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Daily industrial news and top headlines for plant and maintenance managers
GE To Build First Freshwater Wind Farm Near Cleveland
May 25, 2010 4:30 am | by Meghan Barr, Associated Press Writer | CommentsCLEVELAND (AP) — General Electric Co. announced Monday that it plans to harness the power of winds blowing across Lake Erie by developing the world's first freshwater wind farm several miles offshore from downtown Cleveland. GE and the nonprofit Lake Erie Energy Development Corp., or LEEDCo, announced a partnership to develop five wind turbines about 6 miles north of Cleveland Browns stadium.
Supervisor Hid Child Laborers In Facility Basement
May 25, 2010 4:28 am | CommentsWATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — A former supervisor at a kosher slaughterhouse raided by federal agents testified Monday that when child labor inspectors toured the facility, he took two workers he thought were underage and hid them in the basement. Former supervisor Brian Griffith testified Monday against former plant manager Sholom Rubashkin, who is being tried on 83 counts of child labor violations.
China Promises Currency Reform, More U.S. Imports
May 24, 2010 5:00 am | by Joe McDonald, AP Business Writer | CommentsBEIJING (AP) — China promised currency reforms Monday as it opened a high-level dialogue with Washington but said it will decide the pace and pressed for an end to U.S. curbs on high-tech exports. President Hu Jintao made the pledge at the start of the two-day meeting, apparently trying to defuse a key irritant as officials began wide-ranging talks on financial market reforms, trade and reviving global growth.
Professor: Engineers Aren't What They Used To Be
May 24, 2010 4:41 am | by Amy Rolph | CommentsEVERETT, Wash. (AP) — Adam Bruckner has noticed a disturbing trend during his 38 years as a University of Washington professor of aeronautics engineering. His tests are less rigorous. His students, less prepared. Even the format of classes is changing, morphing into something that requires less manpower and smaller amounts of state money.
Oil Boom Manufacturing Experiencing Unfortunate Boom
May 24, 2010 4:40 am | by Kevin Spears | CommentsCAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Nearly a mile of newly made oil-containment boom, which provides a final and desperate line of defense against an enormous slick in the Gulf of Mexico, gets trucked out of a small factory in Cape Canaveral each day. "We're maxed out," said Sean Geary, sales manager at American Boom & Barrier Corp.
Marble Manufacturer Fires Up Furnace For The Last Time
May 24, 2010 4:37 am | by Michael Sangiacomo | CommentsMARIETTA, Ohio (AP) — David McCullough will say a little prayer early Monday, fire up a massive gas furnace for perhaps the last time and do what he does best — produce pretty marbles. McCullough may have to work his magic on the furnace, which has sat idle for months in Jabo Inc.'s tiny factory near Marietta.
300 Motts Workers Strike Over Wage, 401(k) Cuts
May 24, 2010 4:30 am | CommentsWILLIAMSON, N.Y. (AP) — About 300 workers at a Mott's apple juice plant in western New York have gone on strike over proposed wage and benefit reductions. The unionized hourly employees at the Mott's plant in Williamson, 20 miles east of Rochester, walked off the job Sunday after contract negotiations on Friday failed to reach an agreement.
Will The Volt Recharge Detroit Automaking?
May 24, 2010 4:27 am | by Sharon Cohen, AP National Writer | CommentsWARREN, Mich. (AP) — He stands all day, bent over noisy machines, cutting giant sheets of steel and feeding them into monster-sized presses so powerful the concrete floor rumbles beneath his size-16 feet. This is how Steve Prucnell builds cars. In 22 years, the parts haven't changed much.
Ford Investing $135 Million In Two Detroit Plants
May 24, 2010 4:26 am | by Tom Krisher, AP Auto Writer | CommentsDETROIT (AP) — Two Ford Motor Co. factories near Detroit will see 170 additional jobs in the next two years as the automaker brings battery pack and gas-electric hybrid transmission assembly to the United States. The company said Monday it will create a "center of excellence" for electric vehicle development in the Detroit area, and it intends to add more than 50 engineers to work on the next generation of electric vehicles.
Govt. Aims To Up Fuel Economy Ante Past 2016
May 21, 2010 4:36 am | by Erica Werner, Associated Press Writer | CommentsWASHINGTON (AP) — Looking to a day when cars and trucks use far less gasoline or none at all, President Barack Obama plans to order the government to prepare fuel efficiency standards for many years from now and renew its focus on electric-powered vehicles. Obama is also asking federal agencies to extend a national fuel-efficiency program to big rig and work trucks for the first time, beginning in 2014.
Obama Pushes For More Nuclear Power
May 21, 2010 4:28 am | by Erica Werner, Associated Press Writer | CommentsWASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is poised to ask Congress to agree to $9 billion more in loan guarantees for the nuclear energy industry, a Democratic aide said Thursday, in a renewed push for nuclear power as the growing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico highlights the risks of fossil fuel production.
PepsiCo To Invest $2.5 Billion In Chinese Manufacturing
May 21, 2010 4:15 am | CommentsNEW YORK (AP) — PepsiCo Inc. said Friday that it plans to invest an additional $2.5 billion in China in the next three years on new plants and research facilities as the food and beverage maker builds up its presence in the growing market. The company made the announcement in a news release Friday from Shanghai, site of the Shanghai Expo, where PepsiCo is a sponsor of the USA Pavilion.
Polaris Moves Wisconsin Jobs To Mexico
May 21, 2010 4:13 am | CommentsOSCEOLA, Wis. (AP) — Polaris Industries Inc. says it will shut down its parts plant in the western Wisconsin city of Osceola (ahss-see-OH'-luh). The Medina, Minn.-based maker of snowmobiles, ATVs and Victory motorcycles says it's moving many of the operations to a new facility in the Monterrey-Saltillo area of Mexico.
More Suicides Plague Foxconn's Manufacturing Workers
May 21, 2010 4:12 am | by William Foreman, Associated Press Writer | CommentsGUANGZHOU, China (AP) — A worker at Foxconn Technology Group, which makes iPhones and iPads, jumped to his death Friday from a building in the southern Chinese boomtown of Shenzhen — the ninth suicide this year at the world's largest contract maker of electronics, state-run media reported.
Tesla And Toyota Announce NUMMI Joint-Venture
May 21, 2010 4:09 am | by Daisy Nguyen, Associated Press Writer | CommentsLOS ANGELES (AP) — The heads of Tesla Motors Inc. and Toyota Motors Corp. surprised the auto world Thursday by announcing a partnership to develop and build electric cars at a recently shuttered auto plant in the San Francisco Bay area. Akio Toyoda, CEO of the world's largest automaker, said Toyota will invest $50 million in Tesla when the company begins selling stock to the public, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk said his company will purchase the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc.
