Facilities and Operations
Boeing Slows 747 Production On Weak Demand
April 19, 2013 10:28 am | News | CommentsBoeing says it will slow down production of its superjumbo 747-8 because of weak demand. Boeing builds two of the planes every month. It's slowing that rate to one and three-quarters per month. Boeing had warned that a slowdown was possible if demand didn't improve.
Toyota To Build Lexus In Kentucky, Add 750 Jobs
April 19, 2013 10:25 am | News | CommentsToyota will start building the Lexus ES 350 at its Georgetown, Ky. plant in 2015, producing the luxury brand for the first time in the United States. The Japanese car company said Friday that the Georgetown plant will build about 50,000 of the vehicles each year, creating 750 new jobs.
Grand Design RV Plans 500 Jobs In Indiana
April 19, 2013 8:01 am | News | CommentsA new recreational vehicle manufacturer announced plans Thursday to create 500 jobs in Elkhart County by 2016 in the second major jobs announcement for the industry in northern Indiana in nine days.Gov. Mike Pence joined executives of Grand Design RV as the company announced plans to locate its headquarters and manufacturing operations in Middlebury.
Texas Requires Sprinklers, Feds Told None In Plant
April 19, 2013 7:54 am | by Ramit Plushnick-Masti, Associated Press | News | CommentsTexas Commission on Environmental Quality air permit chief Mike Wilson says the agency required sprinklers and safety barriers for the fertilizer storage and blending facility in West. The measures are required because the plant handles anhydrous ammonia, a flammable substance that can be used as a fertilizer.
VW Dropping Third Shift At Chattanooga Plant
April 18, 2013 1:45 pm | News | CommentsThe company said the plant opened by creating a new product with new suppliers and a new workforce and extra workers were brought on through a staffing supplier temporarily. Volkswagen said increased efficiency is allowing the plant to return to two daily shifts in what the company calls a workforce adjustment.
Toyota Hopes To Produce New Vehicle Model In Ky.
April 18, 2013 9:06 am | by Roger Alford, Associated Press | News | CommentsToyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky is in the running to produce an unspecified new vehicle model and add 570 permanent full-time workers at its Georgetown plant, according to details the carmaker provided to state officials to qualify for tax incentives.
Texas Plant Explosion Kills As Many As 15
April 18, 2013 8:51 am | by John L. Mone and Michael Brick, Associated Press | News | CommentsRescue workers searched rubble early Thursday for survivors of a fertilizer plant explosion in a small Texas town that killed as many as 15 people and injured more than 160 others. The blast left the factory a smoldering ruin and leveled homes and businesses for blocks in every direction.
Opel: German Plant To End Production By End 2014
April 17, 2013 12:11 pm | News | CommentsGeneral Motors' loss-making Opel division has confirmed it plans to end production at a plant in Germany by the end of 2014. Adam Opel AG said Wednesday in a statement that the Bochum plant would wind down production as part of its plan to reduce costs and turn the division around. The plant's 3,200 workers make the Zafira compact.
410 Pigs, 122 Dogs Found Dead In China
April 17, 2013 8:40 am | News | CommentsLocal authorities say chemical factories in the area have been ordered to suspend production. The chief of Yanshi city's propaganda office says the deaths are suspected to be related to the factories. Authorities say the deaths have nothing to do with the bird flu virus that recently spread to humans.
Lawmakers: FDA Fell Short In Policing Pharmacy
April 17, 2013 8:16 am | by Matthew Perrone, AP Health Writer | News | CommentsRepublicans and Democrats took turns chastising the FDA for not being aggressive enough in going after compounding pharmacies like the New England Compounding Center, the specialty pharmacy which produced tainted pain injections that have sickened more than 700 people and killed 53 others.
Arkansas Legislature Approves Steel Mill Funding
April 16, 2013 9:30 pm | by Michael Stratford, Associated Press | News | CommentsArkansas is set to provide a new steel company with $125 million in financing and a package of tax breaks to build a mill in the northeast part of the state after the Legislature gave final approval to the plan on Tuesday. By an 81-9 vote, House lawmakers passed a Senate-approved budget bill to fund Gov. Mike Beebe's proposal.
Q&A: Safety On Ice
April 16, 2013 9:22 pm | by Lindsey Jahn, Associated Editor, Food Manufacturing | Articles | CommentsAmmonia refrigeration leaks pose both safety and economic risks to food companies, but many are unaware of these hazards. Attorney J. Tom Boer spoke with Food Manufacturing about ammonia refrigeration regulations and how manufacturers can ensure their system’s safety.
BP Faces $1B Lawsuit For Texas Refinery Gas Leak
April 16, 2013 1:21 pm | News | CommentsMore than 470 people are suing BP for $1 billion, saying they became sick due to a 15-day gas leak at its refinery in Texas City.The Galveston County Daily News reports that BP says mercaptan leaked from a storage tank in November 2011.
Cars, Utilities Lift U.S. Industrial Output
April 16, 2013 11:08 am | by Paul Wiseman, AP Economics Writer | News | CommentsU.S. industrial output rose in March as cold weather kept utilities busy generating heat and a surge in auto production helped offset broader weakness in manufacturing. Production at the nation's factories, mines and utilities rose 0.4 percent in March from February, the Federal Reserve said.
IAEA Reviewing Cleanup At Damaged Japan Nuke Plant
April 15, 2013 7:09 pm | by Mari Yamaguchi, Associated Press | News | CommentsThe U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency Monday began reviewing the decommissioning process at Japan's crippled nuclear plant, where new problems are triggering growing safety concerns about a cleanup expected to take decades. The experts will assess and analyze melted reactors, radiation levels and waste management at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant to make its decommissioning process safer and more stable.
CAT Shifts Ordering, Delivery Operations
April 15, 2013 5:09 pm | News | CommentsManufacturer Caterpillar Inc. said Monday it is reorganizing its operations so many orders will be handled by one division from the time they are placed to the time they are delivered. The new division will combine existing operations from areas including global purchasing, manufacturing logistics and transportation, and Caterpillar production system.
Yokogawa Announces ‘Wireless Anywhere’ Concept
April 15, 2013 2:47 pm | Products | CommentsYokogawa Electric Corporation has announced its “Wireless Anywhere” business concept based around the plant-wide us of ISA100.11a*1 compliant wireless communication technologies. The company says the ISA100.11a standard ensures high reliability, application flexibility and network expandability, and more.
Vermont Firms Lauded For Workplace Safety
April 15, 2013 2:37 pm | News | CommentsThe Governor's Award for Outstanding Workplace Safety — the highest such award in the state — goes annually to recipients in six categories. Bio Tek Instruments of Winooski won in the large business category, Asten Johnson of Williston won in the medium business category and Cardno ATC of Williston won in the small business category.
GM, Ford To Collaborate On New Transmissions
April 15, 2013 7:57 am | by Tom Krisher, AP Auto Writer | News | CommentsGeneral Motors and Ford are putting aside their longstanding rivalry to work together to develop a new generation of fuel-efficient automatic transmissions. The companies said Monday that their engineers will jointly design nine- and 10-speed transmissions that will go into many of their new cars and trucks.
American Crystal Sugar Workers Approve Contract
April 15, 2013 7:49 am | News | CommentsLeaders of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International union said in a news release that the workers voted 55 percent to accept company management's contract offer. It was the workers' fifth time voting on the contract.
India's Industrial Production Slows
April 12, 2013 2:12 pm | by Kay Johnson, Associated Press | News | CommentsIndia's industrial production slowed in February, highlighting challenges to a recovery in Asia's third-largest economy. The government said Friday that industrial output grew 0.6 percent over the same month the previous year after expanding 2.4 percent in January.
Woodside Shelves $47B Australian LNG Plant
April 12, 2013 2:10 pm | News | CommentsWoodside Petroleum's chief executive said he is confident that a major gas field off the northwest Australian coast will be exploited despite the energy company on Friday shelving plans for a 45 billion Australian dollar ($47 billion) plant to process the gas for export.
Metal Company Bringing Jobs To South Carolina
April 12, 2013 10:22 am | News | CommentsA metal fabrication company says it is coming to South Carolina's Anderson County and will hire nearly 150 workers. SMF Inc. plans to spend nearly $6 million putting its new plant in an existing building, opening in July. The company hopes to have 146 employees working in the plant by 2018.
FDA Cites Sanitary Issues At Specialty Pharmacies
April 12, 2013 10:19 am | News | CommentsThe Food and Drug Administration says it has uncovered troubling sterility problems at 30 specialty pharmacies that were inspected following a recent outbreak of meningitis caused by contaminated drugs. The agency said its inspectors targeted 31 compounding pharmacies that produce sterile drugs.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Plans Major Mass. Expansion
April 12, 2013 8:00 am | News | CommentsDrug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. has announced a $250 million expansion of its central Massachusetts manufacturing complex that will eventually employ an additional 350 workers. The expansion announced Thursday will add space for developing biotechnology drugs, called biologics, and for manufacturing those products for clinical trials.
