Industry Week articles from June 2005

Industry Week archives from June 2005

Online Poll.
June 1, 2005... Is your company exploring alternative sources of fuel due to the high cost of natural gas and oil? IndustryWeek.com readers respond: Yes, we've just started. 17% No, there's no need to. 34% Not now, but we...

The shape of manufacturing to come: from the chaos of continuous dynamic change, a few certainties emerge.
June 1, 2005... SLOWLY BUT SURELY A CLEARER PICTURE OF U.S. manufacturing's future is coming into focus, though significant parts of the image still are developing in ways we can't predict. Amid the relentless drumbeat of economic statistics reports and...

All around kudos.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2005... I thoroughly enjoyed the April 2005 issue of INDUSTRY WEEK. In particular the articles "Stars of the Show," Page 34, and "Wal-Mart's Big Gamble," Page 42, were two exceptional articles that were informative and very enjoyable to read. Of...

MEPS not created equal.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2005... Re "Familiar Refrain," C-Level, March 2005, Page 18: While I enjoy reading INDUSTRYWEEK, I have to object to the editorial fawning over the Manufacturing Extension Program. I interact quite often with manufacturers that utilize MEP's from three...

Evans missed the boat?(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2005... Michael Evans' article "More Jobs Will Be Lost," [Evans on the Economy, March 2005, Page 76,] misses the boat on manufacturing. First, Mr. Evans pins a decade-long decline in manufacturing employment on the ballooning trade deficit. However, he...

Giving the green light to industrial biotech: U.S. government will require purchase of crop-derived products.(BIOTECHNOLOGY)
June 1, 2005... THE U.S. GOVERNMENT IS dangling a big carrot--and some wheat and corn--to encourage manufacturers to make more products from biobased materials. A part of the 2002 Farm Bill known as the Biobased Products Preferred Procurement Program is...

Alternative media hit target: Georgia-Pacific CEO taps into big names, popular places to connect to customers.(3 QUICK QUESTIONS)(Interview)
June 1, 2005... HAVING PRODUCTS IN NEARLY NINE OF 10 HOMES INDICATES that Georgia-Pacific Corp. knows a thing or two about advertising. A.D. "Pete" Correll, Georgia-Pacific's CEO, explains his firm's advertising decisions and what it means to he associated...

Feeling full.(Merger and Acquisition)(Arriba Foods Inc)(Hormel Foods Corp.)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... HORMEL FOODS CORP. HAS A LOT TO DIGEST. In recent months the Austin, Minn.-based manufacturer of packaged foods has been on an acquisition spree. The maker of SPAM and other branded products in January announced the acquisition of Arriba Foods...

Guiding less: the percentage of companies providing earnings guidance is declining.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... ALTHOUGH A SUBSTANTIAL majority of corporate members of the Vienna, Va.-based National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) still provide guidance on expected earnings, the percentage doing so is now 71%, down six percentage points from 77% in...

ExxonMobil[R] introduces breakthrough grease dispensing and transporting system.(Advertisement)
June 1, 2005... When it comes to storing and dispensing lubricants, such as grease, most industrial companies and trucking fleets rely on heavy, steel drums, steel (or plastic) totes or permanent bulk tanks. As most facility managers know, drums and tanks...

In your world.(Stephen Greenblatt's "Will in the World")(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Small factories. Warehouses. Hospitals. Law schools. Huge food markets. All in a city in ceaseless motion. That scene could be somewhere in contemporary North or South America. Or in Asia. Or Africa. Or Europe. In fact, it is in Europe, and it...

Nurturing leaders: manufacturers lead in developing future top executives.(LEADERSHIP)
June 1, 2005... WHILE GENERAL ELECTRIC Co. is widely known as a company that focuses on developing its next generation of leaders, new research shows that manufacturers as a group lead the pack in developing head honchos. Fourteen of the firms recently...

Redefining high speed machining: by dynamically managing tool engagement, Surfware's TrueMill CAM technology dramatically reduces cycle times while extending cutting tool life.(Emerging Technologies)(Surfware Inc.)
June 1, 2005... THIS IS A COMPLETELY new method of machining," says Glenn Coleman, vice president of product design at Surfware Inc., Westlake Village, Calif. He's describing TrueMill, a new tool path technology in the latest version of the company's SURFCAM...

Overcome by indecision: gun-shy? You may be an EDD sufferer.(Executive Decision Dysfunction)
June 1, 2005... YET ANOTHER MEDICAL PROBLEM IS SWEEPING the boardrooms and executive suites of this great nation. Cloaked in shame, this problem is draining the profits of corporations of every size as afflicted CEOs and managers hide behind their desks,...

Under press: manufacturers are citing rising raw material costs for missed earnings, shrinking profits and in some cases, bankruptcy. But in this environment, leaders have developed strategies to protect their companies--without drastically raising prices.(Cover Story)
June 1, 2005... IN A PERFECT WORLD, PROFITABILITY AND COMPETITIVE PRICING are balanced quotients. But in today's world, with commodity prices rising across the board and competitive pressure keeping finished goods prices down, manufacturers are streamlining...

Taking the e-train: online training programs continue to flourish on the plant floor and in the office.(PLANT STRATEGIES)
June 1, 2005... NO ONE IS GIVING UP ON THE traditional classroom, but manufacturers are finding that e-learning 101 is one class they just can't afford to cut. "Definitely the direction we are going is to e-learning and technology-enabled learning," says Rick...

How to thrive in the face of low-cost offshore competition.(Response Management Associates)(Advertisement)
June 1, 2005... You're losing market share and risk being overtaken by high-volume/low-cost offshore competitors. You're doing everything you can to reverse declining sales and eroding margins, but it appears to be only a matter of time before you'll be out of...

A toast to 10 years: as the world's mix of manufacturing becomes more complex, the flavor and texture of IndustryWeek's exclusive global list changes.(IW 1000 / WORLD'S LARGEST MANUFACTURERS)
June 1, 2005... LIKE FINE WINE, THE IW 1000 LIST IMPROVES WITH AGE. During the 10 years that we have been tracking the world's biggest manufacturers by revenue, INDUSTRYWEEK also has been refining its process. For example, the most glaring contrast when...

National survey: manufacturers refocus on branding.(Executive Insights)(Advertisement)
June 1, 2005... New and formidable challenges arise every day for manufacturers, including: globalization, a worldwide supply chain with low entry barriers, almost permanent uncertainty across all sectors and shifting consumer markets of better educated...

1000 the world's largest manufacturing companies.(Illustration)
June 1, 2005... 1000 THE WORLD'S LARGEST MANUFACTURING COMPANIES REVENUE NET INCOME '05 (US$ (US$ RANK COMPANY/COUNTRY ...

IT on tap? Manufacturers kick tires of utility computing concept.(MAXIMIZING RESOURCES)
June 1, 2005... IS IT REAL, OR IS IT HYPE? That's the question manufacturers may be asking as they kick the virtual tires of a relatively new concept called utility computing. The idea is that, similar to the way it obtains water, natural gas or...

Down on IT buys.(E-Business)(information technology)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... MIDSIZE MANUFACTURING companies are more likely to decrease spending on IT this year than companies in other sectors, according to a recently released report. London, Ontario-based InfoTech Research Group reported that 21% of the...

Rolling out the red carpet: Shaw's waste-to-energy project promises to stabilize power costs at its Dalton, Ga., plant. Estimated annual savings: $2.5 million.(Shaw Industries Inc)
June 1, 2005... BY THE END OF THIS YEAR, the Dalton, Ga., carpet-making operations of Shaw Industries Inc. will start transforming carpet and wood manufacturing waste into operating benefits. A new facility adjacent to the Dalton plant will begin converting...

Can GM survive? The automaker's biggest problem is labor costs, and the solution, ultimately, rests with its unions.(ON THE ECONOMY)(General Motors Corp.)
June 1, 2005... IT HAS BECOME FASHIONABLE TO WONDER OUT loud--and in print--about the long-term viability of General Motors Corp. However, this is hardly a recent development. Several years ago in this very column I suggested that in five years, GM would be on...