Latest blog entry
Employers took 2,690 mass layoff actions in August that resulted in the separation of 259,307 workers, seasonally adjusted, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on September 23. Each action involved at least 50 persons from a single employer. The number of mass layoff events in August increased by 533 from the prior month, and the number of associated initial claims increased by 52,516. Over the year, the number of mass layoff events increased by 803, and associated initial claims increased by 70,356. Year-to-date mass layoff events (21,184) and initial claims (2,162,202) both recorded program highs through August. In August, 900 mass layoff events were reported in the manufacturing sector, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 93,892 initial claims. Over the month, the number of manufacturing events increased by 279, and associated initial claims increased by 21,626.
During the 21 months from December 2007 through August 2009, the total number of mass layoff events (seasonally adjusted) was 44,669, and the number of initial claims filed (seasonally adjusted) in those events was 4,556,636. (December 2007 was the start of a recession as designated by the National Bureau of Economic Research.)
The national unemployment rate was 9.7 percent in August 2009, seasonally adjusted, up from 9.4 percent the prior month and up from 6.2 percent a year earlier. In August, total nonfarm payroll employment decreased by 216,000 over the month and by 5,830,000 from a year earlier.
Industry Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
The number of mass layoff events in August was 1,428 on a not seasonally adjusted basis; the number of associated initial claims was 125,024. Average weekly layoff events rose from 285 in August 2008 to 357 in August 2009, and average weekly initial claims increased from 28,000 to 31,256. Seven of the 19 major industry sectors reported program highs in terms of average weekly initial claimants for the month of August: construction; wholesale trade; retail trade; management of companies and enterprises; educational services; arts, entertainment and recreation; and accommodation and food services. (Average weekly analysis mitigates the effect of differing lengths of months.)
The manufacturing sector accounted for 31 percent of all mass layoff events and 33 percent of initial claims filed in August 2009. A year earlier, manufacturing made up 29 percent of events and 37 percent of initial claims. Within manufacturing, transportation equipment comprised the largest number of average weekly claims (2,269) despite experiencing the largest decrease in average weekly initial claims over the year (-1,688) among three-digit NAICS industries. The administrative and waste services sector accounted for 14 percent of mass layoff events and 12 percent of initial claims, down from 15 and 14 percent, respectively, the previous August. Construction accounted for 11 percent of events and 10 percent of initial claims, an increase from 10 percent of events and 7 percent of claims in August 2008.
Of the 10 detailed industries with the largest number of mass layoff initial claims, three reached a series high for August: motorcycle, bicycle and parts manufacturing; warehouse clubs and supercenters; and casino hotels. The industry with the largest number of initial claims was temporary help services (11,533).
Geographic Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
Among the four census regions, the West registered the highest number of initial claims in August due to mass layoffs (36,897), followed by the Midwest (32,197) and the South (29,486). Average weekly initial claims associated with mass layoffs increased over the year in three of the four regions, with the Northeast experiencing the largest increase (+2,064). In 2009, the Northeast reported its highest August level of average weekly initial claims (6,611) in program history.
Of the nine geographic divisions, the Pacific (30,781) had the highest number of initial claims due to mass layoffs in August, followed by the East North Central (25,962) and the Middle Atlantic (23,491). Seven of the nine divisions experienced over-the-year increases in average weekly initial claims, led by the Middle Atlantic (+1,786). This year, the Middle Atlantic, Mountain and South Atlantic divisions reached program highs for August in terms of average weekly initial claims.
California recorded the highest number of average weekly initial claims in August, with 6,521, even though it had the largest over-the-year decrease in average weekly claims (-704). The over-the-year decrease was largely due to a drop in claims from the administrative and support services industry. The states with the next highest number of average weekly initial claims were New York (2,851), Pennsylvania (2,481) and Florida (1,949). Thirty states and the District of Columbia experienced overthe-year increases in average weekly initial claims, led by Pennsylvania, New York and Illinois. In 2009, eight states reached program highs in average weekly initial claims for the month of August: Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New York, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.
Read the full report and view all of the data tables by clicking on the link below:
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/mmls.nr0.htm
It might seem as if the country that used to make everything is on the brink of making nothing.
In January, 207,000 U.S. manufacturing jobs vanished; it was the largest one-month drop since October 1982. Factory activity is hovering at a 28-year low. Even before the recession, plants were hemorrhaging work to foreign competitors with cheap labor. & some companies were moving production abroad.
But manufacturing in the United States isn’t dead or even dying. It’s moving upscale, following the biggest profits, & becoming more efficient, just as Henry Ford did when they created the assembly line to make the Model T.
The U.S. by far remains the world’s leading manufacturer by value of goods produced. It hit a record $1.6 trillion in 2007; that was double the $811 billion in 1987. For every $1 of value produced in China’s factories, the united states generates $2.50.
The U.S. sold over $200 billion worth of aircraft, missiles & space-related equipment in 2007. & $80 billion worth of autos & auto parts. Deere & Co., best known for its bright green-and-yellow tractors, sold $16.5 billion worth of farming equipment last year, much of it to the rest of the world. Then there’s energy products such as gas turbines made by General Electric for power plants, computer chips from Intel & fighter jets from Lockheed Martin.
So what’s made in the united states these days?
Several trends have emerged over the decades:
Household names such as GE, General Motors, IBM, Boeing, & Hewlett-Packard are among the largest manufacturers by revenue.
• U.S. companies have shifted toward high-end manufacturing as the production of low-value goods moves abroad. This has resulted in lower prices for shoppers & higher profits for companies.
• the united states makes things that other countries can’t. “Made in USA” is more likely to be stamped on heavy equipment or the circuits that go in other products than on the TVs, toys, clothes & other items on store shelves.
• When demand slumps, all types of manufacturing jobs are lost. Some higher-end jobs — but not all — return with nice times. Workers who make goods that are produced more cheaply abroad suffer.
four times this recession runs its course, surviving manufacturers will emerge more efficient & profitable, economists say. More valuable products will be made using fewer people. Products will be made where labor & other costs are cheaper. & manufacturers will focus on the most lucrative products.
Still, the perception of decline is likely to grow as factories & jobs vanish, & imports of most goods increase. Thirty years ago, U.S. producers made 80 percent of what the country consumed, according to the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI, an industry trade group. Now it’s around 65 percent.
About 12.7 million Americans, or 8 percent of the labor force, held manufacturing jobs as of last month. Fifty years ago, 14.6 million people, or 28 percent of all workers, toiled in factories. The decrease — although painful to those who lost jobs — shows how companies are making more with less.
Some U.S.-made products are hiding in plain sight.
Berner International Corp., based outside Pittsburgh, doesn’t make the clothes, dishes or sponges sold at Walmart, but its products hang above shoppers’ heads as shortly they come through the sliding doors.
Some companies saddled with high labor costs — sometimes called legacy costs that ensured workers high wages, pensions & handsome benefits — are struggling to survive. The auto industry faces the problems the steel industry faced in the 1980s.
The company’s 60 employees make air curtains — rectangular blowers mounted to the ceiling that keep out hot or chilly air, insects & dust while keeping in A/C & heat. Also called air doors, they hang from ceilings at Whole Foods & Starbucks, & above the big factory doors at Ford & Toyota plants.
Judy Horkman, 47, was devastated when he was laid off after 13 years of attaching handles to saute pans on the assembly line of a Mirro Cookware plant. But six years ago, Horkman took a job making industrial light fixtures for office buildings & warehouses at Orion Energy Systems Inc. he makes $12.50 per hour; it’s not the $13.80 he earned at Mirro, but Horkman said he is fine with that.
But other American manufacturers — & workers — have adapted.
“Regardless of my product, I’d put my heart into it. I put my hard work, my dedication, my quality into whatever I make,” he said. “I just imagine someone out there needs this, & I think about how nice I’d need it to be if it was for me.”
F0r More Information Visit Manufacturing
Technologies have been developed with the aim of improving air quality and water conservation, reducing energy use, and providing food industry companies with practical and efficient solutions.
According to Heat and Control, extensive research and development, along with close consultation with manufacturers, has resulted in techniques that can be measured and proven as a definite means of improving manufacturing efficiency, ultimately improving sustainability.
These upgrades are available to existing operations as a retro-fit, as well as for new commissions. “Heat and Control can offer realistic options as to how a manufacturer can introduce more sustainable practices, meaning processors can benefit now, not when they need to build a new line,” said Heat and Control’s chief engineer, Mick Walsh.
Technologies and equipment available take a whole-of-system approach across all areas of food production and include heat exchangers, heat recovery systems, air quality equipment, fresh water reducing systems and total line efficiency. When high-temperature air is introduced into a burner, less fuel is required for combustion.
“The Combustion Air Pre-Heater utilises normally wasted exhaust heat to reduce the energy usage and increase the fuel efficiency of our heat exchangers,” explained Walsh. Additional modules can be added to further increase the overall process efficiency by preheating make-up cooking oil, air and water.
Combustion Air Pre-Heaters can be retrofitted to many existing Heat and Control heat exchangers to boost energy efficiency. In addition, the graduated density oil heating tube bundle provides greater thermal efficiency than existing models - far exceeding the performance of heat exchangers that do not remove pollutants.
The Gentle Wash Potato Slice Washer reduces fresh water usage up to 80% over conventional systems. “The system thoroughly removes starch from potato slices with a unique three stage process that also cleans and reuses wash water. It then spreads slices uniformly across the drain conveyor for more efficient dewatering and feed into the fryer,” said Walsh.
“By using less fresh water and concent rating starch and fines for more efficient removal, Gentle Wash reduces sewer loading and the burden on a starch recovery system.”
As the high-efficiency KleenHeat heat exchanger heats the cooking oil, it also incinerates and removes virtually all odours, oil and other particulates exhausted from the fryer stack that would normally pollute the air around the manufacturing facility.
“Regulatory agencies worldwide recognise the KleenHeat pollution control method as the ‘Best Available Control Technology’ and increasingly require this equipment for new and upgraded fryer lines,” concluded Walsh.
Article Resource:http://www.foodmag.com.au/Article/Sustainable-food-manufacturing-right-now/437545.aspx
Innovalight, a San Francisco-based company that makes flexible thin-film solar modules, has taken $5 million in equipment lease financing from ATEL Ventures.
The most common substance for thin-film cells is CIGS, but Innovalight uses a printed silicon-ink process. The deposition technique uses less silicon, and allows for the greater flexibility of Innovalight’s modules.
Last year, Innovalight took $28 million in financing and announced plans to build a manufacturing facility, which is slated to open this year.
For Sarah Xu, challenges and opportunities are separated by a “thin line” and the difference in outcome lies with the amount of effort put into to the getting the objective.
As founder and chief executive of Runtitan Outdoor Manufacturing Co, a leading provider of Chinese outdoor equipment, she knows that her international competitors will present a long-term challenge to her company.
This is, in part, due to China’s growing zest for a healthy livestyle and sports, fueled by the nation’s excitement of holding the Olympic games for the first time.
“China’s outdoor sports industry is undergoing an ever bright prospect as the Beijing Olympics is drawing near,” says Xu.
Established in the US in 1995 and brought to China in 1999, Runtitan specializes in the manufacturing and retailing of outdoor sports equipments ranging from sleeping bags, tents, backpacks, luggage and travel accessories to footwear, athletic apparel and outerwear, selling in major supermarkets across China and America such as Metro, Wal-Mart, E-Mart and Loogoo.
The group is now facing the emergence and growing presence of international outdoor sports brands such as Columbia Sportswear, The North Face Cascade Designs and Timberland as they seek to become more established in the market. Xu, however, seems composed and confident about the situation.
“We need more participants joining the massive market to boost this fledging industry as a whole,” she says.
Over the past ten years of development, Xu says that the company has established strong distribution channels and brand loyalty in China.
“Most importantly, we know a lot about the needs of Chinese people and its market.” she emphasizes. But this was not achieved overnight.
Upon obtaining an MBA degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institution in New York in 1995, Xu set up Runtitan in Pennsylvania, the United States in 1999, aiming to tap into a land where outdoor sports was just starting from scratch.
“At that time, people simply had no idea of what tents or sleeping bags were used for,” Xu recalls.
“We launched a ‘family outdooring’ concept and wanted to bring to the Chinese a leisure outdoor lifestyle, which was not well recognized at the beginning. But it proved to work.”
Later In 2001, she set up a camping site at Fengxian, Shanghai, where its manufacturing factory was based, inviting outdoor sports fans to get an idea of outdoor activities.
<object width=”425″ height=”344″><param name=”movie” value=”http://www.youtube.com/v/rSXqWK4usu0&hl=en”></param><embed src=”http://www.youtube.com/v/rSXqWK4usu0&hl=en” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” width=”425″ height=”344″></embed></object>