The Leading Source for Manufacturing News & Insight
Why Own Expensive Equipment When You Can Lease It?
June 12, 2013 2:14 pm | by Chris Fox, Associate Editor, PD&D | Blogs | CommentsA new buzzword was recently thrown my way at the annual PTC Live conference in Anaheim. I’ve never been a big fan of buzzwords nor the concepts that they represent, as they are often watered-down or tainted versions of truly original ideas that have been bastardized by Corporate America. But, I digress.
CEOs More Optimistic About Hiring
June 12, 2013 2:03 pm | by Christopher S. Rugaber, AP Economics Writer | News | CommentsThe Business Roundtable said Wednesday that its April-June quarterly survey found 32 percent of its members expect to expand payrolls in the next six months. That's up from 29 percent in the January-March survey. And 78 percent expect their sales to increase. That's up from 72 percent from the previous survey.
Czechs Present Bicycle That Can Fly
June 12, 2013 2:02 pm | News | CommentsIs it a bike? Is it a plane? Three Czech companies have teamed up to make a prototype of an electric bicycle that successfully took off Wednesday inside an exhibition hall in Prague and landed safely after a remote-controlled, five-minute flight.
P&G Exec Says Work To Do In China, Russia
June 12, 2013 1:56 pm | by Mae Anderson, Associated Press | News | CommentsProcter & Gamble must do more to improve overall sales in Russia and China, according to the company's chief financial officer, and it has a "disproportionate" amount of work to do in developed markets to revive beauty product sales, once one of its most profitable ventures.
Cooper CEO: Buyer Committed To U.S. Operations
June 12, 2013 1:55 pm | by John Seewer, Associated Press | News | CommentsThe head of Ohio's Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. says a $2.2 billion deal that puts the company under new ownership won't result in the closings of its three U.S. manufacturing plants. Cooper chief executive Roy Armes says India's Apollo Tyres Ltd. also plans to retain Cooper's management operation in Ohio.
Voice-Operated Dashboard Technology Still Risky
June 12, 2013 1:53 pm | by Joan Lowy, Associated Press | News | CommentsSpeech-to-text systems that enable drivers to send, scroll through, or delete email and text messages required greater concentration by drivers than other potentially distracting activities examined in the study like talking on the phone, talking to a passenger, listening to a book on tape or listening to the radio.
Cheaper Solar Panels Fuel Rise In Renewable Energy
June 12, 2013 1:45 pm | News | CommentsGlobal energy-generating capacity from renewable sources rose by 115 gigawatts in 2012, compared with 105 gigawatts the previous year, the report by the Paris-based think tank REN21 showed. Installed renewable energy capacity rose to over 1,470 gigawatts, equivalent to about 1,500 nuclear reactors.
AP: FEMA Denies Aid To Texas For Blast
June 12, 2013 1:41 pm | by Ramit Plushnick-Masti, Associated Press | News | CommentsThe blast killed 10 first responders and brought national attention to the agricultural community. President Barack Obama traveled to the area to attend a memorial service for the first responders and others who died trying to help. The FEMA funds would have helped pay for public repairs such as roads, sewer lines, pipes and a school that were destroyed.
UK To Start Regulating E-Cigarettes As Medicines
June 12, 2013 10:56 am | by Maria Cheng, AP Medical Writer | News | CommentsBritain will start regulating electronic cigarettes and other products containing nicotine as medicines, according to the country's top regulator. E-cigarettes are battery-operated products that turn nicotine into a vapor that is inhaled by the user.
What eCommerce Features Are Best For Manufacturing?
June 12, 2013 9:32 am | by Bob Barr, Senior Vice President, Acquity Group | Articles | CommentsThe eCommerce imperative in manufacturing is driving a rush to develop and implement first-class eCommerce technologies capable of providing customers the kinds of online experiences they have come to expect from their favorite B2C brands. But blindly adding features and capabilities is a recipe for disaster.
BP: U.S. Oil Production Surged In 2012
June 12, 2013 8:35 am | News | CommentsBP says the United States saw its biggest-ever annual increase in oil production in 2012, while the world's demand for energy grew at a slower pace than the year before. In its annual Statistical Review of World Energy released Wednesday, BP PLC says the U.S. produced 8.9 million barrels a day, up 13.9 percent from 2011.
Yamaha Expanding Vehicle Production In Georgia
June 12, 2013 8:00 am | News | CommentsOfficials at Yamaha Motor Manufacturing Corp. say they've opened a second assembly plant in Newnan and will hire 100 employees to work on a new utility vehicle. The Japanese company also said this week that it has completed transferring all of its ATV production to the Coweta County plant south of Atlanta.
Japanese Carrier's Boeing 787 Has Engine Problem
June 12, 2013 7:57 am | News | CommentsA Japanese carrier's Dreamliner had engine trouble before takeoff Wednesday, a day after a rival airline had a problem on another 787 plane. Neither problem was with the lithium-ion batteries that were overheating and resulted in the Boeing Co. aircraft being grounded for four months.
Fukushima Plant Steps Closer To Fuel-Rod Removal
June 12, 2013 7:54 am | by Malcolm Foster, Associated Press | News | CommentsPlant chief Takeshi Takahashi told journalists given a tour of the plant Wednesday that workers have cleaned up much of the debris in their work areas, but that the priorities are keeping the plant stable and working toward shutting it down — a process that operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. estimates will take 40 years.
CAT Workers OK 6-Year Deal At Wis. Plant
June 12, 2013 7:49 am | News | CommentsUnion members have ratified a six-year labor contract at Caterpillar Inc.'s plant in South Milwaukee. The new contract freezes wages and pensions but includes a $4,000 signing bonus and shortens temporary layoffs. Caterpillar says the Peoria, Ill.-based company is pleased to have reached what it believes is "a fair, reasonable and comprehensive agreement."
EEOC Sues Over Criminal Background Checks
June 12, 2013 7:45 am | by Sam Hananel, Associated Press | News | CommentsThe Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed lawsuits Tuesday against discount retailer Dollar General Corp. and a BMW manufacturing plant in South Carolina over their use of criminal background checks to screen out job applicants or fire employees.
Rambus To Get $240M In Settlement With Hynix
June 12, 2013 7:43 am | News | CommentsMemory chip designer Rambus Inc. said Tuesday it resolved a decade-old patent dispute with South Korean chipmaker Hynix, and said Hynix will pay it $240 million over the next five years.Rambus said SK Hynix is licensing memory-related patents and the right to certain dynamic random access memory products.
Glaxo Fires Worker Over Misrepresented Study Data
June 12, 2013 7:41 am | News | CommentsBritish drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline PLC says it dismissed one employee and a second has resigned in the wake of a scandal over misrepresented data in a research paper published in 2010. The company says its investigation of recent allegations of questionable data has established that some information in the paper had been misrepresented.
U.S.-China Climate Deal Was Long In The Works
June 12, 2013 7:38 am | by Josh Lederman, Associated Press | News | CommentsAlthough it took most proponents by surprise, the deal was in the bag before President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived at the California desert retreat where they announced it over the weekend. And for China, it came only after a change in financial incentives made it more lucrative to get on board.
4 Ways Manufacturers Can Cope With Rising Energy Prices
June 11, 2013 5:30 pm | by Michael Lewis | Articles | CommentsNo segment of American industry has more to gain from energy efficiency than the manufacturing sector, using almost 40 percent of the energy consumed in the United States. Replacing inefficient machinery, employing "smart" environmental controls and upgrading lighting, heating and air-conditioning systems can drop utility bills by 20 percent to 30 percent.
