Manufacturing news
October 2005
Ceradyne awarded Air Force contract
Ceradyne, Inc. has received an order totaling approximately $17.8 million for its lightweight ceramic armor systems for use by the U.S. Air Force.
31 Oct 2005 20:59
Kaiser Aluminum announces $75 million expansion
Kaiser Aluminum today announced a major $75 million expansion of its Trentwood, WA-based rolling mill.
31 Oct 2005 21:46
Air New Zealand orders more Dreamliners
Aerospace manufacturer Boeing confirmed that Air New Zealand has placed an additional order for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, adding two more airplanes to its earlier two-airplane 787 order.
28 Oct 2005 18:59
GM recalls SUVs
General Motors has announced a recall of nearly 106,000 sport utility vehicles in the US and Canada.
28 Oct 2005 19:55
Exxon Mobil posts record profit
Amid hurricanes and high oil and gas prices, Exxon Mobil has seen its third quarter profit balloon by nearly 75 percent to $9.92 million. This surge in profit earns the world's largest publicly traded oil company the largest quarterly profit for a US company ever.
27 Oct 2005 17:37
Hurricane job losses top half a million
Despite a slow recovery from the storms, the number of job losses due to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, including many manufacturing job losses, has topped 500,000, the US Department of Labor reported.
27 Oct 2005 18:05
GM finishes $450 million transmission plant upgrade
General Motors announced the start of production of a new generation of six-speed automotive transmissions at its upgraded Willow Run facility in Ypsilanti, MI.
26 Oct 2005 20:42
Teledyne nets $10 million subcontract
Teledyne Brown Engineering, Inc., under contract to Shaw Environmental, Inc., has been awarded an 18-month $10 million contract to support modernization of the White Phosphorus Plant at the Pine Bluff Arsenal in Pine Bluff, AR.
26 Oct 2005 18:52
Lockheed Martin flies high
US defense contractor Lockheed Martin today reported third-quarter net earnings of $427 million, up sharply from $307 million in 2004.
25 Oct 2005 21:17
Pacific Aluminum acquired by former Technical Glass execs
Pacific Aluminum, a regional manufacturer of commercial glazing systems, has been acquired by former executives of Technical Glass Products.
25 Oct 2005 19:15
Johnson Controls reports jump in sales
Auto parts and climate-control system maker Johnson Controls’ sales for its fourth quarter totaled $6.9 billion, up seven percent from $6.4 billion last year, due to a rise in industrial equipment sales, the company announced today.
24 Oct 2005 22:03
Wyeth announces profit drop, plant closing
Pharmaceutical company Wyeth, maker of the antidepressant Effexor and Centrum vitamins, reported a third-quarter profit drop of 39 percent today.
21 Oct 2005 20:51
CCL wins big at COY Awards
CCL Container takes home three honors at this year’s Can of the Year Awards.
20 Oct 2005 21:01
Ford posts quarterly loss, announces plant closings
Big Three automaker Ford reported a $284 million loss in its most recent quarter, causing CEO Bill Ford Jr. to say that “significant plant closings” in North America would be announced at the beginning of 2006, in a bid to slash costs.
20 Oct 2005 17:09
Ovonyx nets Intel investment
Ovonyx, Inc. a semiconductor memory technology developer, announced today that Intel Capital has made an additional investment in the company.
19 Oct 2005 18:54
Boeing selects Saab
Aerospace companies Boeing and Saab Aerostructures of Sweden announced a contract for Saab’s design and manufacture of the large cargo doors, bulk cargo doors, and access doors for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
18 Oct 2005 21:46
Waukesha Engine lands DOE grant
Waukesha Engine has been awarded a $7.6 million grant from the US Department of Energy (DOE) for the development of high efficiency, low emissions engines.
18 Oct 2005 21:15
GM reports huge loss, plans massive layoffs
The world’s largest automaker, General Motors, posted a quarterly loss of $1.6 billion, and announced plans to shed at least 25,000 manufacturing jobs.
17 Oct 2005 15:48
Newell Rubbermaid CEO resigns
Newell Rubbermaid announced today that Joseph Galli, its chief executive officer since 2001, has resigned his positions as CEO and director by mutual agreement with the Board of Directors.
17 Oct 2005 21:29
Delphi to close some US plants
Auto supplier Delphi, which recently filed for bankruptcy protection, announced plans to close a number of plants as part of its restructuring.
14 Oct 2005 16:50
Fairchild CFO resigns
Matthew W. Towse, senior vice president and chief financial officer for Fairchild Semiconductor, has tendered his resignation effective immediately.
13 Oct 2005 16:13
Hurricanes continue to cause unemployment storm
The economic effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused an additional 75,000 workers to lose their jobs last week, including many in manufacturing, for a total of 438,000 job losses directly due to the disasters.
13 Oct 2005 21:29
Bridgestone Firestone to pay $240 million settlement
Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire announced a settlement agreement in which it will pay $240 million to Big Three automaker Ford in order to settle claims due to Firestone’s recall of its defective tires in 2000.
12 Oct 2005 17:46
CEO of A. O. Smith to motor away
Electric-motor manufacturer A. O. Smith Corporation announced today that Robert J. O'Toole has decided to retire as chairman and chief executive officer at the end of the year, after 42 years with the company.
11 Oct 2005 21:04
Inco to buy Falconbridge for $11 billion
Canadian metals and mining company Inco Ltd. and rival Falconbridge Ltd. announced today that their respective Boards of Directors have approved a friendly takeover of Falconbridge by Inco for nearly $11 billion in cash and stock.
11 Oct 2005 18:04
Dell opens manufacturing plant in North Carolina
More than 300 new North Carolina employees joined Dell Chairman Michael Dell, North Carolina Governor Mike Easley, and community leaders in opening Dell’s third US manufacturing site—the company's largest—in Winston-Salem, NC, this week.
07 Oct 2005 17:55
Delphi may file for bankruptcy on Friday: UAW
Auto parts maker Delphi is considering filing for bankruptcy protection, possibly today, according to a memo sent to union members by the United Auto Workers—which would make it the largest industrial bankruptcy in the nation’s history.
07 Oct 2005 18:15
GM to sell Fuji stake
The world's largest automaker, General Motors, plans to sell its 20 percent stake in Japanese automaker Fuji Heavy Industries, with Toyota buying an 8.7 percent stake.
06 Oct 2005 21:12
P&G and Gillette begin new era
This week, manufacturing giants Procter & Gamble and Gillette began operating as a joint company, after the completion of their merger.
06 Oct 2005 20:56
Motorola to cut 1,900 jobs
Cell phone and electronics manufacturer Motorola announced that it is cutting 1,900 manufacturing jobs at 29 different locations in the US and abroad as part of a larger effort to consolidate supply-chain facilities and improve operating efficiency.
05 Oct 2005 20:29
Countersniper robot introduced
iRobot Corp. and The Photonics Center at Boston University have introduced a system prototype, dubbed REDOWL, for the combat-proven iRobot PackBot robot.
04 Oct 2005 20:06
Manufacturing economic activity up: ISM
Despite Hurricane Katrina, economic activity in the manufacturing sector grew in September for the 28th consecutive month, while the overall economy grew for the 47th consecutive month, according to US supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM Report On Business.
03 Oct 2005 19:29