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Daily industrial news and top headlines for plant and maintenance managers
France Approves Major Labor Reform Package
May 14, 2013 2:26 pm | by Sarah DiLorenzo, AP Business Writer | News | CommentsFrance's parliament has passed a package of significant labor reforms Tuesday that the government hopes will help halt rising unemployment and jumpstart the country's stagnant economy. The bill is one of President Francois Hollande's signature pieces of legislation designed to overhaul the country's notoriously hidebound labor market.
Airbus Parent's Q1 Profits To Nearly Double
May 14, 2013 2:21 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsEuropean aerospace company EADS says strong deliveries by airplane maker Airbus helped drive higher earnings in the first quarter. The Airbus parent company reaffirmed its forecast of lifting commercial aircraft deliveries this year to between 600 and 610, as demand from Middle Eastern and Asian carriers to expand their fleets continues to drive sales for one of Europe's largest exporters.
Nissan Chief Welcomes Yen Fall For Luxury Brand
May 14, 2013 10:17 am | by Yuri Kageyama, AP Business Writer | News | CommentsNissan Motor Co. President Carlos Ghosn welcomed the yen's recent decline to what he called "neutral" levels for the Japanese automaker's profitability, but said Tuesday it must drop further to be "normal." "The abnormal situation of the yen is hopefully something of the past," he told reporters at the roll-off ceremony for a new Infiniti luxury model, the Q50.
PwC: Strategies To Enhance Business Opportunities In India
May 14, 2013 8:00 am | by PwC | Articles | CommentsAccording to PwC, India has potential to be the fastest-growing large economy in the world over the next four decades, but businesses find its economic and cultural diversity, complicated policy-making processes and uneven development difficult to navigate.
Natural Gas Export Plans Stir Debate
May 13, 2013 2:28 pm | by Matthew Daly, Associated Press | News | CommentsA domestic natural gas boom already has lowered U.S. energy prices while stoking fears of environmental disaster. Now U.S. producers are poised to ship vast quantities of gas overseas as energy companies seek permits for proposed export projects that could set off a renewed frenzy of fracking.
Leaving Bangladesh? Not An Easy Choice For Brands
May 13, 2013 2:18 pm | by Anne D'Innocenzio, Jonathan Fahey, AP Business Writers | News | 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.
Building Apple's iPhone Doesn't Pay Like It Used To
May 13, 2013 11:52 am | by ReutersTV | Videos | CommentsApple's legendary profit margins may be challenged if the firm releases its long-rumored low-end iPhone later this year. But the ones really feeling the pinch will be its suppliers. Apple does none of its own production and relies on Asia's contract makers - the biggest of the bunch being Foxconn. Foxconn draws an estimated 60 to 70 percent of its business from work commissioned by Apple.
AP: Cars Made In Brazil Are Deadly
May 13, 2013 10:08 am | by Bradley Brooks, Associated Press | News | 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.
Bangladesh To Raise Pay For Garment Workers
May 13, 2013 10:03 am | by Farid Hossain, Associated Press | News | 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.
Foreign Automakers Join Tokyo Motor Show
May 13, 2013 10:00 am | by The Associated Press | News | 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.
Deal: Dubai Company Plans To Build GA Plant
May 10, 2013 1:57 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsGov. Nathan Deal says a company based in Dubai plans to build a manufacturing plant in Murray County with the goal of creating 200 jobs over the next three years. Deal said Wednesday the expansion planned by Mattex "speaks to the continued revitalization of the floor covering industry in northwest Georgia."
Nissan Profit Up 46 Percent On Strong Sales
May 10, 2013 1:55 pm | by Yuri Kageyama, AP Business Writer | News | CommentsNissan's fiscal fourth quarter profit jumped 46 percent on stronger sales and a favorable exchange rate that offset declines in China over a bitter territorial dispute. Nissan Motor Co. reported Friday a January-March profit of 110 billion yen ($1.1 billion), up from 75.3 billion yen the same period the previous year. Quarterly sales gained 6 percent to 2.87 trillion yen ($28.7 billion).
Japanese Auto Parts Maker To Add 200 NC Jobs
May 9, 2013 2:11 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsA Japanese auto parts manufacturer plans to add more assembly lines and hire another 200 workers at an existing North Carolina factory by the end of 2016. Gov. Pat McCrory's office said Wednesday that ASMO North America's Greenville plant already employs more than 530 people who produce parts for front wipers and for radiator fan motors.
Why Is U.S. Manufacturing Left Out Of The Recovery?
May 9, 2013 12:49 pm | by Bloomberg TV | Videos | CommentsScott Paul, executive director at Alliance For American Manufacturing and Bloomberg political analyst Matt Dowd discuss the current state of manufacturing in the United States. They speak on Bloomberg Television's "Bloomberg Surveillance."
Cyberattacks A Growing Irritant In U.S.-China Ties
May 8, 2013 2:27 pm | by Christopher Bodeen, Associated Press | News | CommentsA bill introduced in the Senate on Tuesday would require the president to block imports of products using stolen U.S. technology or made by companies implicated in computer theft. Washington's sudden focus on Chinese hacking comes after rising complaints from U.S. businesses about theft of trade secrets.
China Reports Stronger April Trade Growth
May 8, 2013 2:25 pm | by Joe McDonald, AP Business Writer | News | CommentsChina reported stronger April trade but analysts said export data were inflated and its shaky recovery might be weaker than it looks. Exports rose 14.7 percent over a year earlier, up from March's 10 percent growth, customs data showed Wednesday. Imports gained 16.8 percent, up from the previous month's 14.1 percent.
GM To Open Cadillac Plant In China
May 8, 2013 10:08 am | by Dee-Ann Durbin, AP Auto Writer | News | CommentsGeneral Motors Co. confirms that it's building a new Cadillac factory in China. GM will start building the $1.3 billion plant next month in Shanghai's Jinqiao zone. It will produce 150,000 vehicles per year. The auto maker recently received regulatory approval for the new plant.
Subaru Invests $400M In Indiana Plant
May 8, 2013 10:05 am | by Yuri Kageyama, AP Business Writer | News | CommentsSubaru said Wednesday it is investing $400 million to expand its Indiana factory and will add 900 workers to build the Impreza small car there in 2016. The plant now employs about 3,600 people and builds the Legacy and Outback cars and the Tribeca SUV. It also builds the Camry midsize car under contract with Toyota Motor Corp., the top shareholder in Subaru with a 16.5 percent stake.
Is The United States Ready To Take Manufacturing Back?
May 8, 2013 8:05 am | by Patrick Van den Bossche, Pramod Gupta, Hector Gutierrez, Chui Lee — A.T. Kearney | Articles | CommentsWord on the street is that substantial portions of previously offshored manufacturing operations are due to return to the United States. A number of macroeconomic factors seem to have tipped the balance in favor of domestic manufacturing.
China's Struggling Automakers Jump On SUV Boom
May 7, 2013 10:09 am | by Joe McDonald, AP Business Writer | News | 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.
Q&A: Barriers To American Re-shoring
May 7, 2013 8:05 am | by Joel Hans, Managing Editor, Manufacturing.net | Articles | CommentsOver the last few years, there has been an increasing amount of buzz around the concept of “re-shoring,” in which an American company decides it’s more financially viable to bring manufacturing operations back to the U.S. from a foreign land. Generally speaking, company leaders are finding that the “total cost” of producing overseas actually makes outsourcing the worse financial picture.
HK Dockworkers Accept Offer, End 40-Day Strike
May 6, 2013 2:19 pm | by Kelvin Chan, AP Business Writer | News | 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.
Pressure On Bangladesh, Retailers To Fix Factories
May 6, 2013 2:14 pm | by Farid Hossain, Stephen Wright, Associated Press | News | 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.
China City Quashes Protest Against Petro Plant
May 6, 2013 10:28 am | by Didi Tang, Associated Press | News | 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.
Survey: China Manufacturing Growth Is Slowing
May 3, 2013 5:08 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsChinese manufacturing growth slowed in April as global demand weakened, adding to signs its shaky recovery might be weakening, a survey showed Thursday. HSBC Corp.'s purchasing managers index fell to 50.4 from March's 51.6 on a 100-point scale on which numbers above 50 show an expansion in activity.
