Zinc Die Casting and Its Use on Tools. Hardware parts are chiefly made of metal. It is the most common material used for the production of tools because of its strength and robustness. Repairs, after all, need fortitude not only …
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Automotive Production Up at GM Canada
Automotive Production Up at GM Canada. Some 150 previously laid-off employees are set to return to work at a General Motors manufacturing plant in Canada to meet rising demand for sport utility vehicles, officials said on Nov. 9.
The Ingersoll, Ontario plant, owned by GM-Suzuki Motor Corp. joint venture CAMI Automotive, received a 90-million dollar (US$85 million) injection to retool and renovate its body shop over the next seven months.
The refurbishing aims to boost the plant’s capacity in order to meet strong demand for the 2010 Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain, said GM. The vehicles are “two of GM’s hottest selling products,” Arturo Elias, president of GM Canada, said.
“This investment is an excellent example of what happens when you get the product right,” he said. “If the product is right, everything else follows — increased production, increased employment and strong market demand.”
The upgrade will allow production at the plant of an additional 40,000 vehicles annually for the Canadian and U.S. markets.
The staff recall is in addition to more than 300 employees re-hired in October, and marks CAMI’s return to full staffing with no remaining employees on layoff.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2009
The Advantages of Magnesium Die Casting
The Advantages of Magnesium Die Casting. Magnesium die casting is one of the current trends in the manufacturing industry. More and more companies are inserting this into their manufacturing processes, for the many distinct advantages of magnesium die casting.
One advantage of using magnesium die casting is that it makes processes which need a large quantity of small to medium sized parts easier. Die casting makes production less reliant on measurements, so the process moves faster and smoother than measuring out each part every time.
Magnesium die casting also eliminates secondary machining. Once the parts are made from the die casting, there is no need for additional processes to be made upon the part. This saves time, and more importantly, lessens production costs for the company.
This process also creates parts with excellent dimensional accuracy. Since the molds used for magnesium die casting are permanent, all the parts made are consistent with each other. This is especially important when the parts being made are used in delicate machineries, such as in the engine of an automobile or in the electronic components of laptops.
There are many more advantages of magnesium die casting. Each one of these contribute to making magnesium diecasting very attractive to the manufacturing industry.
U.S. Claims China Guilty of Dumping
BEIJING (AP) – China criticized Washington for imposing anti-dumping duties on Chinese-made steel pipes and launched a probe Friday of imported U.S. autos, adding to trade tensions two weeks before President Barack Obama visits Beijing.
The latest moves ratchet up disputes over market access for goods from poultry and tires to Hollywood movies. But Beijing and Washington are confining the conflicts to diplomatic channels, apparently hoping to avert a trade war that could damage wide-ranging cooperation on issues such as the global economic crisis, North Korea and climate change.
The Commerce Ministry criticized the U.S. decision Thursday to raise tariffs on Chinese pipes as protectionist. It said the move violated World Trade Organization principles and commitments by Washington and other Group of 20 major economies to avoid protectionism amid the global economic crisis.
“China resolutely opposes use of such protectionist practices, and will take measures to protect the interests of domestic industry,” ministry spokesman Yao Jian said in a statement on the ministry’s Web site.
The U.S. Commerce Department said it concluded Chinese producers were dumping pipes used by the oil and gas industry and would impose duties of up to 99 percent.
Yi Xiaozhun, a deputy commerce minister, said the case was the biggest anti-dumping action yet against China by market value and affected exports worth $3.2 billion a year.
Also Friday, Beijing announced it was launching an anti-dumping investigation of imported U.S. autos. It said it was acting on a complaint by Chinese automakers but gave no details of the alleged American misconduct. The case could result in higher tariffs on U.S. autos if Chinese investigators conclude American automakers received improper subsidies or sold below fair-market price.
Beijing warned Washington at trade talks last month of the impending probe, a possible diplomatic gesture to reduce the political impact of Friday’s announcement.
Meanwhile, the Chinese steel industry group said Friday major steel mills have asked the Commerce Ministry to launch an anti-dumping investigation of U.S.- and European-made hot rolled and stainless steel. It said the steel was being sold at improperly low prices and “caused injury to the Chinese market.”
The U.S. Embassy in Beijing had no immediate comment about China’s actions Friday.
The disputes come as Obama is due to arrive Nov. 15 on his first president visit to Beijing. Both governments have repeatedly stressed the importance of stable relations and senior leaders have avoided public comments about the trade disputes.
Beijing and Washington are especially eager to avoid irritants that might derail relations as they work together with other major governments to try to pull the global economy out of its worst downturn since the 1930s.
Both governments have stuck to the dispute-resolution process laid out in WTO agreements.
In August, Beijing backed down in a dispute over auto parts and altered its import tariffs after it lost an appeal of a WTO case brought by the United States, Europe and Canada that said it treated foreign suppliers unfairly.
On Wednesday, the United States joined Europe and Mexico in asking the WTO to investigate Chinese curbs on exports of bauxite and other industrial raw materials. Beijing says it must rein in mining to protect the environment, but Washington and others say the curbs improperly give Chinese companies favorable access to some materials.
Yi, the commerce minister, repeated Chinese complaints that Washington treats China as a non-market economy. He called that status a Cold War relic and said Beijing hopes it is soon repealed.
“The ‘market economy status’ is the core of this case. An important reason why the U.S. verdict is so unfavorable to us is that it used double standards rather than the WTO standard that commonly applied by other countries,” Yi said. “That’s why our companies are treated unfairly and unequally. China is very dissatisfied.”
Source: AP Business Writer, Joe McDonald. November 2009, Manufacturing.net
Posted in Business
Tagged American Business, auto parts, automotive, Business, Manufacturing
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Be safe with US aluminum hardware handles
Be safe with US aluminum hardware handles. The most abused part of any closure device is the handle which is why many original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have turned to using aluminum hardware handles in their products. If strengthening ribs are incorporated to the aluminum handle wares, these type of handles can be stronger than steel. Cost is another consideration favoring aluminum which is cheaper than steel. Aluminum hardware handles are likewise lighter than their costlier steel-fabricated counterparts.
An aluminum die cast company as supplier of handles has also the advantage of faster production as die casting is not as time-consuming and as labor-intensive as welding several handle pieces together. Neither drilling nor welding is required because the die casting process already produces a net shape, enabling production from hundreds to thousands of pieces daily. Decorative designs could easily be added to the mold and the aluminum hardware handles could be either anodized or powder-coated without any complication in the production.
The optimum advantages offered by aluminum handles could be enjoyed particularly if these are the products of a North American aluminum die casting company. The die casters of North America enjoy the reputation of being among the finest in the world. This is the reason why many OEMs have begun to return their die casting orders to these companies after experiencing some serious problems with the quality of materials sourced from overseas. One sad tale comes from a restaurant kitchen equipment manufacturer who sued its Taiwanese supplier of the refrigerators’ door handles which pulled off the units. Solving the problem required replacement of the whole door because the handles were designed to be irreplaceable. Thankfully, such critical components as aluminum hardware handles could be more efficiently sourced from any reputable American die casting company.
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Manufacturing Consumption up 17.8% in September
U.S. manufacturing technology consumption totaled $153.55 million for September , according to AMTDA, the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association, and AMT — The Association For Manufacturing Technology.
This total was up 17.8% from August but down 69.3% from the total of $500.57 million reported for September 2008.
With a year-to-date total of $1,199.93 million, 2009 is down 67.8% compared with 2008.
“The slight improvement in September orders indicates that we are in synch with the increases seen in the other monthly indicators such as durable goods sales, the PMI, and steel production,” said Peter Borden, AMTDA President. “The factory capacity utilization number still remains in the 65-70% range, however, and until this number returns to 75-80%, our rate of growth will be slow and sporadic.”
Breaking down the data into regions, the Northeast region was 50.8% higher than August’s $24.25 million but down 54.1% when compared with September a year ago. The year-to-date total of $237.20 million was 56.0% less than the comparable figure in 2008.
The Southern region totalled $13.50 million, down 42.8% compared with August’s $23.61 million and down 83.7% when compared with September a year ago. The $165.84 million year-to-date total was 71.0% less than the 2008 total at the same time.
In the Midwest region consumption in September rose to $45.51 million, 33.8% higher than August’s $34.01 million but down 69.3% when compared with September 2008. With a year-to-date total of $334.88 million, 2009 was down 73.0% when compared with 2008 at the same time.
And the central region reported $33.98 million, 8.5% more than the $31.33 million tally for August but off 75.7% when compared with September a year ago. The $293.57 million year-to-date total was down 68.7% when compared with the same period in 2008.
In the Western region consumption was up 39.7% to $23.99 million from August’s $17.17 million but 51.8% below the September 2008 total. At $168.43 million, 2009 year-to-date was off 61.4% when compared with last year at the same time.
Source: Industry Week
