Free Republic

Since China joined the WTO. So many U.S. companies laid off workers and closed factories. John Bassett III, a third-generation furniture factory owner in Virginia, refused to do that. He decided instead to take on the Chinese. "He's absolutely relentless, “says Beth Macy, author of Factory Man: How One Furniture Maker Battled Offshoring, Stayed Local -- and Helped Save an American Town. Bassett traveled from the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains to northern China to visit a factory that made knockoffs of the furniture his factory made. Bassett pretended to be interested in doing business with the Chinese manufacturer,...

Metal 3D printing is the Holy Grail of additive manufacturing. Unlike with other materials that can be printed, metal enables manufacturers to create end-use objects via 3D printing, objects which oftentimes outperform matter-1those produced with traditional casting techniques. In fact General Electric and Airbus are already saving money money using metal laser sintering machines to produce parts for anything from aircraft, to fuel nozzles. Additionally, once those products are installed for end-use, they continue to save money because of their light weight, great strength, and precise fit. The reductions of just a few kilograms on board an aircraft can save...

<p>The Boeing Co. may now proceed with development of almost 500 acres near its assembly plant in North Charleston.</p>

(Reuters) - Luxury car maker BMW (BMWG.DE) revealed a $1 billion Mexican plant investment on Thursday, becoming the latest in a line of major automakers to take advantage of the country's growing industrial base and tariff-free access to the U.S. market. BMW outlined plans to build a factory near San Luis Potosi, central Mexico, in a move that will reduce the German company's dependence on higher-cost plants at home. The plant will begin assembling unspecified models in 2019 with an initial workforce of 1,500 and annual production capacity of 150,000 vehicles, the company said. "Mexico is an ideal location for...

States lure manufacturers and shore up jobs Susan Caminiti | @SusanCaminiti Sunday, 29 Jun 2014 | 7:00 AM ETCNBC.com 474 It wasn't long ago that the thought of corporations bringing their manufacturing back to the U.S. seemed all but impossible. But that's precisely what's happening, and the trend is predicted to continue through the rest of the decade.Consider Kent International, one of the largest U.S.-based bicycle manufacturers. The company, with headquarters in Parsippany, New Jersey, has been making its bikes overseas for more than 20 years. But with Chinese labor costs rising over the past several years, the company...

Ford opened 88 dealerships in China last year." "Ford opened 88 dealerships in China during the first half of 2014." "Ford opened 88 dealerships in China last month." None of those statements – even the last one – would seem unbelievable. Saying "Ford opened up 88 dealerships in China last Thursday," though, is a bit more dramatic. Yes, on June 19 alone, Ford opened the doors on nearly 100 showrooms in the People's Republic, boosting the Blue Oval's total presence in the country to 750 dealerships. Of course, while an overabundance of dealers in the US proved troublesome for American...

June 23, 2014 Sam Ro    U.S. manufacturing activity is at its highest level since May 2010. According to Markit, the U.S. Flash manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) unexpectedly jumped to 57.5 in June from 56.4 in May. "U.S. industry is booming again," said Markit's Chris Williamson. "The latest rise in the headline PMI was driven by the fastest output and new orders growth for just over four years," reported Markit. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected this activity index to fall to 56.0. Here are the key points from Markit: •Output and new orders rise at faster rates...

President Obama hosted the first ever White House Maker Faire June 18. Obama toured the exhibits on the White House lawn, meeting students, entrepreneurs, engineers and researchers, who are using new tools and techniques to launch businesses, develop advances in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), and be in the vanguard of a grassroots renaissance in American manufacturing. It featured more than 100 Makers—the White House term for people who “love to ‘Make’ stuff–from more than 25 states and included more than 30 exhibits. The president toured a sampling of the exhibits that White House officials said represent a broad...

The unsparing and harshly critical report from attorney Anton Valukas' investigation into General Motors, which held its annual shareholders meeting Tuesday morning, finds an array of culprits behind the company's ignition switch crisis. It cites a lack of urgency in the culture and, as GM CEO Mary Barra described it, "a pattern of incompetence." It blames an unwillingness of those in the know to reconsider their conclusions, and a dizzying number of committees with little clear accountability. The report also makes several references to the role corporate speak played in the wrongdoing. Typically, we think of corporate speak as trivialities...

… The downfall of manufacturing in the U.S. has done more than displace workers and leave communities searching for ways to rebuild devastated economies. In Reading and other American factory towns, manufacturing’s decline is a key factor in the widening income gap between the rich and everyone else […] “A loss of manufacturing has contributed to the decline of the middle class,” said Howard Wial, an economist with the Brookings Institution and the University of Illinois at Chicago. “People who are displaced from high-paying manufacturing jobs spend a long time unemployed, and when they take other jobs, those jobs generally...

Vice President Joseph R. Biden told a National Association of Manufacturers’ crowd this week that what the United States needed was more, not fewer, immigrants. Specifically, he called for a “constant, unrelenting stream” of new immigrants — “not dribbling [but] significant flows,” to bolster the national economy, The Hill reported.

Stocks were moving slightly lower in early trading Monday following the release of a closely watched report that showed an unexpected slowdown in U.S. manufacturing last month. The market is coming off record highs last week. […] The Institute for Supply Management said that its manufacturing index fell to 53.2 in May, short of what economists had expected. The index was expected to come in at 55.5, up from April's reading of 54.9, according to FactSet. The index indicates that U.S. manufacturing is still expanding, but at a slower pace. …

Have you always wanted to try your hand at 3D-printing a building? Are you jealous of the Chinese architect who 3D-printed 10 houses in 24 hours? Well, you might be interested in buying the world's first commercial house 3D-printer for £9,800 (€12,000, $16,000). Slovenian firm BetAbram have designed a 3D printer capable of printing a house, and they plan to release it in August under the name BetAbram P3. This 3D printer can print buildings measuring 12 sq m, and so far, the company has only produced miniature houses and sculptures with the printer. BetAbram is also planning to release...

I recently had occasion to read through the S.E.C. 10Q filing for the newly formed Colt Defense, which is a limited liability corporation comprised of New Colt Holding, Colt Manufacturing, Colt Defense Technical Services, Colt Canada, Colt Finance, & Colt International among others. The merged company has brought the manufacture of Colt long guns and Colt hand guns together into a single enterprise, however the company reported a loss in the most recent quarter and the sale of long guns was reported down more than 50% from a year ago (~24million in Q1 2014 vs ~52million Q1 2013). Some of...

Professional 3D printer for metals and for sand casting medium sized parts. Designed primarily as a metal 3D printer, ExOne’s M-Flex system is the company’s most comprehensive solution for finished product additive manufacturing. The M-Flex can print in stainless steel, bronze and tungsten and can also produce parts in silica and ceramic sand as well as glass. Unlike many other metal 3D Printers, the M-Flex can rapidly print durable end-use parts. It can print component layers in as little as 30 seconds, which represents a ten-fold increase in speed over previous ExOne systems, making the M-Flex one of the fastest...

Innovation in 3D printing is an ongoing process. There are always new ideas popping up, and new revelations taking place. However, one aspect of FDM 3D printers that hasnÂ’t really changed all that much in the past couple of years, is that of the extruder mechanics. A German engineer, by the name of Cem Schnitzler, hopes to change this though. His innovative design of a 3D printerÂ’s extruder could eventually allow for more variety in 3D printed objects. The idea is based off the concept of a microscope, and the way in which the microscopeÂ’s objective lenses may be rotated...

ALBANY — A year after the state enacted a tough new gun control law, Remington Arms said Friday it is moving two production lines from upstate to Alabama. Remington, which dates to 1816, said it will no longer produce its Bushmaster rifle and R1 pistol lines at its Ilion plant, which employs more than 1,000 workers. It’s unclear how many jobs will be lost in the move. But state Sen. James Seward (R—Milford) said passage of Gov. Cuomo’s SAFE Act last year didn’t help. “The fact that the lines being moved out are for products now more strictly regulated in...

When It Comes to Solar, Buy American By Brandon Workman |May 3, 2014 CAPS Rating 4/5 Stars $72.15 $0.95 (1.33%)   Last week, the Cleantech Group and Heslin Rothenberg Farley & Mesiti P.C. co-released their 2013 Clean Energy Patent Growth Index, which tracks clean energy patents issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The index is meant to depict a trajectory of innovative activity in the clean energy sector. Among its highlights:  Solar, with 965 patents, was the No. 1 technology, overtaking fuel cells. And each year, the technology commands a greater share of patent activity: Image credit: Clean Energy Patent...

After more than twenty years of trying, there’s no way to avoid the following conclusion: The gun manufacturers of America cannot be swayed by reason. This past week alone, we saw just how true this statement has become. On Tuesday morning, a gunman opened fire at a FedEx facility in Kennesaw, Georgia wounding six people before being shot and killed himself. Kennesaw is famous for being the Georgia town where every household is mandated to own at least one gun. Although the law is not officially enforced, it is estimated that roughly 50% of town residents do, in fact, own...

Additive manufacturing startup MarkForged aims to make it happen and is already marketing systems. Additive manufacturing (AM) is one of the hottest areas in parts fabrication. Interest is high, research dollars are being spent and company stocks are attracting investor attention. Why? First, because AM has moved beyond its initial role as a prototyping tool to a process that can build finished parts. AM technologies — stereolithography, fused deposition modeling (FDM), laser sintering (LS), material extrusion, direct metal deposition and more (see "The rise of rapid manufacturing," under “Editor's Picks,” at top right) — were able from their beginnings to...