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Daily industrial news and top headlines for plant and maintenance managers
China's Struggling Automakers Jump On SUV Boom
May 7, 2013 10:09 am | by Joe McDonald, AP Business Writer | CommentsBYD is known for electric cars but this year's flagship model is the S7, a gasoline-powered SUV. It comes with an air purifier, radar to help with backing and digital TV. An onboard hard drive can hold 1,000 films. This is China's Year of the SUV. Whatever their specialties used to be, automakers ranging from global brands to China's ambitious rookies are scrambling to cash in on the explosive popularity of sport utility vehicles.
BMW Recalls 3 Series For Faulty Air Bags
May 7, 2013 10:08 am | by The Associated Press | CommentsBMW is recalling 45,500 3 Series sedans in the U.S. and Canada because their passenger air bags may not inflate properly. The recall affects 3 Series from the 2002 and 2003 model years. The defective air bags have an inflator housing that can rupture during deployment and send shrapnel flying into the vehicle.
GM Stock Climbs, Then Drops After Analyst Report
May 7, 2013 10:06 am | by The Associated Press | CommentsShares of General Motors rose more than 4 percent early Monday after an analyst raised his earnings estimates and stock price target. But the shares gave up all of their gains and then some in late-afternoon trading. Last week, GM said its first-quarter profit fell 14 percent to $865 million, or 58 cents per share.
Safety Agency Watches Ford Vans For Rust Signs
May 7, 2013 10:05 am | by The Associated Press | CommentsU.S. auto safety regulators are monitoring about 100,000 Ford and Mercury minivans that were not covered by a recall issued earlier this year for rust problems. Ford recalled about 230,000 Ford Freestar and Mercury Monterey minivans in March to fix rust in the wheel wells that can cause the third-row seats to come loose.
Ethiopian Air Wants Compensation For 787 Grounding
May 7, 2013 10:04 am | by The Associated Press | CommentsThe chief executive of Ethiopian Airlines says his company will seek compensation from Boeing for the grounding of its 787 Dreamliner planes. Tewolde Gebremariam told The Associated Press on Tuesday his company will soon start discussions with Boeing over compensation.
FAA Safety Oversight Of Aircraft Repairs Faulted
May 6, 2013 2:21 pm | by Joan Lowy, Associated Press | CommentsThe government's oversight of hundreds of domestic and overseas repair stations that service U.S. airliners is ineffective and doesn't target the factors most likely to present safety risks, the Department of Transportation's inspector general said Monday.
HK Dockworkers Accept Offer, End 40-Day Strike
May 6, 2013 2:19 pm | by Kelvin Chan, AP Business Writer | CommentsHong Kong dockworkers have accepted a 9.8 percent pay increase, ending a 40-day strike that slowed traffic at one of the world's busiest ports. About 90 percent of the workers voted late Monday in favor of the offer from four middleman contractors that provide staff to a container terminal operator controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing.
GOP Seeks Alternative To Overtime Pay
May 6, 2013 2:17 pm | by Sam Hananel, Associated Press | CommentsIt seems like a simple proposition: give employees who work more than 40 hours a week the option of taking paid time off instead of overtime pay. The choice already exists in the public sector. Federal and state workers can save earned time off and use it weeks or even months later to attend a parent-teacher conference, care for an elderly parent or deal with home repairs.
Adidas: Asia Laborers Can Send Complaints Via Text
May 6, 2013 2:16 pm | by Juergen Baetz, Associated Press | CommentsGerman sports gear maker Adidas said Monday it is encouraging workers in factories of some of its Asian suppliers to anonymously share possible grievances directly with the company via text message. The new hotline service will help bridge the communication gap between management and workers, enabling employees to "simply send an SMS when they feel their rights are breached," Adidas AG said.
Pressure On Bangladesh, Retailers To Fix Factories
May 6, 2013 2:14 pm | by Farid Hossain, Stephen Wright, Associated Press | CommentsIn the aftermath of a building collapse that killed more than 530 people, Bangladesh's garment manufacturers may face a choice of reform or perish. The shoddily constructed building's collapse has put a focus on the high human price paid when Bangladeshi government ineptitude, Western consumer apathy and global retailing's drive for the lowest cost of production intersect.
TX Fertilizer Plant Targeted By Thieves In Past
May 6, 2013 2:11 pm | by Nomaan Merchant, Associated Press | CommentsBurglars occasionally sneaked into and around a Texas fertilizer plant in the years before a massive, deadly explosion — sometimes looking for a chemical fertilizer stored at the plant that can be used to make methamphetamine, according to local sheriff's records.
China City Quashes Protest Against Petro Plant
May 6, 2013 10:28 am | by Didi Tang, Associated Press | CommentsResidents say they are worried the plant would pollute the air and water, and question why the plant is being built in a region prone to earthquakes. Pengzhou is in the same fault zone as the 2008 Wenchuan quake that left 90,000 people dead or missing, and for an earthquake last month that killed at least 196 people.
LG Chem To Begin MI Production In July
May 6, 2013 10:26 am | by The Associated Press | CommentsAn advanced battery maker said it plans to launch commercial production of automotive lithium-ion battery cells in southwestern Michigan in July. LG Chem Michigan Inc., a subsidiary of South Korean company LG Chem, announced Sunday night that test runs have begun at the facility in Holland and that it anticipates shipping products by the end of the summer.
CAT To Close Toronto Factory
May 6, 2013 10:25 am | by The Canadian Press | CommentsHeavy equipment giant Caterpillar Inc. says it is closing a tunnel-boring machine factory in Toronto by mid-2014, throwing 330 workers out of a job. Caterpillar acquired the facility in 2008 when it bought Lovat Inc. and got into the tunnelling business, but now says the plant is no longer a "strategic growth opportunity" and will be shut down.
TX Plant That Blew Up Carried $1M Policy
May 6, 2013 10:22 am | by Christopher Sherman, Associated Press | CommentsThe Texas fertilizer plant that exploded last month, killing 14 people, injuring more than 200 others and causing tens of millions of dollars in damage to the surrounding area had only $1 million in liability coverage, lawyers said Saturday.
