While offshore manufacturing can reduce costs and increase efficiency, it also has drawbacks such as language barriers, time zones, infrequent face-to-face communications. One solution may be looking closer to home by establishing manufacturing operations in Mexico, according to Robert Brenner, vice president of warehousing and distribution at Avnet Inc., an electronic components firm based in … Read more
The US industrial real estate market in 2013 saw its biggest single-year growth since 2005, another positive indication that the worst of the economic downturn has passed. Industrial leasing activity in 2013 increased 6.2% over 2012, reaching a total of 328.5 million square feet in leasing activity and 117.2 million square feet of positive absorption, … Read more
Companies in the defense, aerospace and commercial industries are using new products that are designed to stop vehicles from getting away, according to Pacific Scientific Materials Company, a manufacturer of anti-getaway products. These include such things as the anti-terror road blocker, which is a popup blocker that is buried 40 cm in the ground but … Read more
Driverless vehicles currently are used in factories, warehouses and other industrial settings. But now the US Army is planning on using the cutting edge technology to make combat zones safer for soldiers. In a demonstration in December at Fort Hood, Texas, the US Army Tank-Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) and Lockheed Martin unveiled … Read more
Cloud computing — which is when data and even some processing functions are stored on a remote server rather than on premise — is gaining in popularity as businesses seek ways to reduce their costs and improve efficiency. ComputerSupport.com predicts that the use of cloud computing in industry will grow 41.3% by 2016 as more … Read more
Columbus McKinnon — the Amherst, New York, manufacturer of material handling products — announced in a news release that it has purchased Unified Industries, a Howell, Michigan, company that makes overhead light rail workstations used in automobile assembly lines. While the purchase price was not disclosded, Unified had sales of $12.4 million in 2013. Columbus … Read more
Seeing a mouse, rat, or other rodent around your house is unsettling, and it makes you wonder what might be hiding where. Rodents can cause all sorts of problems in residential building – the problems they can cause in industrial situations can be just as bad, if not worse. If you suspect rodents of invading … Read more
While it may seem like Winter 2014 will never be over, spring is right around the corner (hopefully). In the meantime, we all still need to deal with freezing temperatures and icy surfaces. Using salt and other chemicals to melt ice that forms on roads, walkways and other surfaces is something practically every business does. … Read more
Here’s a sneak preview of some of the articles you can expect to see on this week’s Bahrn’s blog: Winter’s winding down, but ice and snow may stick around for awhile. We’ll show you how to choose the best ice melter to keep your surfaces safe until the spring thaw finally arrives. Driverless vehicles have … Read more
Lower than normal temperatures and an unending barrage of winter storms has made the Winter of 2014 one of the worst in recent memory. But this year’s bad winter weather also has had a negative impact on the nation’s business. The American Trucking Association’s seasonally-adjusted Truck Tonnage Index was down 4.3% in January, according to an … Read more
