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Daily industrial news and top headlines for plant and maintenance managers
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.
Alcoa To Cut 500 Canadian Jobs
May 17, 2013 11:19 am | by The Associated Press | CommentsAluminum smelter and parts-maker Alcoa said on Thursday that it will close down two production lines at a plant in Canada and cut about 500 jobs there because of lower aluminum prices. A major portion of a planned upgrade for the facility in Quebec is being pushed back by three years, to 2019, the company said.
Labor Group: Apple Making Progress At Foxconn
May 17, 2013 11:18 am | by The Associated Press | CommentsA labor group Apple Inc. joined to assess working conditions at three manufacturing plants in China, where its products are made, says conditions are improving. But employees are still working more hours than the country's legal limit. The Fair Labor Association said Thursday that Apple's largest supplier, Foxconn, has made all recommended improvements to working conditions that were due by the end of December.
4-Month Strike At Peugeot Plant Ends
May 17, 2013 11:18 am | by The Associated Press | CommentsA four-month strike at a car factory north of Paris has come to an end, although the workers say they will still fight a plan to close the plant. PSA Peugeot Citroen said Friday that it had signed an agreement with the CGT union to end the strike, which started in January. The CGT called the strike "suspended."
Authorities: Crime Not Ruled Out In TX Blast
May 17, 2013 11:18 am | by Nomaan Merchant, Associated Press | CommentsInvestigators working in the remnants of an exploded Texas fertilizer plant sifted by hand through untold kernels of corn, moved tons of debris and conducted more than 400 interviews, while searching for the missing piece to solve what many officials compared to an extraordinary puzzle. One month after a fire triggered a massive blast killing 15 people, officials on Thursday had to declare the cause of the blaze as "undetermined."
Only 2 Of 13 Small SUVs Do Well In Crash Tests
May 16, 2013 2:28 pm | by Tom Krisher, AP Auto Writer | CommentsOnly two of 13 small SUVs performed well in front-end crash tests done by an insurance industry group, with several popular models faring poorly in the evaluations. Fast-selling models such as the Ford Escape, Honda CR-V and Jeep Wrangler received only "marginal" or "poor" ratings from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
