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Daily industrial news and top headlines for plant and maintenance managers
Kia Announces New CEO In Mood Lighting Shuffle
September 8, 2010 4:42 am | by Kelly Olsen, AP Business Writer | CommentsSEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Kia Motors promoted the chief of its overseas operations to the company's top executive job after his predecessor resigned following a global recall of more than 100,000 vehicles due to defective wiring. The new boss, Lee Hyoung-keun, will retain his current responsibilities while also overseeing domestic business, global corporate planning and production and labor-management relations, Kia spokesman Michael Choo said Wednesday.
Peanut Exec Back In Business After Two-Year Investigation
September 8, 2010 4:40 am | by Mary Clare Jalonick, Associated Press Writer | CommentsWASHINGTON (AP) — The peanut industry executive whose filthy processing plants were blamed in a salmonella outbreak two years ago that killed nine people and sickened hundreds more is back in the business. Stewart Parnell, former president of the now-bankrupt Peanut Corp. of America, is working as a consultant to peanut companies as the federal government's criminal investigation against him has languished for more than 18 months, The Associated Press has learned.
Obama To Unleash Trio Of Tax Cuts, R&D Credits
September 8, 2010 4:35 am | by Julie Pace, Associated Press Writer | CommentsWASHINGTON (AP) — Seeking to give anxious Democrats a boost ahead of the November elections, President Barack Obama is pitching a trio of economic initiatives Wednesday and voicing unwavering opposition to Bush-era tax breaks for the wealthy. With the tax breaks for the top two percent of income earners set to expire at the end of the year, the White House sees the issue as an opportunity to draw a stark contrast with Republicans.
BP Partially Blames Self For Oil Spill
September 8, 2010 4:32 am | by Dina Cappiello, Harry R. Weber, and Michael Kunzelman, Associated Press Writers | CommentsNEW ORLEANS (AP) — Oil giant BP PLC laid much of the blame for the rig explosion and the massive Gulf of Mexico spill on itself, other companies' workers and a complex series of failures in an internal report released Wednesday before a key piece of evidence has been fully analyzed. In its 193-page report posted on its website, the British company described the incident as an accident that arose from a complex and interlinked series of mechanical failures, human judgments, engineering design, operational implementation and team interfaces.
China Blackouts Factories, Villages To Meet Energy Targets
September 8, 2010 4:31 am | by Joe McDonald, AP Business Writer | CommentsBEIJING (AP) — Chinese steel mills and mobile phone factories are being idled and thousands of homes in one area are doing without electricity as local governments order power cuts to meet energy-saving targets set by Beijing. Rolling blackouts and enforced power cuts are affecting key industrial areas.
Explosion At Ohio Auto Parts Plant Injures Nine
September 7, 2010 5:01 am | CommentsNORTHWOOD, Ohio (AP) — An explosion at an auto parts plant in northern Ohio has injured nine people. Authorities just outside Toledo say all the injuries appear to be minor. The explosion happened Tuesday morning at Faurecia (fahr-SEE'-uh) Interior Systems in Northwood. The company makes doors for a nearby Chrysler plant.
Taiwanese Firm Raided After Shipping Machines To North Korea
September 7, 2010 4:57 am | by Debby Wu, Associated Press Writer | CommentsTaiwanese investigators raided a local company after it shipped banned machinery to North Korea via a Chinese firm with ties to Pyongyang's military, a Taiwanese official said Tuesday. The owner of the Taiwanese company, Ho Li Enterprises, said that two computer-controlled machine tools used in the manufacture of engines were shipped to North Korea earlier this year, but said he was unaware he had broken the law.
Kia CEO Resigns After 100,000-Vehicle Recall
September 7, 2010 4:40 am | by Kelly Olsen, AP Business Writer | CommentsSEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The top executive at Kia Motors has resigned after the company recalled more than 100,000 vehicles worldwide over defective wiring, the automaker said Tuesday. Chung Sung-eun, vice chairman and CEO of South Korea's No. 2 automaker, stepped down on Friday, according to company spokesman Michael Choo.
Honeywell's 2,100-Worker Nuke Plant Breaks Ground
September 7, 2010 4:39 am | CommentsKANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled this week at the site of a privately developed plant in south Kansas City where non-nuclear parts for nuclear weapons will be built. The facility being built for Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies will employ 2,100 people and replace the current Honeywell plant at the Bannister Federal Complex, also in south Kansas City.
When Manufactuing Jobs Return, They Will Be High-Skill
September 7, 2010 4:37 am | CommentsNEW YORK (AP) — American workers faced a sobering reality as they celebrated the U.S. holiday of Labor Day at a time of high unemployment, scant hiring and a widespread loss of job security: economists foresee fewer moderately paid factory supervisors, postal workers and office administrators.
Obama Proposes $200 Billion In Business Tax Breaks
September 7, 2010 4:31 am | by Julie Pace, Associated Press Writer | CommentsWASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama will call on Congress to pass new tax breaks that would allow businesses to write off 100 percent of their new capital investments through 2011, the latest in a series of proposals the White House is rolling out in hopes of jump-starting economic growth ahead of the November elections.
Federal Agents Visit Epicenter Of Salmonella Outbreak, Again
September 1, 2010 4:54 am | by Mary Clare Jalonick, Associated Press Writer | CommentsWASHINGTON (AP) — Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms, the two Iowa farms at the center of a salmonella outbreak and massive egg recall, have been visited by federal agents again. Spokeswomen for the farms said the agents who arrived Tuesday worked for the Food and Drug Administration.
Ad Agency Drops Harley-Davidson Due To Slow Sales
September 1, 2010 4:52 am | by Emily Fredrix, AP Marketing Writer | CommentsNEW YORK (AP) — Harley-Davidson Inc.'s main ad agency for more than three decades has dropped the struggling motorcycle maker in favor of new business. Ad agency Carmichael Lynch, a unit of Interpublic Group, said many factors went into the decision, including the fact that the Milwaukee-based motorcycle maker has slashed its marketing spending in recent years amid slumping sales.
Heinz 1Q Income Rises 13 Percent
September 1, 2010 4:39 am | CommentsPITTSBURGH (AP) — H.J. Heinz Co.'s fiscal first-quarter net income jumped 13 percent, largely on stronger sales in Asia. The foodmaker best known for its signature ketchup said Wednesday that it earned $240.4 million, or 75 cents per share, for the quarter that ended in late July. That's up from $212.
Chinese Manufacturing Rebounds In August
September 1, 2010 4:37 am | by Elaine Kurtenbach, AP Business Writer | CommentsSHANGHAI (AP) — Chinese manufacturing growth improved and auto sales rebounded in August, suggesting the world's second-biggest economy may not be slowing as quickly as feared. Two surveys released Wednesday showed production, new orders and purchasing prices all rose in August, with the HSBC purchasing managers index — a seasonally adjusted index designed to measure the performance of the manufacturing economy — rising to its highest level in three months, at 51.
