Our metal finishing industries have been driven and changed by environmental, health, and safety concerns for a generation. The direction has always been—for excellent reasons—restriction or abandonment of some then-useful technology. On Jan. 13, however, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) enabled an opportunity for change in the opposite direction.
19 January, 2009
The manufacturing outlook for the airline/aerospace industry for 2009 is starkly different from the scary projections coming out of the automotive industry. According to a newly released report from the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), the category encompassing civil aviation, defense, and space is expected to see growth in the 2–3% range this year. Albeit modest, analysts say it is welcomed growth nonetheless.
19 January, 2009
Toyota Motor will idle its plants in Japan for 11 days in February and March to reduce output in the face of steeply declining global vehicle sales, the company announced recently. The Japanese auto giant said the suspension will affect production at all 12 of Toyota's directly operated domestic plants, which include four vehicle assembly plants and also factories that make transmissions, engines, and other parts. The stoppages are in addition to a three-day shutdown this month at these plants that Toyota had already announced.
12 January, 2009
U.S. automotive sales took another high double-digit dive as revenues among the leading manufacturers fell more than 35% in December. The news comes on the heels of a similarly dismal automotive report for November.
12 January, 2009
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has extended the comment period on its proposal to reconsider amendments to the national emissions standards for halogenated solvent cleaning (degreasing) using the chlorinated solvents promulgated in May 2007. As a result, the deadline for comment is now Feb. 4, 2009.
12 January, 2009