This Page is for Archived Industry News Shorts - for CURRENT News click here.
Magical Magnets for Fuel Savings??? Sorry, No.
(October 26, 2005) - Over at Gord Montgomery's "blog" site the latest news is Gord's interest in testing magnets on fuel lines to save energy. Unfortunately, the "magnets align ions" scam has been around for decades and, while some efficiency changes may coincidentally happen when magnets are installed (weather changes, fuel quality changes, etc.), there is no scientific study that has ever shown a real impact. Furthermore, there is no scientific reason why they should do anything at all. With a little web-surfing you'll even find that the EPA has made many studies of such devices.
For a good explanation check out this link from the Department of Energy Laboratories.
Timken Doubles Earnings Per Share and Raises Outlook
(October 26, 2005) - Wow. Timken is definitely firing on all cylinders these days. Here's a snip from their latest press release:
The Timken Company today reported record third quarter sales of $1.3 billion, up 15 percent from $1.1 billion last year. Net income of $39.8 million or $0.43 per diluted share, was more than double last year's third quarter net income of $17.5 million or $0.19 per diluted share. Excluding special items, earnings per diluted share of $0.58 were more than double the $0.27 per diluted share reported a year ago. Special items in the third quarter of 2005 totaled $28.3 million of pretax expense, which was primarily for restructuring automotive operations as well as for industrial manufacturing rationalization. Read the full release here.
Solar Manufacturing Moves into New Facility
(October 20, 2005) - SOUDERTON, PA- After its conception in 2002, Solar Manufacturing has experienced a surge in development, expanding from the visions of CEO William R. Jones and five fellow pioneers to over 25 employees and a need for increased space. This need was met last month when all Solar Manufacturing employees moved from their location in Telford Pa., to a newly renovated, 60,000 square foot building in Souderton, Pa. Along with remodeled office space, the building includes a manufacturing plant that has been cleaned and painted with new, high-intensity lighting, a new water recirculation system for testing furnaces, additional electrical power distribution and improved loading docks to accommodate three trucks instead of one. Read the full release here»or visit Solar Manufacturing's web site here.
Delphi Execs Take Big Voluntary Pay Cuts
(October 17, 2005) - We promise to go light on the Delphi news soon, but they're doing truly newsworthy things so we have to cover it:
Responding to sharp criticism over planned pay cuts (as high as 60%) for its US work force, Delphi executives have announced voluntary pay cuts. Most impressive is Chairman Robert S. "Steve" Miller's plan to cut his own salary from $1.5 million to a paltry $1. Yes, one dollar, though we're guessing he'll still have some perks to soften the blow. Most executives are staring at a 10% pay cut come January 1, although President and COO Rodney O'Neal will give up 20% of his salary. This is clearly a good move, but giving up 10-20% and asking for 60% is a bit tilted toward the higher ups.
GM and UAW Agree to 25% Health Care Savings
(October 17, 2005) - General Motors and the United Auto Workers have reached a tentative deal that would slash GM's retiree health care liabilities by some 25% or $15 Billion. It would also save GM approximately $3 billion per year for hourly workers health care. No specifics were given as to the impact on retirees and hourly workers. GM expects to spend approximately $5.6 billion this year on health care for its workers. With GM's last quarterly loss standing at $1.1 billion this isn't quite enought to push them back to profitability, but it's a start. Without relief from high gas prices (which are killing truck and SUV sales) GM is in dire need to cost-cutting and new models to get back into the black.
Delphi Bankruptcy Brutal Changes and Hot Words on Both Sides
(October 13, 2005) - The battleground is heating up between Delphi, the UAW and the state of Michigan. Delphi's US operations (employing some 55,000 workers) filed for Chapter 11 last week and their Chairman, Robert S. Miller has laid down some serious changes and defended them rather fiercely. Probably the most newsworthy item was Miller's demand for a 60% cut in wages.
In Miller's own words, "Paying $65 an hour for someone mowing the lawn at one of our plants is just not going to cut it anywhere in industrial America for very long."
Obviously the idea doesn't sit well with UAW members who insist that any wage cuts will result in a strike. Miller, however, doesn't think a strike will happen insisting that the UAW is smart enough to know that will only make the situation worse and more painful for its members.
Delphi's demands brought on sharp criticism from Michigan's Governor Jennifer Granholm and UAW President Ron Gettelfinger. Miller had some choice words for both that included the following:
"The only way we're going to restore the pension plan is to have profits in the restructured company. If the labor costs stay too high, there won't be profits and therefore the pension will get terminated."
"Philosophers can speculate about fairness. I have to deal with reality."
"If we have contracts with those suppliers, they cannot stop shipments to us without incurring the wrath of the law. Once we've explained that to these suppliers, we find that they start shipping."
An interesting take on all this showed up yesterday on ISA's site. Basically ISA editors are saying that Miller's harsh and cutthroat approach is nothing more than a fast-forward to what would have to happen eventually anyway:
We have seen this movie before. Like steel and airlines before it, the traditional U.S. auto industry is struggling mightily, but futilely, to shore up a crumbling edifice. All Miller has done is push the fast-forward button. The end is now near. The sooner we get to the sequel, the better.
Feel free to share your opinions about Delphi and the impact of global labor rates with the Add Your Comments button.
Will Delphi Spell Doom for GM's Turn-around?
(October 11, 2005) - The unexpected Chapter 11 filing by Delphi last weekend has experts debating whether Delphi will successfully pin its $11 Billion pension debt on General Motors. That, coupled with GM's own slowing sales and possible supply interruptions from its reliance on Delphi, has GM's stock falling and talk of a GM bankruptcy is rampant. In the end some experts think it will come down to that $11 billion question: will GM be hit with the full amount or will it be nothing at all.
For the details there's a great article in today's Detroit News here.
Funk Manufacturing Installs Second IR System
(October 10, 2005) - IR is fast replacing dewpoint and shim stock analysis for correcting oxygen sensors used for carbon control. The state of the art uses micro-flow sensor analyzers with built in CO/CO2/CH4 references to automatically update probe process factor with self calibration and all the bells & whistles.
Funk Manufacturing/John Deere (Coffeeville, Kansas) is a long time IR user. They installed their first Marathon Ultracarb-4000 system in 1995 (truly cutting edge at the time) and, with an upgrade to the latest Siemens analyzer and Marathon MultiPro IR controller in 2000, have been using it ever since.
Well this week Funk and industry legend Randy Simmons started up their second system. With the first unit monitoring and adjusting process factors for 6 IQ furnaces (4 Lindberg and 2 Surface) at the South Heat Treat, the new unit is now doing the same for 5 IQ Lindbergs at the North facility.
Randy and the guys at Funk sent along a few photos :
Here is Randy and Jerom Gnatek with the new Marathon Ultracarb-4000 at the North facility
Here is Randy and Freddie Fredricks at the North facility
Here is Randy with Randy Kimes at the South facility in front of the original unit
(October 5, 2005) - Selling your equipment on HTN is always free - nobody earns a commission and there is no fee for listing so you can make more money or be more competitive. For buyers this can mean substantially reduced prices!
(October 6, 2005) - Any news about Timken is generally of interest to heat treaters. Just two weeks ago we reported on their closing one of the old Torrington shops and adding surcharges. Looks like they're keeping busy and putting those surcharges to good use! Today they announced their acquisition of a Bearing Inspection Inc. Here's a snip from the press release. To read the entire release click the "Read More" at the end. Post comments using the "Add Your Comments" button.
CANTON, Ohio, Oct. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Timken Company today announced that it has continued to strengthen its strategic position in the aerospace industry with the acquisition of Bearing Inspection, Inc. (Bii), a leading independent provider of aerospace bearing inspection and reconditioning services. Terms of the acquisition, which Timken expects to be accretive during the first year of ownership, were not disclosed.
"This acquisition transforms Timken's position in the aerospace services market," said J. Ron Menning, vice president - aerospace, consumer and super precision. "The combination of Bii's recognized leadership in bearing reconditioning with Timken's capabilities as the foremost global manufacturer of aerospace bearings will dramatically enhance the value we can offer worldwide aviation customers and generate synergies for the business. Timken is now where the industry can turn for an unmatched offering of power transmission products and services." ReadMore>
Delphi Hits Hard Times - May File for Chapter 11 Protection
(October 5, 2005) - The news from Delphi of late doesn't look good. This long-time supplier and former subsidiary of GM has fallen on hard times and is not threatening to file for bankruptcy. Delphi's biggest customers have been GM and Ford and both automakers are struggling which have hurt Delphi's sales significantly.
Just how much of an impact will such a filing have?
Consider that Delphi has over $28 Billion in annual sales, $16 Billion in assets (bigger than Kmart when they filed) and employs more than 185,000 people. If they do file they will be the biggest US Automotive industry company to file for Chapter 11.
With new, harsher bankruptcy laws set to take effect on October 17, Delphi will likely file before that date unless it can wrangle assistance from GM and concessions from the UAW.
So far the UAW isn't budging much as they seem confident that GM is on the hook to protect Delphi's workers.
(October 4, 2005) - It's a sign of the times that lay-offs now extend to the "white-collar" workers as they too have replacements in cheaper regions. Here this latest news from Detroit:
Layoffs at Ford include engineers
Company pink-slips manufacturing workers, others in push to reduce work force by 5 percent.
By Bryce G. Hoffman / The Detroit News
Sales and marketing employees were not the only ones to lose their jobs at Ford Motor Co. last week. A number of engineers and white-collar manufacturing workers also were laid off as part of the automaker's effort to reduce its salaried head count by 5 percent.
Disclaimer: HeatTreatNews.com makes all efforts to vet its news sources for accuracy and truthfulness. Unfortunately even vetted news can prove inaccurate at times. HeatTreatNews.com will make every effort to ensure that all of the information contained herein is correct but but HeatTreatNews.com cannot guarantee accuracy. Please send any concerns or corrections to admin@heattreatnews.com
