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Daily industrial news and top headlines for plant and maintenance managers
Bobcat Breaks Ground On $20M ND Facility
May 13, 2013 2:27 pm | by The Associated Press | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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.
AP: Cars Made In Brazil Are Deadly
May 13, 2013 10:08 am | by Bradley Brooks, Associated Press | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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.
Texas Launches Criminal Probe Into Plant Explosion
May 10, 2013 2:04 pm | by Angela K. Brown, Ramit Plushnick-Masti, Associated Press | CommentsTexas law enforcement officials on Friday launched a criminal investigation into the massive fertilizer plant explosion that killed 14 people last month, after weeks of largely treating the blast as an industrial accident. The announcement came the same day a paramedic who helped to evacuate residents the night of the explosion was arrested on a charge of possessing a destructive device.
All Nippon Airways To Add Boeing 787 Routes
May 10, 2013 2:01 pm | by The Associated Press | CommentsAll Nippon Airways Co. is planning to start flying the Boeing 787 to Taipei and Shanghai in addition to three other cities abroad previously served by the U.S. manufacturer's advanced aircraft, after it resolves the battery issue and resumes services on June 1.
Williams Delays Gas Plant Addition
May 10, 2013 2:00 pm | by The Associated Press | CommentsPlans for a new addition to a gas processing plant in western Colorado are being pushed back, but officials say it has nothing to do with a leak of hydrocarbons recently discovered coming from a pipeline near the facility. A Williams spokesman told the Grand Junction Sentinel the expansion is being delayed until 2016 because of the decline in local drilling levels.
Homebuilders Can't Find Enough Qualified Workers
May 10, 2013 1:59 pm | by Alex Veiga, AP Real Estate Writer | CommentsU.S. builders and the subcontractors they depend on are struggling to hire fast enough to meet rising demand for new homes. Builders would be starting work on more homes — and contributing more to the economy — if they could fill more job openings. In the meantime, workers in the right locations with the right skills are commanding higher pay.
