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Daily industrial news and top headlines for plant and maintenance managers
Raising The Bar
May 10, 2013 2:23 pm | by Krystal Gabert, Editor, Food Manufacturing | CommentsHearthside Food Solutions is a young company with deep roots. Co-founded in 2009 by a group of investors led by Hearthside Chairman and CEO Rich Scalise, the company strives to be the largest and best contract manufacturer of snacks in the country.
Don’t Get Wrapped Too Tight
May 10, 2013 8:05 am | by Greg Cober, Altra Industrial Motion Product Training Manager | CommentsA properly installed wrap spring clutch/brake will provide millions of cycles for applications where repetitive motion is needed. Care to insure proper mounting will achieve the best possible life and performance in repeating applications.
Why Manufacturers Need To Bulletproof Their Virtualized IT Environments
May 10, 2013 8:00 am | by Frank Hill, Stratus Technologies | CommentsToday, many popular manufacturing applications are certified for virtualization and with good reason. The benefits of virtualization, including cost control, higher productivity, and better long-term planning, are indisputable. Yet, some manufacturing engineers and plant IT departments are missing out on these benefits because they think virtualization involves too much risk — a point of view that is not entirely without merit.
Is The United States Ready To Take Manufacturing Back?
May 8, 2013 8:05 am | by Patrick Van den Bossche, Pramod Gupta, Hector Gutierrez, Chui Lee — A.T. Kearney | CommentsWord on the street is that substantial portions of previously offshored manufacturing operations are due to return to the United States. A number of macroeconomic factors seem to have tipped the balance in favor of domestic manufacturing.
ISM: Manufacturing Slowing, But Still Expanding
May 8, 2013 8:00 am | by Jon Minnick, Associate Editor, Manufacturing Business Technology | CommentsEconomic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in April for the fifth consecutive month, say the nation’s supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM Report On Business. The PMI number indicated expansion in manufacturing for the fifth consecutive month, but at the lowest rate of the year. Although U.S. manufacturing continued to slow in April, underlying metrics show there is more good news than there is cause for concern.
Q&A: Barriers To American Re-shoring
May 7, 2013 8:05 am | by Joel Hans, Managing Editor, Manufacturing.net | CommentsOver the last few years, there has been an increasing amount of buzz around the concept of “re-shoring,” in which an American company decides it’s more financially viable to bring manufacturing operations back to the U.S. from a foreign land. Generally speaking, company leaders are finding that the “total cost” of producing overseas actually makes outsourcing the worse financial picture.
PwC: Industrial Manufacturing M&A Rises
May 7, 2013 8:00 am | by PwC US | CommentsFinancial investors in the industrial manufacturing sector stepped off the sidelines in the first quarter of 2013, recording a substantial increase in merger and acquisition activity. While strategic investors continued to drive deal activity during the first quarter, financial investments were well ahead of the pace for the same period in 2012.
Preventing Discharge Damage: Conductive Rolling Bearing Greases
May 6, 2013 8:05 am | by Heiko Stache, Manager Business Unit – Bearing Technology & Sabine Petri, Product Manager, Klüber Lubrication | CommentsDamage caused by electric discharge is a well-known issue, and today it is more prevalent than ever. It primarily affects rolling bearings in machines susceptible to static charging. In many cases, conductive grease made especially for these applications can provide an inexpensive and efficient solution to this problem, while at the same time ensuring optimum rolling bearing lubrication.
An Opportunity For Intelligent Device Manufacturers
May 6, 2013 8:00 am | by Steve Schmidt, Vice President of Corporate Development & Strategy, Flexera Software | CommentsOpportunity beckons intelligent device manufacturers. They must evolve their products from fixed function and disconnected systems to flexible and seamlessly connected devices. Making products smarter will provide a wide array of benefits.
Kellogg's Goes Green, Stays Cool
May 3, 2013 8:05 am | by Coolerado | CommentsWith manufacturing plants across the globe, Kellogg’s has made its mark on the breakfast cereal industry. But, the company believes that mark doesn’t have to leave an over-sized carbon footprint. Kellogg’s is making great strides toward sustainability, which include choosing Coolerado’s energy-efficient air conditioners to cool its plant in Mexicali, Mexico.
Challenging Lighting Environments
May 3, 2013 8:00 am | by Rob Bresnahan, Larson Electronics LLC | CommentsNot all operating environments are the same and the differences in a location's environmental characteristics can have a significant impact on how lighting equipment performs. Differences in humidity, wetness, and temperature ranges, the presence of corrosives, and the presence of flammable or explosive gases and vapors can pose a serious challenge for electrical lighting.
The Hidden Cost Of Summer Heat
May 1, 2013 8:05 am | by Megan Browning, Big Ass Fans® | CommentsIndustrial facilities aren’t typically built with the comfort of workers as a top priority. High ceilings, large open spaces, and sizeable mechanical obstructions can make cooling manufacturing and warehousing spaces difficult. Uncomfortable working conditions lead to heat-related illnesses and decreased productivity, which negatively affect the bottom line of the business.
Plant Maintenance Shutdown
May 1, 2013 8:00 am | by Grady Winston, Blogger & Entrepeneur | CommentsThink of a scheduled maintenance and plant shutdown project as spring cleaning on a huge scale. Also commonly known as a plant overhaul, the temporary shutdown of a production plant or factory is an enormous undertaking and one that requires careful and systematic planning prior to performing the task.
Scan Before You Replace
April 30, 2013 8:05 am | by Brian Lambert, The Garland Company, Inc. | CommentsThankfully, rather than simply doing a quick visual assessment of the roof and deciding it needs to be replaced, today’s roofing professionals can rely on several different non-destructive moisture tests to help make solid recommendations based on unbiased scientific information. The decision of when to repair, restore or replace a large commercial roof often involves a million dollars or more.
Climate Curtain Protects U.S. Glass Block Manufacturer
April 29, 2013 9:00 am | by Marcus Mohwinkel, Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Goff’s Enterprises, Inc. | CommentsPittsburgh Corning is a world leader in innovative glass block products for commercial, institutional, government and residential building applications. The company is the only U.S.-based manufacturer of glass block. The company needed to create a climate-controlled, low-dust environment. Further, the warehouse measured 100 feet wide by 400 feet long—but assembly operations required only a portion of the total area.
