Industry Week articles from September 2006

Industry Week archives from September 2006

Labor daze: with fewer and fewer skilled workers in their ranks, manufacturing leaders are still expected to lead their troops to victory.(JUST IN TIME)
September 1, 2006... How do you define leadership? Is It a) the ability to get things done, on time, under budget and exceeding expectations? B) the ability to motivate others to accomplish things they might not ordinarily believe they could do? C) the ability to...

How to run an effective meeting: every meeting should reinforce the idea that nothing of importance can happen without you.(BRANDT ON LEADERSHIP)
September 1, 2006... Many first-time managers worry if they have the right stuff, if they will be able to make it in the cutthroat corporate world. They fret about this in part because they haven't been in the corporate world for very long (i.e., they haven't yet...

Getting ready for titanium: titanium's stock as a manufacturing material is rising, thanks to its strength, corrosion resistance and light weight.(PERFORMANCE MATERIALS)
September 1, 2006... Compelling evidence of titanium's emergence as a performance material was implicit in the planning of Cincinnati Machine's booth at this month's IMTS 2006 show. The machine tool company surmised that titanium, not aluminum, will be used with...

Labor days: meeting our workforce challenges! Skills shortages arguably are the biggest single workforce challenge facing U.S. manufacturing. But the challenges also include the workforce's new diversity and new expectations. This IW special report details these critical challenges, puts them in perspective and presents the best workforce practices of America's plants.(SPECIAL REPORT)
September 1, 2006... There is the truth about the U.S. workforce. And then there is a deeper--and troubling--truth. * The truth, according to the U.S. Labor Department, is that the nation created about 5.3 million net new jobs between August 2003 and May of this...

New faces, new expectations: at the very least, manufacturers seeking to attract a new talent pool and shrink the skills gap need to understand who today's potential production workers are and what they expect from an employer. Meet Bill Boyer, Kenneth Paulett, Michael Carr and Candace Matson, four faces of the new American workforce.(SPECIAL REPORT)
September 1, 2006... Staff Sergeant To Plant-Floor General As Bill Boyer walks down the wood-block floor of Caterpillar Inc.'s aging 600,000-square-foot tractor and truck transmission factory in East Peoria, Ill., he seems slightly distressed by an...

Staying ahead with machine tools and robots: productivity advances resulting from the technology revolution are reshaping global competition.(REBUILDING U.S. MANUFACTURING)
September 1, 2006... To play in global markets, the game for manufacturers is to Stay ahead of the competition--as in this old African proverb: "Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be...

Understanding demand signals: manufacturers are using electronic signals to communicate production requirements throughout the supply chain.(DEMAND MANAGEMENT)
September 1, 2006... When data storage giant EMC Corp. revealed in mid-July that the company's revenues and profits would be lower than expected, the Hopkinton, Mass., manufacturer put the blame on poor demand planning. You could almost hear the collective...

Updating the virtual site, too: Vent-A-Hood expands and updates both its production facility and its Web site.(RICHARDSON, TEXAS)
September 1, 2006... Booming markets made the need for expansion obvious at Vent-A-Hood's Richardson, Texas, production facility. Less obvious, but equally important to the company's future was the simultaneous decision to invest in a new, more comprehensive Web...

Economic insight.(manufacturing sector)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... U.S. MANUFACTURING PRODUCTION increased seven-tenths of a percentage point in June. May was revised to a one-tenth percent increase. FOLLOWING A SMALL DECLINE IN MAY, the U.S. factory operating rate rose to 81.1% in June. AFTER LOSING...

Maximizing IT resources: Blue Ridge Paper uses a help-desk solution to achieve myriad results throughout its supply chain.(OPERATIONS)
September 1, 2006... Let's hear it for the little guy--the one who can make a decision much quicker than the big guys. The one who implements and utilizes software solutions to a great advantage rather than an endless stream of red tape and bureaucracy. The one who...

Staying close to home: apparel manufacturer TLM Industries defies demographic trends by maintaining production in the U.S.(LOCAL PRODUCTION)
September 1, 2006... IF IT WEREN'T FOR THE FISHING, Tim Mossberg might never have come to Fort Walton Beach, Fla. Mossberg owns TLM Industries, which produces embroidered uniforms for convenience store chains. "The toughest part of embroidery and sewing is...

Beware of the sour spot: the Fed must get serious on inflation now to stave off a serious recession later.(ON THE ECONOMY)
September 1, 2006... IT HAPPENS ALMOST EVERY BUSINESS CYCLE. Following several years of uninterrupted expansion, the U.S. economy starts to slow down while inflation accelerates. The Federal Reserve raises interest rates and restricts the growth of money and...

Bidding panchak farewell.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2006... Re "Building A Passion For Manufacturing Excellence," Editor's Page, Page 7, August 2006. Say it ain't so, Pat... you just can't leave us! I anxiously awaited your editorial comments each month as the seemingly lone rational voice defending...

Forum feedback from industryweek.com.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2006... Re "Is there an engineering shortage?" (forums.industry week.com/forums/showthread.php?t=163) The engineer shortage is a myth perpetuated by the proponents of outsourcing as a convenient excuse to send tech jobs overseas. With all the...

Is the problem "greedy corporations"?(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2006... I contend that we (that is the we that make up society) are getting what we ask for. We want lower-priced goods so we shop at Wal-Mart and Home Depot. We want immediate answers and solutions at no added cost, so Dell has a low-wage earner in...

Diagnosis: green and lean: Hospira CEO Chris Begley says manufacturers should become more environmentally responsible. What's more, he's doing something about it.(3 QUICK QUESTIONS)(Interview)
September 1, 2006... Hospira Inc., a maker of pharmaceutical and medication delivery products, takes lean manufacturing both seriously and literally. Not only is the company dedicated to eliminating waste in all areas of production, but also it is attempting to...

Dyson does it again.(James Dyson open The Dyson School of Design Innovation in Bath, England)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Conventional Wisdom Be Damned," the title of the June 21, 1999, IndustryWeek article that featured James Dyson, continues to be the British-born vacuum mogul's mantra. Dyson recently announced that his educational charity, The James Dyson...

Be flexible: weathering crisis situations depends on supply chain flexibility.
September 1, 2006... The resiliency of supply chains has been tested mightily in the past several years by major disruptions including natural disasters, terrorist attacks, and wars. During such events, some manufacturers have been able to continue operations with...

Toyota and product development.(The Toyota Product Development System: Integrating People, Process, and Technology, The Toyota Way)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... A wealth of books, articles and consulting firms present reams of information about the Toyota Production System (TPS), the much-vaunted production approach developed by the Japanese automaker to produce quality automobiles at competitive...

Pay model hurts corporate image: but surveys differ on whether their pay is excessive.(COMPENSATION)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Corporate directors and institutional investors generally agree that the way executives are paid in the United States detracts from the corporate image. But these groups disagree whether it has improved corporate performance or produced...

Online poll.
September 1, 2006... How optimistic are you regarding your company's financial outlook for the second half of 2006? IndustryWeek.com readers respond: Very Optimistic 38% Slightly Optimistic ...

Smarter spending: with limited R&D resources but plenty of new product concepts, manufacturers are learning to focus on affordable product strategies.(RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT)
September 1, 2006... TOYOTA SPENDS AN AVERAGE OF $22.7 MILLION PER day on research and development, according to James Press, president of Toyota Motor North America. Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer says the Redmond, Wash.-based technology firm will spend more...