By Amy Radishofski, Features Editor, Manufacturing.net

 

The manufacturing industry saw a very bleak year in 2009, but there are signs that companies are feeling more optimistic about an economic recovery.

Amid pressure from customers to get the plane airborne, Airbus hit a milestone in its long-delayed A400M military airlifter program, testing all four turboprop engines together.

Head of the Nissan-Renault alliance said customers' adoption of electric vehicles will be slow, with traditional gasoline-powered cars continuing to dominate for many years.

Unusually cold weather has caused shortfalls of power and natural gas in Shanghai and parts of central China, local government reports said.

Deal may be near to turn a shuttered Sterling Truck plant in St. Thomas, Ont., into a manufacturer of green energy products.

Majority of Americans recognize need to help the environment, although there are some things, like buying a hybrid car, that people often talk about, but don't act on.

Computer maker is using the fast-growing member of the grass family as a replacement for paper, plastic and plastic foam packaging materials.

In a sharp improvement, more than half of U.S. states added jobs in October, though economists said many of the gains likely occurred in temporary employment.

University of Michigan economist expects 2010 will be 'difficult,' with job losses continuing and the state's unemployment rate rising to an average of 15.8 percent.

August manufacturing technology consumption was down 14.8 percent from July and down 63.3 percent from August 2008, according to two industry trade groups.

Russian automaker GAZ likely to use what it gets from GM's sale of Opel to compete against the Detroit automaker's Chevrolet brand in Russia.

P&G is recalling some 120,000 bottles of Vicks Sinex nasal spray after the company found bacteria in some samples during routine testing.

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety awarded several Ford, Subaru and Volkswagen vehicles its ‘top safety pick’ with Ford leading the pack with six awards.

Automaker plans to release full restructuring plan for Opel and Vauxhall units in mid December, but didn't specify the cuts to capacity and jobs it would seek.

Steel products maker said 53 workers will be out of work by the end of November, blaming a slowdown in construction and highway projects during the winter for the job cuts.

Nestle, which sells nearly all the canned pumpkin in the U.S., says poor weather hurt its harvest, creating a potential shortage of its Libby's pumpkin pie products.

Michigan-based Kellogg says it temporarily halted production of its Eggo brand frozen waffles in September at its plant in Atlanta, Georgia because of flooding there.