Plant Operations
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Daily industrial news and top headlines for plant and maintenance managers
U.S. Auto Factories Cutting Back On Summer Downtime
May 22, 2013 10:25 am | by Dee-Ann Durbin, AP Auto Writer | News | CommentsThe Detroit automakers are largely forgoing the traditional two-week summer break at their factories and speeding up production to meet buyers' growing demand for new cars and trucks. Ford Motor Co. said Wednesday that 21 of its North American factories will shut for only one week this summer. That includes the Chicago plant that makes the Ford Explorer SUV and the Mexican plant that makes the Fusion sedan.
Remington Plans $32M AR Expansion
May 21, 2013 2:14 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsRemington Arms Company LLC says it will spend $32 million to expand the company's ammunition plant in Lonoke, Ark. Remington says the expansion will include the construction of a new building. Work is expected to begin later this year and finish up by next spring.
GE Healthcare To Invest $17M In New SC Plant
May 20, 2013 2:29 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsGE Healthcare is investing $17 million in a Florence plant that will turn helium gas into supercool liquid needed for medical imaging. The company announced Monday it's building a 5,000-square-foot facility next to its existing magnetic resonance plant. GE expects 10 of the 50 jobs created to be permanent.
12 Dead In China Factory Explosion
May 20, 2013 10:06 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsA massive blast ripped through an explosives factory Monday in eastern China, killing at least 12 people and leaving others buried in the debris, state media reported. Rescuers were take care to avoid setting off additional explosions as they went through the site of the mid-morning explosion in Shandong province's Caofan township, the China News Service said.
Labor Group: Apple Making Progress At Foxconn
May 17, 2013 11:18 am | by The Associated Press | News | 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.
Toyota Begins To Export Yaris Out Of France
May 16, 2013 2:24 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsToyota Motor Corp. said Thursday it started manufacturing the Yaris compact car at its French factory for export to North America. Toyota began producing the North American-bound Yaris, known in Japan as the Vitz, at the factory of Toyota Motor Manufacturing France S.A.S. in Onnaing near the city of Valenciennes. It will be the first export of European-assembled models to North America.
IN Fertilizer Plant Operator Defends Safety
May 16, 2013 2:17 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsThe developer of a proposed southern Indiana fertilizer plant said Wednesday the project will be safe and not handle explosive materials like a Texas plant where a deadly explosion occurred last month. All of the products made at the Ohio Valley Resources LLC proposed for the Ohio River city of Rockport will be liquid, non-flammable and non-explosive, Fairfield, Ill.-based developer Doug Wilson said.
TX Plant Explosion Findings To Be Released
May 15, 2013 2:04 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsState and federal agents will release this week the findings of an investigation into a deadly explosion at a Texas fertilizer plant. The State Fire Marshal's Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will announce their findings on Thursday.
North Dakota Pasta Plant To Restart Production
May 15, 2013 2:00 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsThe former Noodles by Leonardo plant in Cando will start producing pasta again next week after six months of closed doors. The facility is now owned by Cando Pasta LLC, a partnership of local businessmen Jim and Bruce Gibbens and two other investors.
Paradise Lost For Asian Manufacturers
May 15, 2013 12:55 pm | by ReutersTV | Videos | CommentsCheap labor and fast production once made Asia a near-nirvana for Western retailers and manufacturers. Massive factories and a yound population with a strong work ethic created an ideal production location. But as risks, and costs, rise, many of these Western businesses are planning to shift their production closer to home.
TX Firefighters Focused Concern On Toxic Gases
May 15, 2013 10:13 am | by Nomaan Merchant, Ramit Plushnick-Masti, Associated Press | News | CommentsWhen they saw 30-foot flames licking the sky inside a massive fertilizer plant, firefighters in this tiny Texas town rushed to evacuate nearby buildings and raced to spray water on tanks of chemicals, hoping to prevent a catastrophe. They didn't know, and probably could not imagine, that the plant would soon explode into a deadly fireball and lay waste to much of the community.
Honda To Build Plant For New NSX In OH
May 15, 2013 10:09 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsHonda Motor Corp. said Tuesday it will build a manufacturing plant for its NSX sports car in the U.S. state of Ohio, aiming to introduce the all-new vehicle in 2015 under its luxury brand Acura. The automaker will invest around $70 million in the new plant, which will be Honda's fifth U.S. factory.
Honda To Produce New Acura NSX In U.S.
May 14, 2013 2:23 pm | by Lisa Cornwell, Associated Press | News | CommentsHonda's new version of its Acura NSX sports car will be produced at a new plant inside one of the automaker's former facilities in central Ohio, Honda said Tuesday. The new $70 million plant, called the Performance Manufacturing Center, will be inside the former North American Logistics facility and adjacent to Honda's existing factory in Marysville.
2 Hurt In Explosions, Fire At WV Gas Plant
May 14, 2013 10:19 am | by Pam Ramsey, Associated Press | News | CommentsTwo workers were injured Monday when highly flammable gas used in welding exploded at a West Virginia industrial site, officials said. Fire crews were sent at about 3:20 p.m. to Airgas, a distributor of specialty gases in Poca, outside of Charleston. Putnam County emergency management director Frank Chapman said the explosion involved about 50 tanks of acetylene that were at Airgas waiting to be refilled.
Beechcraft Gets $210M Military Contract
May 14, 2013 10:13 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsA unit of Beechcraft Corp. says production will begin this month in Wichita on 35 training aircraft for the military. Beechcraft Defense Co. on Monday announced the signing of a $210 million contract with the Air Force, under the government's Joint Primary Aircraft Training System procurement contract.
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.
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.
Texas Launches Criminal Probe Into Plant Explosion
May 10, 2013 2:04 pm | by Angela K. Brown, Ramit Plushnick-Masti, Associated Press | News | 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.
Why Manufacturers Need To Bulletproof Their Virtualized IT Environments
May 10, 2013 8:00 am | by Frank Hill, Stratus Technologies | Articles | CommentsToday, many popular manufacturing applications are certified for virtualization and with good reason. The benefits of virtualization, including cost control, higher productivity, and better long-term planning, are indisputable. Yet, some manufacturing engineers and plant IT departments are missing out on these benefits because they think virtualization involves too much risk — a point of view that is not entirely without merit.
Van Maker Backed By Energy Dept. Shuts Down
May 9, 2013 2:13 pm | by Matthew Daly, Associated Press | News | CommentsA Michigan company that received a $50 million federal loan to make vans for the disabled has stopped production and laid off its 100 workers. Vehicle Production Group, or VPG, suspended operations in February after its finances dipped below a minimum level required as a condition of the federal loan.
Honeywell Closing York Plant, Idling Over 100
May 9, 2013 2:10 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsHoneywell plans to close a plant in eastern Pennsylvania by the first quarter of next year, idling more than 100 workers. The Honeywell Process Solutions plant in York makes products used in the natural gas industry. The company specializes in energy efficiency products.
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.
