Boston-Power, Inc., a provider of Lithium-ion batteries, announced the expansion of its U.S. headquarters in Westborough, Mass. Founded in 2005, the company has Six Sigma-level manufacturing operations in Greater China.  “The world is undergoing a fundamental shift to environmental sustainability — one that is ushering in a new generation of technologies that are substantially better […]

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced a voluntary recall of lithium-ion batteries manufactured by Japan-based Sony Energy Devices that are used in notebooks sold by Hewlett-Packard (HP), Toshiba and Dell. The Commission reported that the lithium-ion batteries can overheat, posing a fire and burn hazard to consumers. There have already been 19 reports […]

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. announced plans to build a new automobile transmission plant within its Hamamatsu Factory in order to strengthen production of automobile automatic transmissions (AT) and continuously variable transmissions (CVT), to meet growing global demand. The new automobile transmission plant will utilize a portion of the factory site where the motorcycle plant is […]

Global robot manufacturers ABB and Kuka are developing technology they claim benefits aerospace production because it can deal with the fiddly jobs. Their robots have the flexibility to help build aircraft at high quality and low cost. Gary Taylor, Kuka’s aerospace sales manager, says: “Automation offers a raft of value-added benefits including better quality, fewer […]

As part of a public-private partnership to increase the commercial availability and use of alternative fuel vehicles, UPS announced its first purchases of a little-known technology – the hydraulic hybrid vehicle – that promises dramatic fuel savings and environmental benefits. The technology, originally developed in a federal laboratory of the Environmental Protection Agency, stores energy […]

The United States has some catching up to do when it comes to getting new products to market faster, according to a study released Oct. 28 by the USC Marshall School of Business’ Center for Global Innovation. Japan and Norway introduce products to the marketplace quicker than the United States and some major European nations, […]

Frito-Lay’s Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., facility has become the city’s first member of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Environmental Performance Track Program by demonstrating excellence in environmental management and committing to above-standard goals for continuous improvements in environmental performance. Today, the EPA has recognized Frito-Lay Rancho Cucamonga for this achievement at a flag raising ceremony. […]

Boeing and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers today reached tentative agreement on a new four-year contract covering 27,000 employees in Washington, Oregon and Kansas. Union leadership is recommending that employees vote to ratify the contract. The company retained the flexibility necessary to manage its business, while making changes to the contract language […]

The 2008 Proudfoot Global Productivity Report identifies key productivity issues and opportunities. The findings are the result of interviews with 1,276 mid-level managers across 12 countries and eight sectors, an analysis of data collected during Proudfoot engagements in 2007, and in-depth interviews with senior executives around the world. Among the key findings: According to the study, […]

Natuzzi’s board has approved a three-year business plan to increase sales and profitability that includes opening the company’s first production facility in North America. “We expect to open a facility in North America within 15 months,” said Cary Benson, president of Natuzzi Americas, the High Point-based arm of the Italian upholstery manufacturing giant. He would […]

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has adopted a new standard that provides much-needed guidance to manufacturers for meeting their “duty to warn” for the content of product and safety manuals. Manufacturers are held to a two-prong “legal duty to warn.” First, they must reasonably warn of the hazards associated with their products. This was […]

Axsys Technologies, a leader in the design and manufacture of high-performance surveillance and imaging systems for defense and related commercial industries, recently celebrated the opening of its new manufacturing facility in Nashua, New Hampshire. The news was announced at a ribbon cutting ceremony attended by company officials and several federal and local dignitaries including New […]

Yung Ching Wang, the founder of the Formosa Plastics Group, died at the age of 92 . Chairman Wang was a great entrepreneur and a great humanitarian. Using a loan obtained from the U.S. government, in 1954 he founded a small company to produce polyvinyl chloride (PVC), the highly versatile plastic resin. Thanks to his […]

Boeing issued the following statement after a second round of mediated talks with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers adjourned without an agreement: “In light of the current business environment and global market challenges we face, we had hoped we could find a way to move forward. We worked very hard to find […]

The National Association of Manufacturers Small Manufacturers Operating Survey for 2008 shows that most respondents are optimistic about results in 2008, with 56 percent expecting sales this year to rise at least 5 percent, and 16.2 percent expecting increases of more than 10 percent. Less than 27 percent expected sales to decline at least 5 […]

Small steelmaker FerroChina said on Thursday it was unable to repay 706 million yuan ($104 million) in working capital loans and had suspended operations at its manufacturing plant in China. In a sign the global credit crisis is spreading to the corporate sector in Asia, the Singapore-listed firm also said it has 2.03 billion yuan […]

Modern clean diesel technology–already available today–will play a significant role in modern drive technologies in 2020, said Bernd Boisten, regional president, diesel systems North America, Robert Bosch LLC, during a panel discussion at the German Embassy’s second annual “Future Motion Made in Germany” symposium. The Oct. 3 event, hosted at the German Embassy in Washington […]

German auto parts maker Robert Bosch GmbH is buying Switzerland’s Sia Abrasives Holding AG in an all cash deal worth up to 350 million Swiss francs ($313.3 million) to boost its power tools unit. Bosch has bought a 40 percent stake in Sia from Swiss entrepreneur Giorgio Behr for 153.9 million francs or 515 francs […]

Cultural integration issues in M&A transactions have direct financial implications on deal value, according to the results of Mercer’s Cultural Integration Snapshot Survey.  The survey, which included 119 organizations from across the Americas and Europe, found that more than half of respondents reported that the success of recent M&A transactions was negatively impacted by cultural […]

A recent study, “Supply Chain Risk Management: Building a Resilient Global Supply Chain,” conducted by Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company, reveals that there are still significant gaps in supply chain management practices, and offers actionable advice for companies to help minimize supply chain disruptions. The trend toward globalization and the new challenges this brings to […]

Fatal work injuries in manufacturing dropped 14 percent in 2007 to the lowest recorded total in five years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistic’s Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries Summary (CFOI). Last year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics recorded 392 fatal work injuries in manufacturing, which marked the lowest number since the CFOI began […]

Manufacturers in the automotive, aerospace, electrical, electronics, machinery, and other discrete industries are closely watching recent wireless developments in the process industries in hope that at least some of the outcome will address their own requirements. Recent process industry developments such as introduction of a wireless version of the HART protocol for process sensors, plus […]