Reliable Plant Magazine

American unemployment rate little changed at 9.5%

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Non-farm payroll employment continued to decline in June (-467,000), and the unemployment rate was little changed at 9.5 percent, the U.S...

GE engines generate electricity at landfill gas-to-energy site

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

One of California's most powerful landfill gas-to-energy projects to open in the last five years has started supplying renewable electricity to the San Francisco Bay region as the state continues implementing new anti-greenhouse gas initiatives...

Video: How U.S. military uses condition-based maintenance

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Melissa Bohan highlights the aviation community's use of condition-based maintenance, a predictive, proactive and Reliability-Centered Maintenance program...

Video: FLIR cameras as useful predictive tool

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

This FLIR video explores predictive maintenance activities in production facilities, system failure prevention, and the safety of non-destructive testing...

Video: Army colonel talks condition-based maintenance

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Col. Crosby, deputy program executive officer for aviation, says that the impact of Ops Tempo in Iraq for Army aviation is serious and expensive...

Video: NIST LIDAR distance measurement system

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Ball to acquire 4 beverage packaging plants from AB InBev

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Ball Corporation announced July 1 that it has signed a definitive agreement with Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) to acquire certain of AB InBev's beverage can manufacturing assets.

Ball will acquire four of AB InBev's plants in the U.S...

China industrial sector shows growth for 3rd month in row

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Growth of the Chinese manufacturing sector was recorded for the third successive month in June...

India manufacturing index remains in growth territory

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

June data indicated that operating conditions in the Indian manufacturing sector continued to strengthen...

Russia manufacturing PMI at highest level in nine months

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

VTB Capital's survey of Russian manufacturing business conditions provided further evidence that the sector was edging closer to recovery in June, following a steep contraction in the early months of 2009...

Eurozone manufacturing PMI rises 1.9 points to 42.6

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

The Markit Eurozone Final Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to a nine-month high of 42.6 in June, up from 40.7 in May and slightly higher than the earlier flash reading of 42.4...

U.K. manufacturing PMI at highest mark since May 2008

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

The United Kingdom manufacturing sector took another step closer to stabilization in June...

Brazil industrial PMI reaches highest level in nine months

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Brazil's manufacturing economy contracted further during June as new orders, employment and inventories continued to fall...

Emerson extends transmitter's condition monitoring capabilites

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Emerson announced extension of the monitoring capabilities of its CSI 9210 Machinery Health Transmitter...

Lufkin acquires Rotating Machinery Technology Inc.

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Lufkin Industries Inc...

Chart: Mass layoffs at highest level since at least 1995

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Mass layoffs ? job cuts of 50 or more people by a single employer ? are at their highest since continuous tracking began in April 1995, according to recently released data from the U.S...

Global manufacturing PMI posts best reading in 10 months

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

The worldwide manufacturing sector took a further step toward recovery in June...

Ford vehicle sales in June fell just 11% vs. June 2008

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Customer demand for new products helped Ford Motor Company increase market share in June, even as Ford continued to de-escalate incentive spending...

General Motors' retail sales in June rose 10% vs. May

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

General Motors dealers in the United States delivered 176,571 total vehicles in June, down 33.6 percent compared with a year ago...

Chrysler retail sales in June dropped 16% vs. June 2008

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Chrysler Group LLC on July 1 reported more than a 1 percentage point increase in retail market share with June U.S...

American Honda vehicle sales declined 32.8% in June

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

American Honda Motor Company Inc. on July 1 posted June vehicle sales of 100,420, a decline of 32.4 percent compared to June 2008 results*...

Toyota's year-over-year U.S. sales fell 34.6% in June

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Toyota Motor Sales (TMS) USA Inc...

Oshkosh wins $1.05B order to supply vehicles to military

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

The U.S...

Nissan's North American sales down 23.1 vs. June 2008

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Nissan North America Inc. (NNA) on July 1 reported sales for June of 58,298 units vs. 75,847 units a year ago, a decrease of 23.1 percent...

BMW Group's U.S. sales decreased 20.3% vs. June 2008

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

The BMW Group in the U.S. (BMW and MINI combined) reported June sales of 20,849 vehicles, a decrease of 20.3 percent from the 26,155 vehicles sold in the same month of 2008...

Quad/Graphics plant achieve Silver LEED certification

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Quad/Graphics, the hemisphere's largest privately held commercial printer, announced July 1 that its Sussex, Wis., manufacturing facility has received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, Silver rating, from the U.S...

U.S. initial unemployment claims fell by 16,000 last week

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

In the week ending June 27, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 614,000, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 630,000, the U.S...

Pollution a big issue from former Northrop Grumman plant

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Fluor named to list of world's most ethical companies

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Fluor Corporation announced July 2 that it was named to the World's Most Ethical Companies list by the Ethisphere Institute, a leading international think tank dedicated to the creation, advancement and sharing of best practices in business ethics, corporate social responsibility, anti-corruption and sustainability...

Marking the 25th anniversary of record-setting solar car

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Solar-powered cars are just now making news, but 25 years ago, solar pioneers Greg Johanson and Joel Davidson set a Guinness world record for the fastest "Solely Solar Powered Vehicle." On July 1, 1984 the Sunrunner achieved 24.7 mph in Bellflower, Calif., and a final top speed of 41 mph in the Mojave Desert...

Steelworkers ratify deal with MeadWestvaco in Virginia

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

The United Steelworkers (USW) union on July 2 said that the members of USW Local 8-675 in Covington, Va., have voted in favor of a proposed new contract with MeadWestvaco...

ULIS quadruples production capacity of infrared detectors

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

ULIS, a high-volume manufacturer of infrared detectors for low-cost IR cameras in industrial, professional, and security applications, announced July 2 that the company has expanded the production capacity of its microbolometers from 50,000 to 200,000 units per year...

ARC report: PLC market will begin to bounce rack in 2010

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

The Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) market experienced healthy growth in 2008...

Video: How aerial shell fireworks are manufactured

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

This video shows how a Japanese fireworks factory manufactures aerial shells...

Video: How sparklers are manufactured

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Video: How fireworks are made - Happy 4th of July

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Boeing delivered 125 commercial planes in 2nd quarter

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Defense group Saab signs corporate agreement with IFS

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Saab AB has signed a corporate agreement with IFS to deepen the cooperation between the parties and to position the group for new business opportunities...

OSHA fines Valero Energy $107K for safety/health hazards

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

The U.S...

Report: Low-power AC drives market has bright future

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

The bleak short-term forecast for the global economy will directly impact the low-power AC drives market growth during the next couple of years...

Clean energy investment bounces back strongly in Europe

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

New investment in clean energy worldwide rallied in the second quarter of 2009, reaching $24.3 billion, according to figures published today by New Energy Finance...

Ford leads Canada in auto sales for 1st time in 50+ years

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

For the first time in more than 50 years, Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited is the top-selling automaker in the country...

Airbus launches initiative to reinforce flight data recovery

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Airbus has launched a study for reinforcing flight data recovery, including, but not limited to, extended data transmission for commercial airliners, so that in the event of accidents, critical flight information can still be recovered and released to the investigating authorities...

Manufacturing - and factory singing - matters at GE

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

It's been a week in which the fundamental importance of manufacturing and R&D has been on the front burner at GE...

GE's giant wind turbines set to debut in Sweden

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Sweden is already a country with the highest renewable energy target in the European Union...

Analysis: Can General Motors return to its former glory?

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

The effort to transform General Motors and Chrysler by using American bankruptcy laws is a huge experiment...

Surgeons offer safety tips for Fourth of July fireworks

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Fourth of July fireworks always draw a crowd but those beautiful bursts of color can lead to catastrophic injuries if not used with care...

Worker killed at Electric Boat plant in Rhode Island

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

A North Kingstown, R.I., man has died while working at the Electric Boat Corporation manufacturing plant, according to a report from the Associated Press.

North Kingstown police said on July 1 that the 31-year-old worker, who was not identified, had been using a transport device to move a section of steel outside...

Tesla gets loan approval from Department of Energy

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Tesla Motors has received approval for about $465 million in low-interest loans from the U.S...

Asbestos mine/mill's ex-owner to address contamination

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

As part of a multi-site settlement, G-I Holdings Inc...

Duke Energy announces management realignment

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Duke Energy on July 2 announced several changes in leadership responsibilities.

Keith Trent, currently group executive and chief strategy, policy and regulatory officer, was named group executive and president of Duke's Commercial Businesses.

The Commercial Businesses organization includes Duke Energy Generation Services, which houses the company's wind generation business, Midwest non-regulated generation, DukeNet, a telecommunications business, and Duke Energy International, with operations in Latin America.

Jim Turner, currently group executive, president and chief operating officer for U.S...

Employee Confidence Index virtually unchanged in June

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

The Spherion Employee Confidence Index was virtually unchanged in June, decreasing 0.3 points to 48.0...

Johns named president of Pacific Gas and Electric Co.

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

PG&E Corporation announced July 2 that Christopher P...

ISM: U.S. manufacturing PMI increases 2.0 points to 44.8

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Economic activity in the U.S. manufacturing sector failed to grow in June for the 17th consecutive month, while the overall economy grew for the second consecutive month following seven months of decline, say the nation's supply executives in the Institute for Supply Management's latest Manufacturing ISM Report On Business...