Boeing Strike Ends
from All Headline News
 The strike at the Boeing Co. ended Sunday with the ratification by machinists after a majority of employees accepted the four-year contract agreed by the company and the union in the last meeting.The machinists in Washington, Oregon and Kansas returned to work today after ending a 58-day walkout with 74 percent of employees voting in favor of the contract. More
Timken Breaks Ground on Wind-Energy Plant
from The Auto Channel
The Timken Co.’s new joint venture, Timken XEMC Bearings Co., broke ground on a new wind-energy plant that it will build in China. The new company will produce ultra-large-bore bearings for large-scale wind turbines using advanced technology to help China meet its demand for alternative energy. The venture’s other partner is Xiangtan Electric Manufacturing Co. A $38 million facility will manufacture high-performance bearings for the main shafts of wind turbines. These bearings play a role in improving the reliability of the generation of energy. More
Manufacturing Crashes to 26 Year Low In October
from The New York Times
U.S. factory activity contracted sharply in October, falling to its lowest in 26 years as the financial crisis ravaged the world's largest economy, an industry report showed on Monday. "Pretty grim. It means we're in a recession, it's as simple as that ... a pretty solid manufacturing recession," said Robert Macintosh, chief economist at Eaton Vance Corp in Boston, adding: "... The question is how long or deep is it going to be? Where is this group of economists that is charged with declaring a recession? Why haven't they said anything?" More
Bates Technologies Expands Its Promatic Line of Hone Tooling and Abrasives
from ThomasNet
Bates Technologies expands its line of production-style hone tooling to include a economy version designed to fit and function on various honing machines including the Sunnen style SV, CK, CV, and ML which are found in precision machine shops and component suppliers worldwide. The design features of the Bates ProMatic line of hone tooling stem from over 80 years of development and manufacturing of high precision, high production tooling technology used to hone engine cylinder bores, connecting rods and transmission gears in some of the worlds major OEM engine and powertrain manufacturers. The ProMatic hone tools have been designed to fit and function on many of the common hone machines in use today in small job shops to the largest tiered manufacturers. All ProMatic tooling utilizes the maximum number of abrasives ledges (stones) that may be required to meet the most stringent cylindricity and roundness requirements. More
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Ohio Unveils $150 Million in Grants for Renewable Energy, Including Wind Turbines
from The Hudson Hub Times
Companies and researchers soon will begin vying for millions of dollars in state funding earmarked for advanced and renewable energies. A total of $150 million will be available for such innovations over the next three years. Online applications will be accepted starting Nov. 7. The funding was approved by lawmakers and Gov. Ted Strickland earlier this year as part of the $1.57 billion job stimulus package. Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher and Mark Shanahan, head of the Ohio Air Quality Development Authority, unveiled the application process for the funding and a new Web site during a press conference near the Statehouse Oct. 29. Of the total, $66 million will be earmarked for clean coal projects and will be administered by Shanahan's office. Up to $5 million in grants and potentially more in loans will be allowed. The ultimate goal is to increase the state's use of advanced and renewable energies, including solar, wind and biomass, fuel cells and clean coal technologies. More
Why Small Manufacturers Are Going Green
from BusinessWeek
K&M Machine Fabricating in Cassopolis, Mich., started working with wind power companies 12 years ago, but it was unclear how viable the industry would be until recently. "I think a lot of stars have aligned over the last three to five years," says Gary Galeziewski, chief financial officer of the 250-person firm, which specializes in making large metal components. He says high energy prices, state-level commitments to buy renewable power, and more consistent support for clean power tax credits have combined to make wind power a booming market. Demand is sustained enough that K&M, which has sales of less than $100 million, expects to add at least 100 employees over the next two years to build parts for wind power companies. More
Ford to Add 1,000 Workers at Michigan Factory
from The South Bend Tribune
Ford Motor Co. is predicting pickup truck sales will bounce back enough for it to add 1,000 workers to its Dearborn, Mich. F-150 factory in January. The company celebrated the manufacturing launch of a new version of the truck this past week and announced that it will restore a third shift to the plant. Ford spokeswoman Angie Kozleski said the additional workers will come from those laid off earlier this year at many Ford plants when the company cut production. The move will bring employment at the Dearborn plant to around 3,300, she said. More
A Failed Big Two Deal Would Slam Suppliers
from Financial Week
Much more is at stake than just the survival of General Motors and Chrysler if their merger plan goes nowhere. It appeared to stall late last week as the Treasury Department reportedly balked at helping to finance the deal in what would have amounted to a bailout of the struggling U.S. auto industry. It's potentially devastating news for Chrysler, which is rapidly running out of cash, according to a report last week by accounting firm Grant Thornton. Chrysler may exhaust its $11 billion in reserves by the second quarter of 2009, the analysis found. And GM has problems of its own: It posted a $15.5 billion loss in the three months ended June 30 as sales fell 18% from a year earlier. Moody's Investors Service last week cut its rating on GM's debt to Caa2—its fourth-lowest grade—and said the automaker could run out of cash by the middle of next year. GM and Chrysler aren't the only companies whose future has been clouded by the government's decision not to lend them money for their merger. Each manufacturer buys components and supplies from networks of hundreds of parts makers facing their own liquidity issues. More
ArcelorMittal Idles Blast Furnaces at Cleveland Steel Mill
from The Los Angeles Times
Steelmaking is on hold at the ArcelorMittal plant in Cleveland due to a drop in business. Both blast furnaces were idled this week, and the company plans to offer voluntary layoffs with partial pay starting next week. About 1,450 union members work at the plant. Mark Granakis, president of the United Steelworkers local in Cleveland, says there could be as many as 400 job reductions. More
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