology upgrades continually, renewing a plant in the...

ERP vendors: big get bigger: consolidation of software vendors began years ago.
February 1, 2005... FOR MOST LARGE AND MEdium-size manufacturing companies that use an enterprise resource planning system, the changing ERP vendor landscape is nothing new. A host of ERP software companies, including Dun & Bradstreet Software, ASK Group, Baan...

Strength through flexibility: new headquarters for growing medical products manufacturer can accommodate the future.(Stryker Orthopaedics)
February 1, 2005... IN ITS NEW 460,000-SQUARE-foot headquarters in Mahwah, N.J., Stryker Orthopaedics, the largest subsidiary of Kalamazoo, Mich.-based Stryker Corp., has built what it calls the world's largest implant wear-testing lab. There, tireless robots...

Productivity surge: Schulte Corp.'s double-digit growth demanded more power.
February 1, 2005... PRIOR TO ITS NEW ELECTRIC distribution system Schulte Corp. caused a flicker in the neighborhood. The manufacturer of home storage and organization products based in Bloomington, Ind., literally caused the lights to flicker in homes and...

Low inflation foreseen: Merrill Lynch's CPI forecast assumes $40/barrel crude.( )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... INFLATION WILL BE A FACTOR in the U.S. economy in 2005. But it will be small, if the forecasters at Merrill Lynch & Co., New York, are correct. They're assuming that prices for food and fuel will continue to fall throughout this year. They're...

Innovation's payoff.( )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... NEARLY THREE-QUARTERS (73%) of manufacturing executives plan to increase spending on innovation in 2005, according to a study by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Boston. Its findings, based on responses from more than 500 senior executives in...

Master-Bilt.(appointment of Charles "Chuck" Dawson)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Master-Bilt, manufacturer of commercial refrigeration, has appointed Charles "Chuck" Dawson as president. Previously, Dawson was vice president and general manager of operations for Carrier Commercial Refrigeration Heat Transfer Products Group...

Novo Nordisk.(appointment of Joe Young)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Joe Young has been named associate vice president of diabetes brand leadership for pharmaceutical manufacturer Novo Nordisk, and Lori Moore has been appointed executive director of corporate branding and communications. In these newly created...

Schneider National Inc.(appointment of David Vander Ploeg)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Schneider National Inc., a provider of transportation, logistics and related services, has announced that David Vander Ploeg, formerly senior vice president, finance, is now CFO. Vander Ploeg replaces Thomas A. Gannon, who has been elected to...

Boeing Co.(appointment of Richard D. Nanula)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... The Boeing Co. announced that Richard D. Nanula, executive vice president and CFO, Amgen Inc., has been elected to the company's board of directors. Nanula will serve on the company's Audit Committee and Finance Committee. Nanula graduated from...

Events.(Update)(Calendar)
February 1, 2005... March 7-10 National Manufacturing Week McCormick Place Chicago www.manufacturingweek.com March 7-8 Aluminum Assn. 2005 Spring Meeting Inter-Continental Hotel & McCormick Place Chicago www.aluminum.org...

The giant entangled: China is an economic power but not dominant.
February 1, 2005... IN 1941, HENRY LUCE FAMOUSLY WROTE THAT after the U.S. won the war, the 20th century would become the American Century. Recently, an increasing number of pundits, in a pale copy of that article, has begun to push for the 21st century as the...