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Daily industrial news and top headlines for plant and maintenance managers
Founder Of MI-Based PSI Passes Away At Age 79
May 20, 2013 11:35 am | by Phillips Service Industries, Inc. | CommentsPhillips Service Industries, Inc. (PSI), a privately-held global manufacturing and services holding company, has announced that its Founder and Chairman of the Board, William T. (Bill) Phillips, passed away after a hard-fought battle with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which is also commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease. He was 79-years-old, and a long-time resident of Northville, MI.
12 Dead In China Factory Explosion
May 20, 2013 10:06 am | by The Associated Press | CommentsA massive blast ripped through an explosives factory Monday in eastern China, killing at least 12 people and leaving others buried in the debris, state media reported. Rescuers were take care to avoid setting off additional explosions as they went through the site of the mid-morning explosion in Shandong province's Caofan township, the China News Service said.
UAW: Nissan Subsidies Top $1.3B
May 20, 2013 10:05 am | by Jeff Amy, Associated Press | CommentsNissan Motor Co.'s Mississippi plant is on track to receive more state aid and tax breaks than what state and company officials have previously revealed, according to a study paid for by the United Auto Workers, which is questioning whether the state is getting enough for its money.
GM Stock Rises Above $33 For The First Time In 2 Years
May 20, 2013 10:03 am | by Tom Krisher, AP Auto Writer | CommentsShares of General Motors reached an important milestone on Friday, closing above their initial public offering price of $33 for the first time in more than two years. GM shares reached $33.77 Friday before slipping back to close at $33.42, up 3.2 percent. The auto giant sold shares to the public for $33 in a November 2010 IPO, but they've traded below that price since May 4, 2011.
Silicon Valley-Area Hub Becomes Factory Town
May 20, 2013 10:01 am | by Martha Mendoza, AP National Writer | CommentsIn a busy factory, machinists move sheets of aluminum roll in the back door to be molded, stamped, twisted and notched into high-tech electric cars that sell for more than $60,000 each. Down the road in another plant, crews slice solar cells, place them under glass sheets and create panels that ship by the boxful to Europe.
1 Millionth Jeep Wrangler Built At Toledo Plant
May 20, 2013 10:00 am | by The Associated Press | CommentsAuto workers in Toledo celebrated a milestone this past week. The 1 millionth Jeep Wrangler rolled off the assembly line at Chrysler's assembly plant that opened in 2006. Chrysler marked the occasion Friday with a ceremony at the production line.
IN Withdraws Support For Fertilizer Plant
May 20, 2013 9:57 am | by The Associated Press | CommentsIndiana officials withdrew state backing Friday for a fertilizer plant over concerns about whether its Pakistan-based owners are doing enough at its overseas operations to keep the potentially explosive material from being used against U.S. troops.
Flying Car Prototypes Grounded After Crash
May 17, 2013 12:47 pm | by The Canadian Press | CommentsThe Transportation Safety Board says the U.S. manufacturer of flying cars has grounded all five of its prototypes until it can determine a cause for a recent crash in B.C. One of the Maverick flying cars crashed near a Vernon elementary school last week, leaving a pilot and a passenger with minor injuries.
FL Gov. Signs Manufacturing Tax Break Into Law
May 17, 2013 12:46 pm | by The Associated Press | CommentsFlorida Gov. Rick Scott on Friday signed a bill that creates a tax break for the state's manufacturers. The governor made it official during a stop at a Tampa manufacturing firm. The measure (HB 7007) exempts manufacturers from having to pay sales taxes on equipment purchases for three years.
Cadillac Recalls SUVs In China
May 17, 2013 12:44 pm | by The Associated Press | CommentsChina's product safety agency says General Motors Co.'s main Chinese joint venture is recalling Cadillac SUVs to correct a problem with nuts that hold their wheels in place. The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said Friday that Shanghai GM will recall 2,653 imported Cadillac SRXs.
CAT Purchase In China Gets Huge Price Cut
May 17, 2013 12:42 pm | by The Associated Press | CommentsCaterpillar will pay $135 million less for a Chinese mining equipment company after uncovering dodgy accounting practices that inflated its value. Caterpillar announced a non-cash $580 million charge earlier this year related to the sale after uncovering "accounting misconduct" during an internal investigation of ERA Mining Machinery Ltd. and its subsidiary Zhengzhou Siwei Mechanical & Electrical Manufacturing Co. Ltd.
Problems Surface Over AZ's 2007 Immigration Law
May 17, 2013 12:41 pm | by Jacques Billeaud, Associated Press | CommentsThe immigration debate in Arizona reached a boiling point in 2007 when the state passed a groundbreaking law targeting those often blamed with fueling the nation's border woes: Employers who hire immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.
Is It Possible to Bring Manufacturing Back to the U.S.?
May 17, 2013 12:33 pm | by David Mantey, Executive Editor, PD&D | CommentsIn the press, “reshoring” is defined as the repatriation of manufacturing operations from a low-cost country, back to the home country. In Washington, it stands as the repatriation of manufacturing operations from China, back to the U.S. But in reality, according to Young, it is the transfer of “some manufacturing production from a low-cost country back to the home country or to another country, low-cost or not.”
Kentucky Plant To Add 100 Full-Time Jobs
May 17, 2013 11:19 am | by The Associated Press | CommentsAn auto parts maker is adding a new building and 100 full-time jobs to its operation in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Kobe Aluminum Automotive Products LLC broke ground Wednesday on its second expansion since November. Gov. Steve Beshear's office said the company plans to add an 87,000-square-foot building with a capital investment of up to $66 million.
Prosecutors Want Closer Monitoring Of Ex-Mamtek CEO
May 17, 2013 11:19 am | by The Associated Press | CommentsMissouri prosecutors want a judge to let them keep closer tabs on the former head of a failed artificial sweetener plant in Moberly. Attorney General Chris Koster's office said Thursday it has filed a motion in St. Charles County Circuit Court seeking to monitor ex-Mamtek CEO Bruce Cole with a wearable GPS device.
