PIP to form safety products company for first responders
Timken makes automotive group changes
Can a circular power saw be considered a super power?
Chainsaw maker reroutes saws to hurricane-affected areas
Sun Microsystems announces 1,000 job cuts
UAW reaches tentative deal with Big Three, major suppliers
PMA predicts positive activity over next three months
Kaizen Institute to offer seminar on lean accounting
Jobless claims decline in latest week
Manpower survey suggests increase in Q4 hiring
EPA air trends report shows improvement
Chamber of Commerce report says China must do more
Senior executives find job search takes longer
Industrial production barely budged in August
UAW, auto maker OK tentative contract

PIP to form safety products company for first responders
Protective Industrial Products Inc. (PIP) announced the formation of Alliance Fire and Rescue Inc. (AFR), an organization created to sell personal protective products that meet the needs of fire fighters and first responders.

AFR is now the exclusive distributor of Pacific Helmets of New Zealand, PIP Fire Gloves and Protective Apparel, and other related products in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.

AFR is a wholly-owned subsidiary of PIP-USA and will operate out of its facility in Guilderland Center, N.Y. Mike Carducci will join the organization as general manager. He previously worked for Perfect Fit Glove Company, most recently in a sales management position.

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Timken makes automotive group changes
The Timken Co. is retooling its automotive group a result of a decline in North American automotive demand, continuing manufacturing inefficiencies and higher-than-expected raw materials costs affecting its steel group.

"Our automotive performance is disappointing, and we are taking additional actions to address it," said Timken president and CEO James W. Griffith. "As the Big Three automakers have moved to cut production levels, we have experienced steeper volume declines in our automotive group than we had anticipated. North American passenger car production has been particularly hard hit. This has exacerbated the performance challenges which our automotive plants have experienced in recent months and will further delay the benefits of our restructuring efforts."

The company is continuing to reduce employment globally to achieve the benefits of its rationalization programs and to adjust to falling demand. It also continues to focus on cost reduction, and additional spending cuts are being made. More than 900 positions are expected to be eliminated during the second half of the year, with about 700 of these in the automotive business.

The company also announced plans to reorganize the automotive business to better leverage the combination of Timken and Torrington and drive improvements in its manufacturing operations. As a result of these changes, Timken automotive president Karl Kimmerling has left the company.

Griffith has assumed direct operational control of the automotive group during the transition period. He led the company's automotive organization from 1996-1999.

"Karl has made many important contributions to both our automotive and steel groups during his 24-year career with the company, and we wish him well in future endeavors," Griffith said.

The company's steel group also has been hurt by the decline in passenger car production rates as well as higher raw material costs. It has raised prices on certain products and reduced spending to mitigate the impact of these negative factors.

The company's outlook for the industrial group has remained unchanged, with industrial markets expected to remain flat through the end of the year.

"U.S. manufacturing continues to lag the rest of the economy, with this recovery the slowest on record," Griffith said. "While economists recently have noted some improvement in the manufacturing sector, we have seen very little evidence of a turnaround in the markets we serve."

Timken released lowered earnings guidance Sept. 19, citing its automotive and manufacturing problems as causes.

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Can a circular power saw be considered a super power?
Generally, circular power saws find their greatest use in factories and on construction worksites. But one man in London, a self-stylized superhero, is using his saw in a different way, and cutting his way right into people's hearts.

Not literally, of course. Angle Grinder Man, the London-based superhero, uses his circular power saw to free cars from the notorious boot, an auto-immobilization device generally attached to tire rims by police in an attempt to track down and prosecute parking scofflaws.

Angle Grinder Man offers his free boot removal service to "all good, decent law-unabiding people" who want to fight the system instead of paying the parking fines to have the boot removed legally. The subversive superhero has a hotline posted on his Web site, and London's citizens only need call for Angle Grinder Man to come to the rescue.

The superhero is rebelling against "the arrogant contempt that politicians hold for the people who put them into power, and whom they claim to represent." It's quite a serious charge, especially from a man who wears a blue lycra jumpsuit, gold underwear, gloves and a cape.

Naturally, the superhero's antics have enraged police in London. Police do not consider Angle Grinder Man's tactics funny, though many newspapers and citizens of London have embraced the spandex-clad superhero.

"What might seem a light-hearted gesture to some would be considered criminal damage to others," one Scotland Yard spokesperson told CNN.com. "Any act of deliberate vandalism would be acted on by the police."

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Hurricane Isabel, a Category II storm, now downgraded to a tropical storm, packing sustained winds of more than 105 miles per hour, made landfall in North Carolina on Sept. 18, knocking out power to more than 4.5 million customers and killing at least seven people so far.

Stihl, with twelve distributors and branches as well as 8,000 servicing dealers throughout the country, began re-routing more than 20,000 chain saws to mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions as early as Sept. 12 in support of relief efforts administered by emergency response and rescue crews. In the aftermath of serious storms, chain saws are the most effective tools in clearing downed trees and heavy branches.

In addition to its supply preparation efforts, Stihl will work with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in support of storm-related relief efforts.

Stihl also produced and distributed the video, "Storm Clean-Up Preparedness." The public service-oriented announcement details safe practices to adopt before, during and after a major storm and can be viewed online at www.stihlusa.com in the "Know How" section.

"Our primary objective is to ensure that emergency crews along the mid-Atlantic and Northeast coastlines have the necessary supplies to administer any disaster and rescue efforts," said Stihl president Fred J. Whyte. "We are ever cognizant of helping local communities safely prepare and respond to natural disasters as quickly and as efficiently as possible."

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Sun Microsystems announces 1,000 job cuts
Network computer maker Sun Microsystems will cut about 1,000 jobs, or 3 percent of its workforce, to boost profitability, increase revenues and grow shareholder value, according to a Reuters report.

The announcement came on the heels of a rollout of new servers and workstations, and a new desktop software package. The company also recently announced a new method for selling and distributing its products.

Last October, the computer manufacturer eliminated 4,400 jobs, and it also cut 3,900 during October 2001. A Sun spokesperson said there was nothing unusual about the job cuts, calling them "a standard business realignment."

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UAW reaches tentative deal with Big Three, major suppliers
The United Auto Workers (UAW) announced it reached a tentative labor agreement with General Motors Corp. on Sept. 18, just three days after securing tentative labor deals with DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group and Ford Motor Co.

Though the details of the deal were not released, the UAW and the automakers no doubt heaved a sigh of relief now that the union's 300,000 workers and 500,000 retirees may be covered under a new contract.

The union also concluded tentative talks with major auto suppliers Delphi and Visteon, coming away with a tentative labor agreement. 

The UAW will release the details of the contract agreements once the contracts have been ratified by union membership.

"We hope our negotiations in 2003 helps to raise working and social standards for all workers, union and nonunion," said UAW president Ron Gettelfinger.

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PMA predicts positive activity over next three months
Metalformers’ economic projections for the next three months continue to rise, according to the Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) Business Conditions Report. Conducted monthly, the report is an economic indicator for the manufacturing world, sampling 150 manufacturing companies. Information is based on conditions as of Sept. 1.

Forty-five percent of survey respondents expect the trend of economic activity for the next three months to increase compared with today. This percentage is an improvement of 3 percent from last month and the highest mark since May 2002. 

A mere 7 percent predicted that activity would drop (a 2 percent recovery from August and the most encouraging mark since April of last year). The remainder, 48 percent, thought activity would remain about the same.

Optimism was also apparent when 49 percent of participants anticipated that incoming orders would increase during the next three months (up 1 percent from last month and the peak number of the past 16 months). Only 7 percent expected orders to decrease, and 44 percent said orders would not change.

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Geared toward managers and accounting personnel in manufacturing, the public session explores how lean accounting drives focus into improvement initiatives and provides clarity around the real cost of waste.

The session also examines how traditional costing methods hinder the success of the lean enterprise by providing metrics that do not effectively direct lean strategy.

"Manufacturing companies typically utilize traditional costing methods or absorption costing to allocate and track costs. But for organizations trying to run lean, traditional metrics are often contra-indicative of the real benefit lean affords. This can cause concern where none need be," said Kaizen Institute chief financial officer Alex Tawse. "Lean accounting helps to accurately capture the effect lean improvements are having on the organization by analyzing the real cost of waste. These lean-friendly accounting methodologies ensure that managers rely on financial metrics that support lean initiatives, rather than those that may be hindering them."

Kaizen Institute of America employs a process known as Value Stream Costing (VSC) to help clients understand and incorporate lean into their accounting practices. Organizations in the automobile, food and distribution industries have been utilizing VSC to track and set improvement targets and to monitor how lean initiatives are faring.

"Because the process is flexible enough to be used with little to no financial investment, VSC is fast becoming a vital part of our clients' lean strategy," said Kaizen Institute president Brian Heymans.

VSC incorporates lean accounting methodologies, including Theory of Constraints (TOC) and Activity Based Costing (ABC), and integrates them with Kaizen improvement tools such as Value Stream Mapping, Policy Deployment and Target Costing to create a better system for managing improvements.

To learn more about lean accounting methodology or the Value Stream Costing, process visit the Kaizen Institute of America.

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Jobless claims decline in latest week
New claims for unemployment insurance declined to 399,000 from 428,000 for the week ended Sept. 13, according to the Labor Department. The fall in claims marked the largest one-week decline since a 31,000-claim slide for the week ended April 5.

The four-week moving average of new jobless claims increased to 410,750 for the week ended Sept. 13. During the previous week, jobless claims registered at 408,750.

The four-week moving average remained above 400,000, indicating a weak labor market. Economists generally look at the 400,000 mark as the difference between a weak and stable labor market.

Continuing claims for unemployment insurance increased to 3.68 million for the week ended Sept. 6, the latest week for which information is available. Continuing claims are older than two weeks.

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Of the 16,000 U.S. employers surveyed, 22 percent said they plan to increase hiring activity for the October-December period, while 11 percent expect a decrease in employment opportunities. Another 62 percent of employers foresee no change in hiring, and 5 percent are uncertain of their staffing plans.

When the seasonal variations are removed from the data, the survey results for this quarter mark the first increase in job prospects since the first quarter of 2003.

"The improvement in hiring expectations for the fourth quarter marks a reversal of the downward trend we have seen in the U.S. survey data since the beginning of the year," said Manpower chairman and CEO Jeffrey A. Joerres. "Although the survey results are somewhat weaker than the fourth quarter of 2002, employers report a consistent level of job growth across the majority of industry sectors and all four regions of the U.S."

With the seasonal variations removed from the data, durable goods manufacturers expect to hire at the same pace as last quarter, which is moderately slower than the forecast a year ago. The South anticipates the most job opportunities. The Northeast, Midwest and West share identical employment outlooks for the durable goods manufacturing sector, which are slightly less positive than in the South.

Non-durable goods manufacturers plan to hire at a consistent pace with last quarter, according to the seasonally adjusted data. This causes a plateau in the downward trend in hiring intentions that began in the first quarter of the year, but job levels are still lower than they were in the fourth quarter of 2002. Employment opportunities are greatest in the Northeast and fewest in the Midwest.

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EPA air trends report shows improvement
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its annual air trends report and its new acid rain data, both of which showed steady and significant air quality improvement. 

This environmental progress comes even as the country has experienced a 164 percent increase in gross domestic product, a 42 percent increase in energy consumption and a 155 percent increase in vehicle-miles-traveled.

The report, Latest Findings on National Air Quality: 2002 Status and Trends, shows that since 1970, emissions of the six principle air pollutants have been cut 48 percent. Acid rain data released at the same time demonstrates the cap and trade program's success in reducing harmful sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions from power plants.

According to the data, SO2 emissions from power plants were 10.2 million tons in 2002, 9 percent lower than in 2000 and 41 percent lower than 1980. NOx emissions from power plants also continued a downward trend, measuring 4.5 million tons in 2002, a 13 percent reduction from 2000 and a 33 percent decline from 1990 emissions levels.

“As the NAM has said for years, our air quality is getting better, thanks in large part to manufacturers’ innovative developments and investment in cleaner technologies," said National Association of Manufacturers director of air quality Jeffrey Marks.

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Chamber of Commerce report says China must do more
The United States Chamber of Commerce reported that while China has taken some initial steps towards compliance with its World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments, more progress is needed to fulfill the requirements of WTO membership.

“American businesses see the enormous potential that China’s WTO membership presents and are working to resolve trade differences,” said chamber vice president for Asia Myron Brilliant.  “However, expectations in the business community are rising and this report clearly shows that China must do more to meet those expectations.”

In its report, China’s WTO Record: A Two-Year Assessment, the chamber outlines China’s compliance efforts and indicates that regulatory transparency remains a key concern. Specifically, improvements in regulatory clarity and the consistent use of advance consultations – one of the country’s WTO commitments – would significantly improve the prospect for success in a number of industries.

The report also analyzes the progress of the country’s agriculture, financial services, automobile, express delivery and telecommunications sectors as well as China’s record on intellectual property rights enforcement and the granting of trading and distribution rights. It notes that excessive capitalization requirements are limiting the healthy development of the financial services market in China, and the country’s trading rights and distribution services commitments need special attention from Chinese officials and U.S. negotiators.

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The data was gathered from approximately 650 career transitioning senior-level executives who attended DBM's Center for Executive Options (CEO) from 1997 to May 2003.

The length of time to find a new, senior level position in today's job market is in excess of 12 months as opposed to approximately seven months in 1998.

In addition, job tenure is decreasing. Average tenure has dropped from a high of 17 years in 2001 to 12 years in 2003, with 31 percent of those polled overall having been with their previous employer for five or fewer years.

"Top jobs are taking longer to find and are more difficult to secure," said DBM's Center for Executive Options president Denis St. Amour. "Decision makers are scrutinizing senior level applicants more closely. The good news is that organizations are looking for greater accountability. The bad news is that with increasingly shorter tenures, executives are under pressure to produce near-term results, perhaps at the expense of longer-term success."

Other outcomes that influence senior-level professionals experiencing a job search include:
• Effect of downsizing: In the years 2001-2003 year-to-date, 18 percent of executives were in transition due to a downsizing vs. 6.1 percent in the years 1997-2000.
• Age: Average age of senior executives is decreasing from 50 to 46 years.
• Compensation: Average compensation upon re-employment, while relatively stable for the last five years, has dropped 21 percent year-to-date from 2002.

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Industrial production barely budged in August
Industrial production edged up by just 0.1 percent in August, restrained by weakness in manufacturing, especially for big-ticket goods such as automobiles.

The Federal Reserve said Monday the small increase in industrial activity came after a revised 0.7 percent advance in July, even stronger than the 0.5 percent first reported. August’s performance, however, was weaker than the 0.3 percent increase that economists were expecting.

At factories, production dipped by 0.1 percent in August following three straight months of gains. The decline partly reflected a drop in the production of costly manufactured “durable” goods, expected to last at least three years, the Fed said.

Output of automobiles and parts, which declined by 2.6 percent in August, “was reduced in part by the power outage that affected several states and some startup problems associated with model changeovers,” the Fed said.

“It seems clear the rebound in manufacturing is going to be a struggle,” said Daniel Meckstroth, chief economist for the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI, a business research group.

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UAW, auto maker OK tentative contract
The auto workers union reached a contract agreement with one of Detroit’s Big Three automakers but was still negotiating with the other two Monday morning, hours after their labor contracts expired.

The United Auto Workers said it had a tentative, four-year contract deal with DaimlerChrysler AG’s Chrysler Group. Representatives of the union and General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. were still talking.

The previous contracts, negotiated in 1999, expired at midnight Sunday. But at a time when the U.S. market share for GM, Ford and DaimlerChrysler is at an all-time low, most observers said the probability of a strike was low.

Details of the tentative agreement with Chrysler weren’t released, but UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said the deal contains what the union hopes to see in the other contracts.

“This is the framework for the pattern agreement, absolutely,” Gettelfinger said during a news briefing. Chrysler workers must still ratify the deal.

Ford and GM employees will report to work as usual while negotiations continue, Gettelfinger said. The UAW had hoped to reach simultaneous pacts with the Big Three, as well as auto suppliers Visteon Corp. and Delphi Corp.

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