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Daily industrial news and top headlines for plant and maintenance managers
Mind The Gap
May 14, 2013 8:05 am | by Neil Mehltretter, System Design and Engineering Manager, Kaeser Compressors, Inc. | Blogs | CommentsVariable speed control compressors can be an important component of an optimized system provided that it is properly applied. Variable speed is not, however, a simple panacea for instant compressed air system efficiency. The dynamics of the control must be understood and the machines properly sized.
PwC: Strategies To Enhance Business Opportunities In India
May 14, 2013 8:00 am | by PwC | Articles | CommentsAccording to PwC, India has potential to be the fastest-growing large economy in the world over the next four decades, but businesses find its economic and cultural diversity, complicated policy-making processes and uneven development difficult to navigate.
Natural Gas Export Plans Stir Debate
May 13, 2013 2:28 pm | by Matthew Daly, Associated Press | News | CommentsA domestic natural gas boom already has lowered U.S. energy prices while stoking fears of environmental disaster. Now U.S. producers are poised to ship vast quantities of gas overseas as energy companies seek permits for proposed export projects that could set off a renewed frenzy of fracking.
Bobcat Breaks Ground On $20M ND Facility
May 13, 2013 2:27 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsBobcat Co. is investing $35 million in an expansion and renovations in Bismarck, about 3 ½ years after closing its manufacturing plant and laying off nearly 500 workers. The compact construction equipment maker broke ground Monday on a $20 million research-and-development facility at its existing site at the Northern Plains Commerce Centre.
Regulators Probe Ford Truck Steering Issue
May 13, 2013 2:25 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsU.S. safety regulators are investigating complaints that problems with steering-gear boxes are causing a loss of control in some Ford trucks. The probe by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration covers an estimated 340,000 F250 and F350 Super Duty Trucks from the 2008 model year.
Drug Manufacturer Agrees To $500M Penalty
May 13, 2013 2:23 pm | by Eric Tucker, Associated Press | News | CommentsA subsidiary of an Indian pharmaceutical company has agreed to pay $500 million in ines and civil penalties for selling adulterated drugs and lying about tests to federal regulators, the Justice Department said Monday. The guilty plea by Ranbaxy USA Inc. represents the largest financial penalty by a generic drug company for violations of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, which prohibits the sale of impure drugs, prosecutors said.
Leaving Bangladesh? Not An Easy Choice For Brands
May 13, 2013 2:18 pm | by Anne D'Innocenzio, Jonathan Fahey, AP Business Writers | News | CommentsBangladesh offers the global garment industry something unique: Millions of workers who quickly churn out huge amounts of well-made underwear, jeans and T-shirts for the lowest wages in the world. But since a building collapse April 24 killed at least 1,100 garment workers in Bangladesh in one of the deadliest industrial tragedies in history, the country has gone from one of the industry's greatest assets to one of its biggest liabilities.
March U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders Up
May 13, 2013 1:34 pm | News | CommentsMarch U.S. manufacturing technology orders totaled $507.91 million according to AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology. This total, as reported by companies participating in the USMTO program, was up 30.4 percent from February and up 3.2 percent when compared with the total of $491.96 million reported for March 2012. With a year-to-date total of $1,278.05 million, 2013 is down 5.0 percent compared with 2012.
Building Apple's iPhone Doesn't Pay Like It Used To
May 13, 2013 11:52 am | by ReutersTV | Videos | CommentsApple's legendary profit margins may be challenged if the firm releases its long-rumored low-end iPhone later this year. But the ones really feeling the pinch will be its suppliers. Apple does none of its own production and relies on Asia's contract makers - the biggest of the bunch being Foxconn. Foxconn draws an estimated 60 to 70 percent of its business from work commissioned by Apple.
AP: Cars Made In Brazil Are Deadly
May 13, 2013 10:08 am | by Bradley Brooks, Associated Press | News | CommentsThe culprits are the cars themselves, produced with weaker welds, scant safety features and inferior materials compared to similar models manufactured for U.S. and European consumers, say experts and engineers inside the industry. Four of Brazil's five bestselling cars failed their independent crash tests.
Chrysler Recalls Almost 470,000 Jeep SUVs
May 13, 2013 10:06 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsChrysler is recalling 469,000 Jeep SUVs worldwide because they can shift into neutral without warning on startup. The recall affects 2005 to 2010 Grand Cherokees and 2006 to 2010 Commanders. U.S. safety regulators say cracks in a circuit board can cause a faulty signal as the SUVs are being started. If the vehicles shift into neutral they can roll away.
Next Step: Signatures For AR Steel Plant
May 13, 2013 10:04 am | by Chuck Bartels, AP Business Writer | News | CommentsArkansas' chief economic development official expects construction on the proposed $1.1 billion Big River Steel plant near Osceola to begin by the fall — though a portion of its financing and final permissions from state regulators are still pending.
Bangladesh To Raise Pay For Garment Workers
May 13, 2013 10:03 am | by Farid Hossain, Associated Press | News | CommentsBangladesh's government plans to raise the minimum wage for garment workers after the deaths of more than 1,100 people in the collapse of a factory building focused attention on the textile industry's dismal pay and hazardous working conditions.
Government Sells 58.4M Shares Of GM Stock
May 13, 2013 10:01 am | by Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer | News | CommentsThe government has sold another piece of its stake in General Motors Co. The Treasury Department said Friday in its April report to Congress that so far this year it has sold 58.4 million shares of GM stock and earned net proceeds of $1.6 billion.
Foreign Automakers Join Tokyo Motor Show
May 13, 2013 10:00 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsA total of 18 foreign automakers will participate in the Tokyo Motor Show starting in November, but the "Big Three" U.S. automakers will skip the event, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association said. While General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Group LLC will be absent from the 43rd annual event for the third consecutive year, 17 European automakers, such as Volkswagen AG and BMW AG of Germany, will participate in the event.


