Industry Week articles from September 2005

Industry Week archives from September 2005

A baking machine builder combined resources. and saw productivity rise.(United Bakery Equipment Company Inc., Rockwell Automation Inc. and Royal Electric)(Advertisement)
September 1, 2005... How Rockwell Automation packaged a slicer-bagger solution for United Bakery Equipment. Based in Kansas City, Kansas, United Bakery Equipment (UBE) has been turning out heavy-duty slicing and bagging equipment for almost 40 years. In...

Online poll.
September 1, 2005... How would the Central American Free Trade Agreement likely affect your company? IndustryWeek.com readers respond: Significantly increase revenues 8% Increase revenues 16% No real impact 56%...

China's challenge redux.(challenges for china's manufacturing economy and United States domestic policies)
September 1, 2005... IT'S TIME FOR U.S. PUBLIC POLICY TO CATCH UP with Chinese economic, technological and military advances, and U.S. manufacturing executives need to exert some old-fashioned corporate statesmanship to get the process moving. Until all the facts...

Revamping manufacturing metrics.(Letters)(Brief Article)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2005... Re: "Measuring Success In A Global Economy," Editor's Page, Page 7, August 2005. I also believe that lean manufacturing has slowed investment in new equipment [and] that it has slowed job creation. Your comment about squeezing more value...

Go ahead, quote me.(Letters)(Brief Article)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2005... I've always considered IndustryWeek as the best magazine out there for manufacturing folks, and that also goes for a lot of your thoughts, but this commentary ("Masking Candor With Catch Phrases," Brandt On Leadership, Page 19, August 2005) is...

Much ado about nothing? Doubts persist China's currency change will make much difference.(consequences of China's change in currency exchange rates)
September 1, 2005... FOR U.S. MANUFACTURERS who insist an artificially low exchange rate between China s currency and the U.S. dollar has put them at a distinct competitive disadvantage, this October will he an even more significant month than was this past July....

Arvinmeritor's "3R" strategy yields positive earnings: performance brings hope to beleaguered auto-parts industry.(Charles G. McClure)(Interview)
September 1, 2005... CHARLES G. "CHIP" McClure is president, CEO and chairman of ArvinMeritor Inc., Troy, Mich., an $8 billion global supplier of integrated systems, modules and components to the motor vehicle industry. On June 7, McClure told Wall Street...

Boeing's new pilot.(W. James Mcnerney)
September 1, 2005... IF W. JAMES MCNERNEY CARRIED A POST-IT NOTE when he moved from the CEO's job at St. Paul-based 3M Co. into the pilot's seat at Chicago-based Boeing Co. on July 1, it might have profitably contained these key words: Airbus, ethics and energy. At...

Podium appeal: CEOs bombarded by speaking requests.(chief executive officers)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... IF CEOS DIDN'T HAVE BUSInesses to run, they could keep quite busy simply accommodating all of the speaking invitations they receive annually. According to a survey by global public relations firm Burson-Marsteller, chief executive officers...

More than no to yes-men.(Why Great Leaders Don't Take Yes for an Answer)
September 1, 2005... HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL PROFESSOR Michael A. Roberto seeds "Why Great Leaders Don't Take Yes for an Answer" (2005, Wharton School Publishing) with a variety of apropos anecdotes, helping to demonstrate that this book is about more than just...

Manufacturers applaud bills' passage: deals address trade, transportation and energy.(free trade agreement with Central America, major roadway-building legislation and energy-bill)
September 1, 2005... MANUFACTURERS EXPECT to benefit from three bills recently signed into law by President Bush. Before leaving for their August recess, Congress approved a trade deal with Central America, major roadway-building legislation and a long-awaited...

Tying IT assets to process success: Trane's model reveals less inventory, lower response time, space reductions.
September 1, 2005... AT AMERICAN STANdard's Trane operations, treating IT as an investment strategy began a decade ago with the goal of demand-driven enterprise optimization. Trane's CIO, Wally Yosafat, says tracking the ROI has confirmed the strategy....

Robot integration.(robot integration into production equipment)
September 1, 2005... Audiences of robot pioneer Joe Engelberger often are shown how well a system incorporates robots with production equipment. "Sometimes they can't even see evidence of a robot." says Engelberger. In the future, the father of robotics also could...

Deflection by delegation: here's the poop on getting rid of dog assignments.(the art of delegation)
September 1, 2005... EVERY MBA PROGRAM TEACHES THAT MANagement is the art of delegation, allowing more tasks to get done as each person's talents are put to their highest and best use by the division of labor, blah, blah, blah. But what these schools don't tell you...

Partnering with others: social responsibility doesn't happen in isolation.(corporate cultre)
September 1, 2005... THE WORD CULTURE IS OVERUSED and overworked, especially in the context of companies. Yet corporate culture is a product of people, including a corporate culture that champions social responsibility. Defining a manufacturing company's social...

Breathing new life into legacy systems with response management.(enterprise resource management)(Advertisement)
September 1, 2005... If you're like most OEMs or contract manufacturers, your enterprise resource planning (ERP) system is your biggest application investment year after year. This is understandable, because these transaction-oriented systems serve as the...

The map of the world: IW's 2005 value-chain survey sets benchmarks for global manufacturers in procurement, new product development, supply-chain planning and logistics.(value-chain survey)
September 1, 2005... Methodology INDUSTRYWEEK editors and subject-matter experts within IBM Corp., our research partner, developed the survey instruments for each of five functional areas. Each survey consisted of 18 to 27 questions. The questionnaires were...

Lost in translation? A global marketplace means fewer premier posts for U.S. manufacturing executives, but the best of the best still will be in demand and highly compensated.(executive compensation across the globe)
September 1, 2005... IT'S ALL IN THE TRANSLATION--AT LEAST IN TERMS OF EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION AND ITS global spectrum. U.S.-based companies no longer will grant the same executive options across the globe. Instead they are looking at local markets, local economies,...

Muscling in: for manufacturers, private label brands turn retailers into both customer and competitor.(consumer packaged goods and brand labels)
September 1, 2005... PRIVATE-LABEL BRANDS HAVE PUT THEIR STAMP ON SUPERMARkets, drug stores and mass merchandisers in a very public way. Stroll through a Kroger store and grab its Private Selection upscale house brand. Reach for toilet paper at Wal-Mart and grab...

And the survey says ... leading companies survey employees to check on compliance, massage morale and ensure engagement.(human resource management)
September 1, 2005... THOUGH JUST ONE LOOK AT THE BORED, SURLY TEENAGE CASHIER AT YOUR LOCAL grocery store seems like evidence enough, recent studies have concluded that people must be excited by their jobs to perform well. A 2003 Towers Perrin study showed a...

United States vs. China: value chain integration.(value-chain integration of manufacturing industries, comparative analysis)
September 1, 2005... An important new study has found that Chinese manufacturing plants are more likely to report value-chain integration than their U.S. counterparts, reports the accounting, tax and business advisory services firm, Grant Thornton LLP, in The China...

From confusion to action: whether your company is like traditional manufacturer Air Products and Chemicals or 20-year old Nanofilm Ltd., the first step in formulating a strategy for capitalizing on nanotechnology is understanding parameters.(Martha Collins, Air Products and Chemicals Inc.)
September 1, 2005... MARTHA COLLINS FIGHTS "NANO confusion" by beginning discussions with a definition: "Nanotechnology is not a technology--nanotechnology is a dimension." (a billionth of a measurement unit--as in nanometer.) As a technology manager helping...

Omron Electronics LLC.(PEOPLE)(appointments)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Omron Electronics LLC, Schaumburg, Ill., announced that Allen Vail has joined the company as vice president of finance. Vail's responsibilities include overseeing all financial activities and advising executive management on business strategy...

FKI Logistex.(PEOPLE)(appointments)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... St. Louis-based FKI Logistex, a material handling solutions provider, promoted Stephen Legg to director, product technology and development. Legg has been with the company for more than 18 years, holding various executive positions, most...

Schneider National Inc.(PEOPLE)(appointments)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Schneider National Inc., a provider of transportation, logistics and related services, announced that Mitch Weckop has recently joined the company as vice president and general manager of dedicated services. In the position, Weckop will lead...

AIM Global.(ASSOCIATIONS)(elected board of directors)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... AIM Global, a trade association for automatic identification and mobility manufacturers and providers, elected six new members to its 13-member board of directors in July. New board members are John G. Bruno, Symbol Technologies; Julie England,...

Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology.(ASSOCIATIONS)(appointments)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... The Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (IEST) announces its new officers for 2005-2006: Stanley Poynor, president, Lockeed Martin Missiles and Fire Control; Gordon Ely, president-elect, Nelson Laboratories; Tim Xu, technical...

An avenue for ideas: C.R. Bard Inc.'s standardized program for receiving, evaluating and marketing ideas encourages fresh thinking.
September 1, 2005... AN IDEA-GENERATION program launched in January 2004 gave C.R. Bard Inc. a new product within nine months, and has led to 150 other products that are in various stages of development toward commercial application. Although just 20 months old,...

New ideas for smooth systems: best-of-breed pure solutions continue to do well, but manufacturers are turning to outsourcing und ERP extension for the cure of various assets.(enterprise resource planning, maintenance, repair and operations software)
September 1, 2005... A MOVE TO OUTSOURCING and a shift toward enterprise resource planning (ERP) software for maintenance applications are among the key trends taking place in the market for maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) software. Also referred to...

True to reform: changes to securities offering rules take effect Dec. 1, 2005.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... MODIFIED ONLY slightly from language the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed in November 2004, new rules affecting the ways companies offer and register securities are slated to take effect on Dec. 1, 2005. As well as...

What's in a name?(Bottom Line)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Plenty. Indeed, in this Sarbanes-Oxley era of greater executive responsibility and accountability, having a respected corporate name can be critical to attracting the best talent. Data from the Cherenson Group show that 78% of surveyed adults...

Assessing Alan: the chairman of the Federal Reserve has done a competent but not outstanding job.(Alan Greespan )
September 1, 2005... HAS ALAN GREENSPAN DONE A GOOD JOB? And will his successor be able to do at least as good a job? The questions are relevant, since come January the incumbent chairman of the Federal Reserve Board is due to be replaced. If the primary job...