Indiana in the hunt for new Boeing 7E7 assembly plant
Jobless claims crawl upward in latest week
Cooper Tire to close factories for a week
Danaher to sell Craftsman tools to industrial market
A-D names VP of marketing, business development
Manufacturers meet to discuss free trade policies
Internet sales continue to rise for wholesalers
DaimlerChrysler to implement digital mock-up of factories
BMW Group purchases 17,000 computers from Dell
Steelmakers association presents annual recycler award
DaimlerChrysler, EPA, UPS collaborate on fuel-cell vehicles

Indiana in the hunt for new Boeing 7E7 assembly plant
Indiana will try to persuade the Boeing Co. to build its new 7E7 factory somewhere in the state, according to a report from the Indianapolis Star online newspaper. If Indiana succeeds, Boeing would bring about 1,200 jobs to the state, roughly what Indiana lost when United Airlines closed its Indianapolis repair base.

The bidding war for the new assembly plant is in its earliest stages. Indiana does not yet know with whom it will compete for the factory. But, state officials are beginning to work up an incentive plan for the aircraft manufacturer.

Currently, Indiana has a major pool of laid-off aircraft mechanics from the United repair base and a number of suppliers that would prove beneficial to Boeing. Indiana also boasts a number of airports and railways that would be needed by Boeing.

The Indiana Department of Commerce will send its bid to McCallum Sweeney Consulting next month. McCallum Sweeney is the firm Boeing will use to select the site for the new factory.

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Jobless claims crawl upward in latest week
The number of workers filing new claims for unemployment insurance increased by 7,000 to 428,000 for the week ended May 17, the Labor Department reported.

The more stable four-week moving average fell by 7,750 to 433,000 for the same week. The four-week average is generally considered to be the more stable of the two because it flattens out week-to-week volatility.

Both indicators remained about 400,000, which economists usually regard as the line between a weak labor market and a stable labor market.

The number of workers continuing to file claims for unemployment insurance fell by 36,000 to 3.7 million for the week ended May 10.

Unemployment increased to 6 percent in April, according to the Labor Department. And, the U.S. economy has lost about 500,000 jobs during the last three months.

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Cooper Tire to close factories for a week
Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. said it will close factories for one week to eliminate inventory, according to a report from the Associated Press. The company will shut down plants in Texarkana, Ark; Albany, Ga.; Tupelo, Miss.; and Findlay, Ohio.

Production of tires will begin again June 2, the company said. Cooper spokesperson Roger Hendriksen said the action was not a layoff, simply an inventory adjustment.

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Danaher to sell Craftsman tools to industrial market
The Danaher Tool Group professional tools division announced the details of its exclusive partnership with Sears industrial sales to market Craftsman hand tools to industrial, construction and government end-user markets.

Danaher made the announcement at the Industrial Supply Manufacturers Association/Industrial Distribution Association Spring Convention in New Orleans.

"We couldn't be more excited," said Danaher professional tools division president Jake R. Nichol. "We see this as an extremely unique and exciting opportunity to partner one of the world's best known brands, the Craftsman brand, with our existing family of industrial tool brands to better meet the needs of our customers."

The Craftsman family of tools, formerly available to professional users only through the Sears industrial direct sales business, will reinforce the strength of the Danaher brands and better answer the needs of the end user. 

The Danaher professional tools division currently supplies Armstrong, Jacobs, Allen, K-D and Holo-Krome brands to these markets, and will now represent Craftsman tools through its network of leading distributors.

"By utilizing our network of industry-leading distribution partners, we will be able to significantly expand access to the Craftsman brand to industrial and professional end users," said Nichol. "Since the kickoff of our program on April 1, we are pleased to have forged partnerships with 83 leading distributors and are looking to complete our distribution landscape within the next 30 days."

Danaher partnered the Craftsman and Armstrong brands in order to offer a complete solution for the professional. Armstrong will continue to deliver a high-end, full-line program while Craftsman, a market-changing brand, will address the increasingly significant mid-price point to best meet all end-user needs.

Danaher and its distributors will assume the marketing, sales and service responsibilities for the 70,000 Sears industrial customers currently buying Craftsman tools. To support this program and its distributors, Danaher opened a new distribution operation in Gastonia, N.C.

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Gale was hired by A-D after 25 years with Rockingham Electrical Supply Co. Inc. of Newington, N.H. 

There, he served as vice president and director of sales and marketing and was responsible for the development of corporate strategic plans, marketing and sales planning, pricing strategy, supplier selection, advertising and promotions. 

''From the manufacturer's perspective, we are very pleased to see A-D select an individual of Stewart Gale's caliber to direct a strategic focus in the area that A-D was recognized as a an industry leader," said Leviton Mfg. Co. vice president of marketing Bill Marshall. "Stewart's past experience and achievement will help bring back the marketing-driven, value-added partnerships of years past. We see him building teamwork and bridges to help A-D, its affiliates and suppliers realize market share growth even in today's challenging environment.”

As the newest member of the A-D senior staff, Gale will direct the marketing activities and related program development for all A-D divisions (electrical, industrial, plumbing and PVF) and will help A-D identify and pursue growth opportunities in current and related industries. 

''Stewart knows A-D and our programs well, is highly regarded in our affiliate and supplier communities, and is ideally qualified to lead the development and implementation of the next generation of A-D marketing services and programs," said A-D chairman and CEO Bill Weisberg.

Gale's team at A-D will include marketing manager Kate Jope, manager of meeting planning Nicole Vernisi, and director of service provider relations Mark Wilson.

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Manufacturers meet to discuss free trade policies
A grass-roots chapter of a nationwide group of small business owners met in Menomonee Falls, Wis., on May 21 to discuss the exodus of manufacturing jobs to foreign countries, according to a report in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newspaper.

The group, called Save American Manufacturing, is trying get out the message that free-trade policies enacted over the last decade are unfair and are forcing manufacturing jobs from the U.S.

Police held the number of people allowed into the meeting to 200 due to capacity restrictions. Hundreds of others were asked to leave the public library, where the meeting was held.

The meeting was meant to bring awareness to the fact that larger numbers of small business owners, and especially manufacturers, do not agree with U.S. free trade policies.

"I'm in favor of free trade, but it has got to be fair trade," CS Industries owner Terry White told the newspaper. "What we have today is not fair trade."

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Internet sales continue to rise for wholesalers
E-commerce sales by wholesalers grew 13 percent while their overall sales were relatively flat between 2000 and 2001, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's recently published 2001 E-stats report.

The report tracks e-commerce sales by wholesalers and other areas of the economy. The new report showed wholesalers accounted for approximately 25 percent of all e-commerce sales transactions tracked by the Census Bureau.

In 2001, wholesalers had e-commerce sales of $272 billion, which equals 10 percent of total sales by merchant wholesalers. Overall, e-commerce sales by wholesalers grew by 13 percent over 2000 sales.

"The rise in e-commerce by wholesalers is clearly one reason many leading technology companies have their sites set upon the small and mid-sized (SMB) business market for growth," said Pembroke Consulting president Adam J. Fein. "Over 95 percent of the nation's 300,000 wholesalers are small businesses, making wholesale distribution a logical target for technology companies seeking growth."

According to Pembroke Consulting's data analysis, drug wholesalers had the largest percent of sales via e-commerce at 48 percent, followed by motor vehicles parts and supplies at 23 percent. 

These two industries represent 53 percent of the total e-commerce sales by wholesalers. Excluding these two industries, 6 percent of wholesale distribution sales were made via e-commerce.

"By comparison, the wholesale distribution industry is adopting e-commerce much more quickly than the retail industry, as only 1.1 percent of all retail sales in 2001 were via e-commerce," said Fein. "The majority of wholesale e-commerce sales were transacted via legacy Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) systems, reinforcing the value of in-place systems that work."

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DaimlerChrysler is implementing BIM for the development and operation of its new Alabama-based M-Class and Grand Sports Tourer manufacturing plant.

Using Bentley's BIM solution based on the unifying platform of MicroStation, DaimlerChrysler will design, build and operate all of its manufacturing plants throughout the world. BIM incorporates all of the graphical and non-graphical information required throughout the entire life cycle of DaimlerChrysler's manufacturing plants. By committing to BIM, DaimlerChrysler can simulate the manufacturing process and coordinate factory components to guarantee smooth, trouble-free construction and streamline long-term plant operations.

"We are expecting the digital factory project to cut plant design time in half while enabling us to continually improve plant management and operations," said DaimlerChrysler director of construction and works planning Dietmar Michel.

By standardizing on MicroStation for its BIM implementation, DaimlerChrysler ensures a common information platform between all of its production plants, and enables the information to be reused for maintenance and administration. DaimlerChrysler will fully implement digital factories by 2005.

In the first two stages of its digital factory project, DaimlerChrysler will use the Bentley BIM solution for its plant in Tuscaloosa, Ala., where it will retool and expand its M-Class production facility and construct a Grand Sports Tourer factory. Bentley's BIM solution will enable DaimlerChrysler to carry out reliable simulations and perform feasibility studies early in planning and design.

Functionality found only in the V8 release of MicroStation contributed to DaimlerChrysler's decision to standardize on the Bentley solution. For instance, MicroStation V8's digital rights functionality protects the integrity of the building model and gives DaimlerChrysler greater control of who may view and edit the information it contains. MicroStation V8 also generates a continuous record of the design history, allowing managers to monitor and track revisions to the building model.

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As part of the deal, Dell will also provide the BMW Group with services such as Custom Factory Integration (CFI), a pre-installation service that configures Dell systems to meet customer needs and requirements.

"The BMW Group, like Dell, represents quality and reliability, and we are delighted to be expanding our business with them," said Dell EMEA president Paul Bell.

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The presentation was made May 14 by SMA chairman Phillip Casey at the SMA Annual Members Conference Luncheon in Washington, D.C.

TXI Chaparral Steel Virginia and the city of Petersburg entered into a partnership that created wetlands on a portion of city-owned property being developed as an industrial park. The wetlands that were created satisfied an environmental permit requirement of the company.

"We are very pleased to receive this award from SMA for the environmental accomplishments that have been achieved by this partnership with Petersburg," said TXI Chaparral Steel Virginia president Tommy Valenta. "This award exemplifies what the private sector and public sector can accomplish when they work together on mutually beneficial projects."

The award was accepted by vice president and plant manager Robert Simcoe and environmental manager Lawrence Heyd. Petersburg Mayor Rosalyn Dance and public works director Michael Briddell represented the city at the presentation.

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DaimlerChrysler, EPA, UPS collaborate on fuel-cell vehicles
DaimlerChrysler will collaborate with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and UPS to create the first fuel cell delivery vehicle demonstration program in North America.

"DaimlerChrysler is working on several fronts to put fuel-cell-powered vehicles on public roads," said Chrysler Group president and CEO Dieter Zetsche. "We're pleased to be working closely with the EPA and the U.S. Department of Energy to bring substance and tangible progress to President Bush's vision of accelerating the development of hydrogen-powered vehicles."

The demonstration program will be based in Ann Arbor, Mich., at the EPA National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory. The DaimlerChrysler fuel cell vehicles will be used in normal UPS delivery operation on an established delivery route, and they will be fueled at a hydrogen refueling station built by the EPA.

An F-Cell, a Mercedes-Benz A-Class powered by a Ballard fuel cell, will be delivered in 2003 for use as an express-delivery vehicle by UPS. In 2004, a fuel cell Dodge Sprinter will be delivered as the first medium-duty fuel cell commercial delivery vehicle to be put in service in North America.

This program will enable DaimlerChrysler to continue evaluating fuel cell vehicle attributes, such as fuel economy, cold-weather operation and driving performance. It also will allow the EPA, DaimlerChrysler and UPS to gain considerable operational experience with a fuel cell fleet vehicle and hydrogen refueling station.

DaimlerChrysler's efforts to put fuel cell vehicles into real-world use, in addition to this agreement, include 60 F-Cell vehicles and 30 Citaro fuel cell buses that the company will have on public roads worldwide by 2004.

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