Industry Week articles from November 2006

Industry Week archives from November 2006

Maximize production by automating for safety: as production gets more complex, technology is adapting to help manufacturers compensate.(product life cycle management software)
November 1, 2006... PRODUCT LIFECYCLE MANAGEMENT (PLM) IS TYPICALLY CONSIDered as an enterprise tool for facilitating the integration and collaboration of a manufacturer's functional departments. With PLM's growing ability to digitally visualize the production...

Not only safety ...(product lifecycle management digital manufacturing strategy)
November 1, 2006... Human and production equipment safety are not the only benefits of a product lifecycle management (PLM) digital manufacturing strategy. By giving manufacturers the ability to digitally represent entire operations from the desktop, PLM vendors...

Human simulation.(manufacturing software solutions )(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... CREATING AND developing products based on the capabilities and limitations of people is not a new concept. For example, the PLM offerings of both UGS Corp. and DELMIA Corp. include digital manufacturing software solutions that can model human...

Parts forecasting.(configuration volatility)
November 1, 2006... IF CRYSTAL BALLS worked, there would be no parts shortages--except, maybe, for crystal balls. Unfortunately, some methods to predict shortages are just as unpredictable. "Today, parts forecasting is done in the absence of...

Parts shortages impact bottom line: identifying and coping with shortages will ensure sustainability.(STRATEGIC SOURCING)
November 1, 2006... SAYING AND DOING ARE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS. JUST ASK SONY Corp., maker of video game players. In May, the Japanese company said it would have 2 million PlayStation3 consoles available for the 2006 holiday-buying season. Unbeknownst to Sony, a...

Capital spending: Shopping list 2007.(production equipment )(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... WHEN U.S. MANUFACTURING PLANTS GO shopping for production equipment next year, these are the types they're most likely to be purchasing: > Material handling > Testing and inspection > Assembling > Cutting > Packaging ...

Aging assets: manufacturers coping with aging plants and sagging performance have to decide whether to repair or relocate.(REBUILDING U.S. MANUFACTURING)
November 1, 2006... With Some Financial Help From the local economic development folks, on Sept. 8, Brunton, a Riverton, Wyo.-based outdoor equipment manufacturer, began moving into a new facility in the city of 10,000. But the company might not have. Dissatisfied...

Advancing factory automation: competitiveness starts on the factory floor. As demonstrated at this year's IMTS show, innovations and new directions in machine tools and equipment offer new and compelling competitive reasons to invest in manufacturing technology.(International Manufacturing Technology Show)
November 1, 2006... Increasingly American Manufacturers are updating production equipment to sharpen competitiveness," says Paul Warndorf, vice president-technology of the Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT), the presenter of IMTS, the International...

Special Web conference event.(New Online)(Calendar)
November 1, 2006... Setting Your IT Priorities Dec. 13 www.industryweek.com/ITpriorities This special IW web conference will feature eight one-hour webcasts and a keynote presentation--Supporting Your Business Priorities With Information Technology....

Webcast archive.(New Online)
November 1, 2006... www.industryweek.com/webcasts How To Make "Engineer-To-Order" Products More Efficiently: Real-world examples from Schumacher Elevator Sponsored by SAP and intelligence, in association with HP and Intel The Eighth Hidden Waste in...

Chain reactions.(IW Blog)
November 1, 2006... In his blog, Dave looks at the latest trends in supply chain management--the good, the bad and the ugly. He shares what it's like to have lunch (sort of) with Warren Buffett. He even offers excerpts from his new book, Supply Chain Management...

Who gets your vote? Trade and energy issues take center stage for manufacturers in the 2006 midterm election.(ELECTIONS)
November 1, 2006... RICHARD AND AUDREY HERZBERG HAVE SOME tough choices to make when they vote in the 2006 midterm election. Traditionally the Herzbergs have supported Republican candidates, but the owners of Reliable Metalcraft Corp.--a $1.5 million Mishawaka,...

IT workers in demand.(information technology)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... TREAT YOUR IT WORKers right or they may go elsewhere. At least that's what two recent studies suggest. Survey results show that 58% of nearly 1,000 IT workers responding are seeking new jobs. The survey, conducted by Oakbrook Terrace,...

Manufacturers find business intelligence elusive: real-time data is the key to greater operations visibility.(BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE)
November 1, 2006... IN THE EARLY DAYS OF COMPUTING, BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE WAS SIMPLY referred to as "management information systems," or MIS for short. But MIS was slow. Somebody had to dig through all the data, cull out the important stuff, put it into a...

Where the IT jobs are.(information technology workers)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... The Robert Half IT Hiring Index and Skills Report shows a higher percentage of firms that expect to increase their hiring of IT professionals than those that are planning IT-worker cutbacks, while the majority of companies expect no change. ...

Symbol buyout could hasten RFID adoption.(RFID)
November 1, 2006... MOTOROLA INC.'S agreement to purchase RFID and wireless communications company Symbol Technologies Inc. could pump life into the struggling RFID market. High tag prices have slowed RFID adoption by most manufacturers, but Motorola's $3.9...

Too many supply chains are failing to integrate: as supply chains lengthen globally, companies need to focus on tying together their suppliers and customers.(CENSUS OF MANUFACTURERS)
November 1, 2006... WILLIE SUTTON ONCE EXPLAINED that he always robbed banks "because that's where the money is." Similarly, U.S. manufacturers increasingly are importing material, components and finished goods from offshore "because that's where the cheap labor...

Inventories backing up in high-tech.(electronics industry )(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... IN 1991, BEFORE THE INFLUENCE of Internet-based supply chain solutions, the electronics industry carried an average of 100 days of inventory. That average has since plummeted to below 40 days; however, according to Merrill Lynch estimates,...

China's "Chuppies" are buying American.(SUPPLY CHAIN & LOGISTICS)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... WE HEAR PLENTY ABOUT CHINESE IMPORTS--the flow of goods manufactured in China and sold into the United States--but not so much about U.S. exports sold into China. And yet, "China is one of the fastest growing markets for U.S. exports," points...

No quick fixes for disruptions.(SUPPLY CHAIN & LOGISTICS)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... HAS YOUR COMPANY BEEN ROCKED lately by a supply chain disruption? It may not help much, but you can seek some solace in knowing you're not alone. According to a study conducted by Accenture, 73% of supply chain executives at U.S. companies with...

Who's helping whom? Collaboration efforts aim to drive big ideas.(R&D)
November 1, 2006... BACK IN 2003 General Motors Corp. stated the following with regard to its perspective on research collaboration: "GM is using collaborative research programs to seek manufacturing processes with the greatest competitive advantage. We seek...

Ready for RoHS: get compliance addressed early in the product-design process to keep costs down and products in the marketplace.(Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive)
November 1, 2006... READY OR NOT, THERE IT CAME. The European Union's Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive, that is. More commonly referred to as RoHS, the directive went into effect on July 1. It restricts the use of lead, mercury, cadmium and other...

Nanoproducts now (almost).(NANOTECHNOLOGY)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... THERE'S HARD AND fast evidence that the nanotechnology industry is shifting out of the hype stage into the commercialization stage. According to the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS), which studied the adoption of nanotechnology...

Intellectual property help.(Thomson Corp. Thomson FindLaw)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... TRAVERSING THE COMPLEXITIES OF INTELLECTUAL property can be downright mind-boggling, particularly if a company doesn't have in-house-IP expertise. Yet, with innovations representing some of a company's most valuable assets, understanding...

Leaky, sneaky and cheeky: there's no management innovation too bad or too bald for some companies.(BRANDTON LEADERSHIP)
November 1, 2006... One Of The Wonderful Things About studying leadership and management is that just when you think you've seen or heard it all, somebody invents something so new and wonderful and innovative that you have to shake your head and say, "What'll they...

How level is your playing field? If you believe Congress is to blame for manufacturing's woes, then vote accordingly.(JUST IN TIME)
November 1, 2006... A recent Study Commissioned By The Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI and the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) reveals that U.S. manufacturers are facing an "escalating cost crisis" due to a structural cost disadvantage compared with nine...

Brandt doing disservice?(IW READER FEEDBACK)
November 1, 2006... Re "How To Run An Effective Meeting," Brandt On Leadership, Page 19, September 2006. I take it that your article was a stab at humor, at least I hope so. After reading it I just wanted to scream about the disservice you did to the readers...

Where's the czar?(IW READER FEEDBACK)
November 1, 2006... Re "Skills Shortages Remain Big Problem For Small Manufacturers," Web-exclusive item, www.industryweek.com /ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=12636. Small- and medium-sized manufacturers can't get the skills they want because they pay less than...

How much time does the U.S. have?(manufacturing)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... China has added high-end products to the mix of products they are flooding America with. Has anyone taken the time to try and figure out how much time America actually has?--R. Juras I have heard it said that nearly all manufacturing will...

Investing in the future: Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI's Tom Duesterberg urges manufacturers to invest in the "intangibles.".(THE COMPETITIVE EDGE)
November 1, 2006... MOST MANUFACTURING LEADERS HAVE LONG understood the importance of investment to competing in the modern, evermore-global economy. The point is being driven home by the increasing gap between labor and "structural" costs such as benefits,...

The winter of our discomfort? Probably not.(ENERGY)
November 1, 2006... THE VENERABLE OLD FARMERS ALMANAC--IT'S BEEN AROUND since 1792--predicts a colder-than-normal winter this year from Boston to Washington, D.C., and heavier-than-normal snowfall in the Midwest, the Plains and the Rockies. But for many U.S....

EPA gives 17 plants star billing: nine auto plants are among first-time winners of energy-efficiency award.(Environmental Protection Agency, Ford Motor Co.)
November 1, 2006... Ford Motor Co.'s Norfolk, Va., and St. Paul, Minn., assembly plants are two of the factories the Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker has slated for shutdown as it restructures its operations. They are also two of 17 plants recently cited by the...

Texas dominates the southwest's top 10.(manufacturing employment)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... WHEN IT COMES TO RANKING SOUTHWESTERN U.S. CITIES BY THE number of their manufacturing jobs, the "Big D" must yield to Houston for No. 1. Manufacturing employment in Houston totals 222,477, nearly twice the 121,073 manufacturing jobs in Dallas,...

Hazardous to your health.(safety and health )(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... Job safety and health are top operating priorities among INDUSTRYWEEK's Best Plants, the very best production facilities in North America. But not every plant accords safety and health the same status. Less than half (46.3%) of the U.S....

Small firms not very venturesome.(FOREIGN INVESTMENTS)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... Of the 467 small manufacturers recently surveyed by the Washington, D.C.-based National Association of Manufacturers, 78.4% say they do not have a plant, equity interest in a facility or a joint venture outside the U.S. However, of the 19.7%...