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Dr. Lowell Catlett is urging pork producers to establish links along the production line and seek to identify and satisfy customer wants and needs so as to increase market share in the rapidly evolving industry. Dr. Catlett maintains that consumers are richer now and are 'spoiled brats' so the best way of making money and increasing market share is to satisfy the cravings of consumers. Dr. Catlett also advises pork producers against propaganda and maintains that educating customers on production processes may be able to correct misinformation being propagated by the media.

PHOENIX, ARIZ.--Motorola last week said it would phase out its military semiconductor operation based here--except for production of ASICs and multichip modules which will be transferred to other commercial units […]

Some responsibilities lend themselves to outsourcing; others are best kept in-house. Outsourcing real estate functions can enhance a corporation's operating efficiency, allowing company talent -- and money -- to focus […]

Companies can utilize group technology (GT) to enhance quality and reduce response time. The concept, which was introduced in 1919 to improve productivity, is useful in introducing new products and in ushering in technologies that help implement a production strategy designed to increase automation. GT can be applied in the design and manufacturing processes to improve quality., The effort to become more competitive and cost efficient in the production of high-quality products, while reducing scrap and rework is a critical issue for any manufacturing company. During the [...]

The Broadway transfer of Neil LaBute play 'Reasons to Be Pretty' has booked the Lyceum Theater for a run that opens in April. 'Pretty' originated earlier this year in an [...]

Czech Billionaire Zdenek Bakala has purchased a 20.8 percent stake in Ferrexpo. The drop in Ferrexpo's stock prices prompted the sale of the stocks. Meanwhile, OAO Severstal is planning to cut steel production in Russia, the United States and Europe by as much as 30 percent.

The life cycle management command (LCMC) concept was extended to munitions with the activation of the Joint Munitions and Lethality (JM&L) LCMC in November. The JM&L LCMC is the fourth [...]

New Zealand faces a significant challenge--how do we boost a productivity rate that is currently just 79 percent of the OECD average? Past economic growth has relied on sopping up [...]

The author examines the announcement of a joint venture agreement between Eurocopter S. A. and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) on helicopter production methods. Topics include joint ventures, business strategy, and production planning and management.

Yes, more acronyms. But let's explain why you may hear more about these two important topics in the future. Two types of companies. We believe that process plants worldwide can [...]

Industrial engineers have been called agents of change, and that is really what we do--or should be doing--most of the time. Sometimes we must use our knowledge in projects that [...]

Shanghai Wujing Chemical is planning an expansion of its acetic acid plant in Shanghai, China. The company plans to expand the plant from 140,000 tonne per year to 1 million tonne per year over a three-stage process.

Tyumen Oil is set to increase oil production by 4% this year and an additional 3% next year, having recorded 6% growth in 2001. The firm has reserves of 7.7bn [...]

Sound far-fetched? Well, it could be the way of the not-too-distant future, according to Total Metering CEO Dean Gowans. His company is at the forefront of work that is broadly [...]

Engro Chemical Pakistan (Karachi) has started production at a 100,000-m.t./year nitrogen, potash and phosphates fertilizers plant at Daharki, Pakistan. The $10-million plant will be expanded by a further 20,000 m.t./ [...]

Formosa Chemical and Fibre (Taipei) says it will start production at a 120,000-m.t./year acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) plant at Mailiao, Taiwan by the end of August. The plant will boost [...]

Production change-over methods, time and cost are high priority issues. Machinery and equipment have been designed to facilitate change-overs; however, increases in products and packages present another challenge to the [...]

What are your resources? How long will they last? Are they sufficient? Should they be updated? All are significant questions for addressing facilities, machinery, labor and materials in today's producing [...]

Time alone is a factor over which there is absolutely no control; it comes, it goes and it cannot be stopped. However, time usage is controllable and essential for effective [...]

The dynamic lot-sizing model (DLS) is one of the most frequently used models in production and inventory system because lot decisions can greatly affect the performance of the system. The practicality of DLS algorithms is hindered by the huge amount of computer resources required for solving these models, even for a modest problem. This study developed a parallel algorithm to solve the lot-sizing problem efficiently. Given that n is the size of the problem, the complexity of the proposed parallel algorithm is O([n.sup.2]p) with p processors. Numerical experiments are provided to verify the complexity of the proposed algorithm. The empirical results demonstrate that the speedup of this parallel algorithm approaches linearity, which means that the proposed algorithm can take full advantage of the distributed computing power as the size of the problem increases. Keywords: Materials requirements planning; Parallel algorithm; Lot sizing models

Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. (CFAC) has agreed to curtail its plants' power supply for up to two years, and sell the electricity back to the local power authority, Bonneville Power [...]

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. announced in mid-May that continued reduced demand for iron-ore pellets by North American steelmakers will necessitate a five-week shutdown this summer of the Hibbing Taconite Co. operations in [...]

The purpose of traditional cost accounting activities is to produce price information, provide inventory values, and control costs. This information is misused if it focuses on improving one measure, such as costs, while leading to a decline in product quality. Investments in automation may be difficult to justify using traditional cost accounting methods. Discounted cash flow methods offer a more realistic picture of the costs and benefits of automation because discounted cash flow is based on the notion that the benefits of automation should be adjusted by the cost of capital, the cost of financing, and the tax implications of capital investments.

Even though we may enjoy good health, most of us go through periodic physical examinations to determine if any danger symptoms are present and to make certain our personal care [...]

Productivity improvement, quality circles, robotics, group technology, flexible manufacturing systems, technological concepts--they are familiar to us all. Each has been touted as the panacea for industry's ills. Indeed, all are [...]

A study was conducted to extend the analysis of obtaining optimal safety stock levels in material requirements planning systems to a multi-level system supporting production that takes place based on a lot-for-lot policy. The production correlates with the application of the net present value as the objective criterion and a disregard of opportunities for joint set-up. Findings indicated the applicability of single-level results in multi-level cases during a lot-for-lot policy.

A study was conducted to characterize a multi-criteria approach within analytic hierarchy process to categorize production planning systems based on methodologies associated with push, pull or hybrid systems. The process was characterized by three basic steps, namely, the design of the hierarchy, the prioritization procedure and computation of results. The determination of the optimal production planning system was devised based on cost, flexibility, and influence of market issues.

Ford Motor Co. (Ford) is currently reviewing a plan to expand production capacity at its Avon Lake, OH, minivan assembly facility. Company executives stated that demand for the Mercury Villager and its Nissan Quest twin continues to grow and that the plant's current 160,000-unit capacity cannot keep up. Nissan Motor Company Ltd. officials have also been asking Ford to increase production in view of the US-built Quest's popularity with Japanese buyers.

In 1982, I was the plant manager in a large men's dress shirt plant in South Georgia using PBS. This plant produced a very high-quality product, was efficient and profitable. [...]

The last 'Production Management' column listed five meaningful checkpoints for all printing companies. Checkpoints were defined as places beyond which no job may proceed without careful scrutiny and approval by [...]

NEW YORK--Island Records founder Chris Blackwell opened South Beach Studios in Miami earlier this month. Geared toward preproduction and mix work, the facility is run by studio manager Joe Galdo, […]

EDISON, N.J.--Singer Sewing Co. will move some of its small-appliance manufacturing operations from Asian countries to the United States in an effort to restore all its appliance production to U.S. [...]

DOWNTOWN -- Copperweld Corp. plans to expand the mechanical tubing production capabilities of its Shelby, Ohio, plant through the installation of a quench-and-temper heat-treating line in early 1992. Copperweld traditionally [...]

Product end-of-life (EOL) planning is an unacknowledged aspect of total quality management which must be adressed in connection with other production processes. EOL strategies include procurement planning for a single production run, incremental procurement according to demand, production phasing in coordination with the demand for a new product and introduction of a substitute product to lower the demand for the product to be phased out. These strategies can be used to avoid inventory obsolescence in the face of declining demand.