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$4 million for a Study on Displaced Autoworkers
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 18, 2009
Contact: Senator Levin’s Office
Phone: 202.224.6221
Levin Announces Funding for Labor Market Study on Displaced Autoworkers
Funds Made Available by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., announced $4 million for a study on displaced autoworkers to analyze changes in the auto industry and identify retraining opportunities to adapt to green jobs.
The funds, to be split by Michigan, Ohio and Indiana, are part of the U.S. Department of Labor’s State Labor Market Information Improvement grant program which aims to support the analysis of labor market data to assess economic activity in energy efficiency and renewable energy industries and identify occupations and skill requirements within those industries. The funding was made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
“Just as Michigan was the manufacturing leader of the 20th century, it can be the leader in green jobs and manufacturing in the 21st,” Levin said. “This study and other programs like it will show that Michigan’s strong workforce can serve as the foundation for a clean energy economy the whole country will benefit from.”
The funding will be shared by state agencies in the three states, including the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth. The priorities of the study will be to:
• Characterize the structural transformation from the “old” auto industry to the “new” and identify new skills and training requirements
• Identify the auto parts supply chain impacts of the auto industry structure transformation
• Identify alternative career path opportunities for dislocated auto parts workers for jobs in demand with an emphasis on those in the green economy; and
• Identify current and projected skill gaps of the auto and auto parts workforce and required training needed to compete for jobs in demand and green job opportunities.
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Stanley Works to Buy Black & Decker for $4.5 Billion
AM Staff
11/03/2009
The Stanley Works will acquire The Black & Decker Corp. in an all-stock, $4.5-billion transaction. Stanley supplies tools for industrial, construction, and do-it-yourself use; and Black & Decker manufactures power tools and accessories, hardware and home improvement products, and technology-based fastening systems.
Announcing the deal, the two companies listed a series of reasons to explain the consolidation, including: creating a “comprehensive portfolio of iconic brands”; presenting “complementary global product and service offerings”; establishing a “stronger, more diversified global company”; delivering “significant shareholder value creation”; and enhancing the financial strength.
The new Stanley Black & Decker will comprise the largest U.S. toolmaker, with numerous brands that include Stanley, FatMax, Bostitch, Facom, Proto, Mac Tools, Sonitrol, Stanley Security Solutions, Best, and Vidmar; and Black & Decker, DeWalt, Porter-Cable, Emhart Teknologies, Kwikset, Baldwin and Price Pfister.
Directors of both companies have approved the takeover. Black & Decker shareholders will receive a fixed ratio of 1.275 shares of Stanley common stock for each share of Black & Decker common stock they own. Stanley shareholders will own approximately 50.5% of the combined company’s equity; Black & Decker shareholders will own approximately 49.5%.
Stanley chairman and CEO John F. Lundgren will be president and CEO of the combined company. Nolan D. Archibald, chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Black & Decker, who has been CEO for 24 years, will be executive chairman of the combined company for three years.
Lundgren called the takeover “a unique opportunity to bring together two great companies, each with first-rate brands, and provide enhanced opportunities to generate superior returns as we build on this new, larger platform.”
He said Stanley and Black & Decker together will have offer a portfolio of products that encompass all major tool categories and proved resources to support expansion of the combined security and industrial businesses.
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Aluminum lighting fixtures are at work for you
Aluminum lighting fixtures are at work for you. Whenever your car stops at a red light, chances are one of the commonplace, yet unnoticed, aluminum lighting fixtures has just served well in keeping order in your daily life. Indeed, street traffic light housings are not the only applications of aluminum lighting fixtures because of the many benefits offered by these die cast products.
For some time in the past, the production of light fixtures was a labor-intensive process, requiring the lengthy and laborious process of welding different pieces together. Naturally, this process is also costly and imposed limits on the shapes that could be designed. However, with the advances in die casting technology, aluminum lighting fixtures have been developed. Through die casting turning out products that are already in net shape, mass-production bringing in economies of scale has been made possible. The less-expensive aluminum lighting fixtures could likewise be designed into any desirable shape and powder-coated for a good-looking finish.
Aluminum’s light weight also contributed to shipping cost reduction, making these products an attractive option vis-à-vis their steel counterparts which could be heavier by as much as one-third. While plastic lighting fixtures would be lighter, these would not last as long as the aluminum lighting fixtures. This longevity is brought about by the superb thermal properties of aluminum which likewise enable its applications in various lighting requirements especially when high temperature bulbs are used. Common applications for aluminum lighting fixtures in addition to traffic light housings include those for garage lighting, hanging lights, airport runway lights and video camera lights.
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Enhanced Performance of Cast Aluminum Pistons
Federal-Mogul Corp. reports it has developed a new aluminum automotive piston design that withstands the mechanical and thermal loads produced by heavy-duty engines, making it a more reliable component for diesel engines. This will be important to automotive manufacturers seeking to build vehicles with smaller engines, to achieve lower CO2 emissions and better fuel economy, without compromising the vehicles’ power output.
In a diesel engine, combustion takes place in a hollow bowl in the top of the piston. Combustion temperatures may top 750 degrees F (400 degrees C) and pressures may exceed 200 Bar (200 x atmospheric pressure.) Under these combustion conditions, the rim of the piston bowl has an increased failure factor.
Federal-Mogul engineers identified thermal and mechanical failures factors for the piston bowl, and identified free primary silicon particles distributed throughout the aluminum matrix. Aluminum expands eight times more than silicon, so stresses are introduced within the piston every time temperature fluctuates. Also, the repeated mechanical loads could result in fatigue failure from the corners of the silicon particles.
Silicon cannot be eliminated from the aluminum alloy: It delivers low expansion properties and good castability. A previous solution to the problem is fiber-reinforcement, but fiber reinforcements increase manufacturing complexity.
Federal-Mogul’s new DuraBowl design involves pre-machining the cast piston and then re-melting the aluminum-silicon alloy around the rim of the bowl. Rapid cooling follows, which alters the alloy’s microstructure significantly by reducing the size of hardening phases such as silicon particles and intermetallics.
The result is a piston bowl rim which has its first few millimeters significantly strengthened to withstand temperature and pressure, thereby extending engine life four to seven times what may be achieved with a conventional cast piston.
“The strength and efficiency of our solution is that the process is physically simple,” stated Frank Doernenburg, Federal-Mogul director of technology, pistons and pins. “The sophistication is in the control of key parameters, which ensure consistent quality. The result is a technologically advanced, high-performing and very cost-competitive product when compared to both fiber-reinforced and steel pistons.”
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US Manufacturing Growth better than US Economy
Long-awaited growth is finally poised to return to the U.S. economy, albeit at a far more modest rate than the typical recovery from previous recessions, according to a new report from The Manufacturers Alliance. The group predicts that inflation-adjusted gross domestic product (GDP) will decline 2.5% in 2009, before rebounding to 2.4% growth in 2010, and by 3.5% in 2011.
“We are pleased there is growth in the overall economy, and surprisingly strong growth in manufacturing,” said Daniel J. Meckstroth, Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI Chief Economist. “Yet by historical standards it is still modest compared to recoveries from past recessions.
“Manufacturing production growth, at 4.6%, will grow faster than the general economy, at 2.4%, in 2010,” he said. “An inventory swing in the goods producing sector is a major reason for the acceleration in manufacturing production. We expect manufacturing growth to be led by high technology products, semiconductors, and computers.”
Manufacturing production growth is expected to decline 11.3% this year before rebounding to 4.6% growth in 2010 and to 6% growth in 2011.
Production in non-high-tech industries is expected to decline by 11.3% in 2009 before increasing by 2.3% in 2010 and by 5.8% in 2011. The computers and electronics products sector will also see a drop-off this year, declining by 9.4%. High-tech manufacturing production, however, is expected to improve markedly, to 15.9% growth in 2010 and by a healthy 17.5% growth in 2011.
The expenditure category for investment in equipment and software is likely to decrease by 17.2% in 2009, before experiencing 9.1% growth in 2010 and 15.2% growth in 2011. Capital equipment spending in high-tech sectors will continue the trend. Expenditures for information processing equipment are expected to fall 6.5% in 2009 before rising by 6.9% in 2010 and by 7.8% in 2011.
The forecast expects industrial equipment expenditures to decline by a severe 22.7% this year. The spending will recover, however. MAPI predicts 3.5% growth in 2010 and a significantly improved 22.6% growth in 2011. The outlook for spending on transportation equipment is for excessively wide swings in either direction. The analysis projects a 49.6% decline in 2009, followed by a 55.2% increase in 2010 and a 46.7% advance in 2011.
Spending on non-residential structures is expected to retrench over the next two years, declining by 18.3% in 2009, and by an additional 16% in 2010 before seeing growth of 1.1% in 2011.
Exports and imports will both experience a substantial downturn in 2009 before recovering. Exports are anticipated to decrease by 10.8% in 2009 before rebounding to 7.6% growth in 2010 and to 9.5% growth in 2011. Imports are expected to decline by 14.5% this year, to increase by 8.3% in 2010, and to further increase by 6.3% in 2011.
The employment outlook, unfortunately, will continue to pose a challenge. MAPI forecasts unemployment to average 9.2% in 2009, 10% in 2010, and 9.1% in 2011.
Included in MAPI’s November 2009 economic outlook is the annual long-term forecast. Average annual GDP growth from 2010-2014 is expected to be 3.1%, including a peak growth annual high of 4% in 2012.
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