Manufacturing news
April 2002
DuPont cuts 10 pc of workforce in textile unit
DuPont, the largest US chemicals company, has finalised its restructuring plans for its lossmaking textiles and interiors division by announcing it would cut 2,000 jobs, or 10 per cent, of the unit's workforce.
30 Apr 2002 8:44
Rover to miss break-even target
MG Rover has admitted that it will miss its break-even target this year after its business plan failed to anticipate sterling's continued strength.
30 Apr 2002 8:49
Amersham sales rise
Amersham has announced a 5 per cent rise in first-quarter sales.
29 Apr 2002 9:24
Brussels warns UK over working hours
The European Commission has ordered Britain to close loopholes in labour laws.
29 Apr 2002 9:34
Chinese steelmaker pays for US tariffs
China's biggest steelmaker has seen its profits dive as it faces what analysts believe will be a flood of foreign steel into its domestic market.
29 Apr 2002 9:25
Retailers must monitor health of supply base, says PricewaterhouseCoopers
UK retailers could become exposed to the onset of problems within their supply chain as both retailers and suppliers assess the consequences of the increase in labour costs brought about by the rise in National Insurance (NI).
26 Apr 2002 9:01
Marconi upbeat on debt reduction
Marconi has announced that has almost halved its net debt since September. Net debt on March 31 was within its target range at £2.9 billion, down from £4.3 billion on September 30, 2001.
25 Apr 2002 10:18
Sick leave costs UK firms £12bn
Workers taking time off for illness cost UK firms just under £12bn last year, according to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).
25 Apr 2002 10:18
BT unveils no frills broadband service
BT has launched a BT has launched a no frills broadband product that could generate 500,000 residential connections by summer 2003. BT Broadband offers customers constant, high-speed direct internet access for £27 a month.
24 Apr 2002 9:10
Car production up 16 per cent in first quarter
Car production in Britain rose 16 per cent in the first quarter of this year as rising output by manufacturers such as Honda and Toyota compensated for plant closures elsewhere.
24 Apr 2002 10:58
Postal workers may strike
Postal workers have announced a national strike next month unless a dispute over deliveries is resolved.
24 Apr 2002 9:09
Shareholders approve CGNU name change
CGNU has pushed through controversial plans to change its name to Aviva.
24 Apr 2002 9:11
Baan extends iBaan solutions to address industry-specific business challenges
Baan, the enterprise application provider for industrial enterprises, has extended the development of its iBaan suite of internet-enabled solutions to further support Industrial Enterprise organisations in the company's target markets of aerospace and defense, automotive, industrial machinery and equipment, electronics, and process manufacturing.
23 Apr 2002 11:23
ITV Digital sale talks begin
The administrators of ITV Digital are expected to meet executives from the Independent Television Commission today to discuss how best to sell the loss-making business.
23 Apr 2002 9:04
P&O to buy out Stena Line for £150m
P&O is to buy Stena Line 40 per cent shareholding in P&O Stena Line for £150 million.
23 Apr 2002 9:03
Signs of recovery from manufacturing recession – CBI report
Manufacturers say business confidence has risen for the first time in more than two years, indicating the first signs of recovery from recession.
23 Apr 2002 16:15
Ericsson to cut 20,000 jobs
Ericsson is cutting 20,000 jobs after announcing worse than expected first-quarter losses.
22 Apr 2002 9:48
Manufacturing pay deals at record low
Pay awards in manufacturing firms have fallen to a record low of 2.3 per cent, figures show.
22 Apr 2002 9:49
National Grid and Lattice to merge
National Grid and Lattice have reached an agreement to merge, creating a company worth £14.8 billion. The firms will form National Grid Transco - the UK's largest utility firm.
22 Apr 2002 9:48
BCC boss sacked
David Lennan, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), says he has been sacked. The organisation announced on Thursday that Mr Lennan was leaving.
19 Apr 2002 9:57
Microsoft posts profits but warns that 2003 will disappoint
Microsoft has posted increased third-quarter profits after being boosted by the sale of Expedia.
19 Apr 2002 9:55
Boeing profits fall on weak commercial satellite market
Boeing, the world's largest aerospace and defence group, reported a net loss of $1.25 billion for the first quarter, down from a net profit of $1.24 billion a year ago.
18 Apr 2002 10:06
CBI criticises increase in National Insurance
CBI director-general Digby Jones has criticised the Government’s increase in National Insurance contributions, claiming that business people were very unhappy at the extra burden they were being asked to shoulder.
18 Apr 2002 9:56
Hewlett-Packard says Compaq merger approved by shareholders
Hewlett-Packard shareholders have backed its proposed merger with Compaq.
18 Apr 2002 10:05
Stelios to step down at easyJet
Stelios Haji-Ioannou will resign as chairman of easyJet at its 2003 annual meeting.
18 Apr 2002 10:06
British made Eurofighter makes maiden flight
The first British production model of the Eurofighter combat aircraft has made its maiden flight, keeping the programme on track towards delivery of the first aircraft to the Royal Air Force later this year, BAE Systems said.
17 Apr 2002 9:30
Budget 2002
The CBI calls for tax cuts as Gordon Brown is set to make one of the biggest political gambles of his career when he unveils his Budget today.
17 Apr 2002 11:04
Budget 2002: corporation tax starting rate cut to zero
Gordon Brown has cut the starting rate of corporation tax from 10p to zero.
17 Apr 2002 15:56
Lower sales hit Caterpillar
Caterpillar, the heavy equipment maker, has said first-quarter profits fell by half from last year on fewer sales of large construction machines and engines.
17 Apr 2002 9:31
WH Smith profits drop
High Street book and magazine chain WH Smith has announced that its half year profits have fallen by more than a third to £63m.
17 Apr 2002 9:29
Debenhams plans 1,000 new jobs
Debenhams plans to create 1,000 new jobs after revealing a 14 per cent rise in profits.
16 Apr 2002 9:15
GE Capital to cut 7,000 jobs this year
GE Capital will cut 7,000 workers in the US and overseas this year out of a total staff of 90,000.
16 Apr 2002 9:16
Government announces increase in minimum wage
1.5 million low paid workers entitled to new rates
16 Apr 2002 9:14
GE and Siemens race to buy ABB division
General Electric and Siemens are vying for control of the financial services subsidiary of ABB, the troubled Swiss-Swedish engineering conglomerate.
15 Apr 2002 15:28
New security specification to advance web services
IBM, Microsoft, and VeriSign have published a new web services security specification to help organisations build secure, broadly interoperable web services applications.
15 Apr 2002 15:26
Railtrack and Marconi prepare for battle
Beleaguered rail operator Railtrack and troubled telecoms firm Marconi are poised to open legal hostilities.
15 Apr 2002 15:30
CBI calls for re-think on green taxes that costs business £14 billion
The CBI has called on Government to re-think green taxes in the interests of competitiveness and the environment.
12 Apr 2002 9:30
GE shares slide 9pc after flat revenues
Flat revenues at General Electric have knocked the US multinational’s shares down more than 9 per cent.
12 Apr 2002 9:31
Deloitte & Touche signs deal with Andersen UK
Deloitte & Touche has concluded an agreement with Andersen UK under which partners and staff from Andersen will join the firm.
11 Apr 2002 8:53
South east manufacturing centre of excellence
Regional Centre for Manufacturing Excellence given green light as part of £15m initiative.
11 Apr 2002 8:52
Manufacturing output signals recovery
British industry is finally showing signs of recovery, experiencing its first expansion in six months.
10 Apr 2002 14:05
Nippon Steel makes second warning in two months
Japan's largest steel maker, Nippon Steel, announced on Tuesday it was expecting a net loss of Y30bn ($228m) for the full year after being hit by appraisal losses from its securities holdings.
10 Apr 2002 9:06
UK businesses guilty of taking a quick fix approach to cost cutting
British firms are guilty of taking a short-term, quick fix approach to cost-cutting, characterised by investment cuts, recruitment freezes and staff lay-offs, according to a new global study published by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
10 Apr 2002 9:05
End of manufacturing slump imminent
UK manufacturing output has increased, raising hopes that the long downturn in the sector may be over.
09 Apr 2002 15:20
Full employment is possible, says Brown
Chancellor Gordon Brown has insisted that the unemployment rate, already at its lowest for a generation, could be brought down further.
09 Apr 2002 8:44
Sun Microsystems partners with KPMG for ERP
Continuing its strategy of partnering with big-name systems integrators, Sun has made a deal with KPMG Consulting to provide vertical markets with ERP and managed services solutions.
09 Apr 2002 8:43
US Manufacturing sector grows for second consecutive month
Statistics for the month of March validate the turnaround for US manufacturing, according to the the latest Manufacturing ISM Report On Business, which also noted that March was the fifth consecutive month of growth for the overall US economy.
09 Apr 2002 8:43
Anger at Corus boss's 130pc pay rise
Union leaders are outraged after the chairman of Corus was given a wage rise of more than 100 per cent.
05 Apr 2002 8:38
BAE appoints Chris Geoghegan as new COO
BAE Systems, Europe's biggest defence group, has appointed Chris Geoghegan as chief operating officer.
05 Apr 2002 15:38
US unemployment rises
Unemployment in the United States is continuing to rise, and in March reached a rate of 5.7 per cent.
05 Apr 2002 15:37
Baan signs up major keynote speakers for first international inforum event
Baan, the global provider of B2B collaborative commerce solutions, has signed up a series of high profile keynote speakers for its first inForum international event.
04 Apr 2002 9:51
Rate rise worries as Bank meets
Bank of England economists will meet today to decide on interest rates amid mounting expectations of a rise in rates this year.
04 Apr 2002 9:49
Sun to ease Java licencing restrictions
Sun Microsystems has said it will ease Java licencing restrictions to make it easier for open-source developers to write and share code.
04 Apr 2002 9:46
Ambient intelligence
A futuristic report commissioned by ISTAG (the Information Society Technologies Advisory Group) offers an intriguing glimpse of life in 2010, anticipating the integration of microcomputers into everyday objects.
01 Apr 2002 13:59
Brilliant global alliance
MG Rover’s search for an international partner ended with the announcement in March of a long term strategic alliance with China Brilliance Industrial Holdings (CBIH).
01 Apr 2002 14:06
Continental stands by repair
Continental Airlines of the US has rejected the core finding of the French enquiry into the fatal Concorde accident of July 2000.
01 Apr 2002 10:04
Human transporter takes off using complex balance model
Development of the revolutionary new Segway Human Transporter (HT) has been facilitated by VisSim software which was used for modelling and simulating the complex dynamics of balance.
01 Apr 2002 10:14
IT management grapples with business strategy
According to a new survey from the National Computing Centre, aligning IT strategy with business strategy is the most significant concern for senior IT management.
01 Apr 2002 13:56
Rexam Glass exploits cheap gas from disused mines
Rexam Glass is the first manufacturing company in the UK to take advantage of its natural resources by tapping into methane gas from disused mines through a borehole underneath its Barnsley plant.
01 Apr 2002 10:10
The Manufacturer Expo 2002
Conquest Business Media, publisher of Industry magazine since September 1996, launched its sister publication The Manufacturer four years ago, to compete with a long established clutch of trade publications it believed had gone stale.
01 Apr 2002 14:01
The Manufacturer launches new expo for September
Conquest Business Media, which just four years ago launched The Manufacturer magazine, is presenting The Manufacturer Expo 2002 as a fresh approach to the exhibition world.
01 Apr 2002 9:58
UK manufacturers still have a long way to go
By adopting lean manufacturing and performance management techniques, and by competing for superior talent, British companies could improve both their productivity and their financial performance.
01 Apr 2002 10:07
