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Daily industrial news and top headlines for plant and maintenance managers
From Poultry Fat To Jet Fuel
December 14, 2009 3:40 am | by Amy Lorentzen | News | CommentsDES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A central Iowa plant could soon begin producing jet fuel from poultry fat. Bolingbrook, Ill.-based Elevance Renewable Sciences plans to build a $15 million plant in Newton, adding onto an existing biodiesel operation. The experimental operation plans to use plant oils and poultry fat as building blocks to replace petroleum-based chemicals used to make myriad products, including jet fuel, lubricants, adhesives and even cosmetics and candles.
GE-FANUC Finalize Dissolution Of Joint Venture
December 14, 2009 3:36 am | News | CommentsCHARLOTTESVILLE, VA — GE (NYSE: GE) and FANUC LTD announced today that the two companies have completed their agreement to dissolve the GE Fanuc Automation Corporation Joint Venture. This agreement reverts the respective portions of the joint venture back to the parent company and allows each company to focus on its existing businesses and pursue growth in its respective core industry of expertise.
CAT Begins Chinese Joint Venture
December 14, 2009 3:35 am | News | CommentsPEORIA, Ill. (AP) — Caterpillar Inc., the world's largest maker of construction and mining equipment, said Monday that it signed a joint venture deal with a Chinese company to create a remanufacturing business. Caterpillar (China) Investment Co. Ltd. and China Yuchai International Ltd.'s Guangxi Yuchai Machinery Co.
Life After Bobcat's Dec. 23rd Shutdown
December 14, 2009 3:30 am | by Christopher Bjorke | News | CommentsBISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Twenty years on a job allows for some time to think. But for Scott Langemo, the past few weeks have been a time to reflect on his years as a tool and die machinist for Bobcat Co. and what comes next. "There's been a lot of reflecting on what I want to do with my life," he said.
Award-Winning High-Speed Doors
December 11, 2009 9:55 am | Product Releases | CommentsHörmann Flexon LLC ’s (Pheonix, AZ) line of high-speed doors have been voted No. 1 in the industry by the Professional Door Dealer magazine’s Best of Business dealer’s choice poll. The poll honored a number of Hörmann Flexon products, including the Speed-Commander 1400 SE and Quick Connect HFC1 plug-and-play control box.
Keep Your Trailers Upright
December 11, 2009 9:54 am | Product Releases | CommentsTMI ’s (Pittsburgh, PA) new EZ-Riser trailer stand is used to prevent trailers from up-ending when they are not connected to tractor trailers during loading and unloading. The EZ-Riser is a heavy-duty, ergonomically-designed stand that features a gas-activated leveling system and an automatic height adjustment.
Flammable Liquid Cleanup
December 11, 2009 9:54 am | Product Releases | CommentsThe Model 55 Air Operated Vacuum from VAC-U-MAX (Belleville, NJ) was designed for the cleanup of flammable liquids with an integral flame arrestor. The Model 55 helps facilitate the safe cleaning of gasoline, diesel, JP-4 and JP-5 jet fuels, plus non-combustible liquids. Additional features include: A completely air-driven operation to eliminate spark hazards.
Versatile Motion Controllers
December 11, 2009 9:53 am | Product Releases | CommentsTMC-3D, the multi-axis motion controller from Technosoft (Bevaix, Switzerland) has now been adapted to execute G-code commands, which execute various movements such as piece cutting, profile shaping, or drawing. The G-code information is translated into TML commonds through the C-code to TML converter integrated in the EasyMotion Studio software.
Flying Into The Wind-Powered Future
December 11, 2009 9:00 am | Articles | CommentsThe U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is expecting to achieve 20 percent wind energy or 300 GW of wind generating capacity by 2030. Unlike many traditional energy sources, the challenge to achieve this goal is not related to availability of raw materials but rather increasing the manufacturing capacity of wind energy generation equipment.
Yaskawa Expands Milwaukee-Based U.S. Operations
December 11, 2009 6:41 am | News | CommentsWaukegan, Ill. — Even during these difficult economic times, Yaskawa Electric America, Inc. has continued to increase its business in the Americas. To accommodate this growth with a continuing high level of customer service, Yaskawa recently expanded its U.S.-based operations. Earlier this year, Yaskawa moved into a new facility near Milwaukee, Wis.
Boeing 787 Through 'Final Gauntlet,' Ready For Test Flight
December 11, 2009 3:39 am | News | CommentsSEATTLE (AP) — Boeing Co. says the long-anticipated first flight of its new 787 jetliner could come as early as Tuesday. Boeing announced Thursday that its window for a first flight would open on Dec. 15 with the actual flight timing dependent on final internal reviews, taxi testing and Federal Aviation Administration documentation.
India Factory Output Continues Upward Momentum
December 11, 2009 3:31 am | by Erika Kinetz, AP Business Writer | News | CommentsMUMBAI, India (AP) — India's factory output rose 10.3 percent in October from a year earlier as stimulus measures and domestic demand pushed Asia's third-largest economy into its 10th straight month of industrial expansion. Manufacturing output grew 11.1 percent, rebounding from a 0.
Greenhouse Cutting Bill Gets Revisions To Court Republicans
December 11, 2009 3:28 am | by Dina Cappiello and H. Josef Hebert, Associated Press Writers | News | CommentsWASHINGTON (AP) — Senators trying to craft bipartisan climate legislation offered a revised proposal Thursday that would add incentives for building nuclear power plants and open the way for expanded oil and gas drilling off the nation's coastlines in hopes of attracting wider support.
Hulking Airbus A400M Takes Graceful Maiden Flight
December 11, 2009 3:21 am | by Emma Vandore, AP Business Writer | News | CommentsSEVILLE, Spain (AP) — The A400M military transport plane that has been causing Airbus and European defense ministers budgetary and logistical headaches finally took to the skies for its maiden flight on Friday. But even as the hulking gray airlifter took off from the Spanish city of Seville, defense officials are meeting on the sidelines of the event to decide how to continue with the much delayed and over budget project.
Government Food Safety System 'Appalling'
December 11, 2009 3:14 am | by Garance Burke, Associated Press Writer | News | CommentsFRESNO, Calif. (AP) — A crucial part of the nation's rapid-reponse plan — the ability to trace food through the supply chain during an illness outbreak or bioterrorism attack — is seriously flawed, an independent watchdog agency has found. Federal auditors found that nearly half the food manufacturers they surveyed that are supposed to register with the Food and Drug Administration failed to give the agency accurate contact information, according to a report to be released Friday by the U.
