The USA Market for Advanced Manufacturing (AM) and Robotics Manufacturing in the U.S. has often been assumed to be in long-term decline, with the competitive advantage moving to low-cost countries such as Mexico and China. However, with advanced technologies likely to automate as much as 60% of factory tasks, in the future low-cost countries may no longer enjoy a competitive advantage, and the USA could well regain lost ground. Although many basic and low value-added products have moved out of the USA, the country still has an incredibly thriving manufacturing sector with more than $4 trillion

During the fourth quarter of 2012, Machines Italia together with IndustryWeek magazine conducted its survey on the usage of automation in the manufacturing sector. This Survey had as its objectives the following: Examine the use of automation and robotics among manufacturers; Investigate the use of and perception of Italian machines; Determine future purchasing plans and the important factors and players in the decision-making process. The methodology was straight forward as IndustryWeek's Penton Research emailed invitations to participate in the online survey to the print subscribers of its

If you rely on the mainstream news media to help you assess the U.S. economy’s health, Alan Beaulieu wants to bring you out of your depression. As president of ITR Economics, which regularly analyzes the GDP health of developed and developing countries, he suggests you put your crying towel away and buy yourself something. And if you have to borrow money, do it—as long as your company’s fiscally healthy. This is the message he left with attendees at a strategy session conference held yesterday, sponsored by Industry Week magazine and the Italian Trade Commission, and held at The Inn at St

PLYMOUTH, MICH. -- A key to Chrysler Group's return to profitability is a plant performance improvement program developed by parent company Fiat SpA (IW 1000/87) , said Mauro Pino, the company's head of World Class Manufacturing at the Machines Italia manufacturing 3.0 conference in Plymouth, Mich., Thursday, June 21, 2012 Chrysler first implemented Fiat's program, called World Class Manufacturing , three years ago as a continuous-improvement system focused on all plant processes, including safety, maintenance and quality. As an offshoot of the program, Chrysler opened in January a learning

Devoting 11-12% of sales to R&D has proven to be a successful strategy for SAES Getters, a producer of scientific and industrial applications where stringent vacuum conditions or ultra high pure gases are required. SAES' product applications span from the display industry, in all its forms from conventional CRTs to the new generations of flat displays, to the manufacturing of components used in several and diversified electronic devices ranging from x-ray tubes to wafer-level MEMS, from applications in particle accelerators and in large vacuum systems for physical experiments to solutions

IndustyWeek's editor, Adrienne Selko reports on Start Technologies Europe I.G., (Start Technologies Europe I.G. is headquartered in Westmount, Quebec, Canada) May 28, 2012 announcement that it opened a new R&D facility in Bologna, Italy, close to the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, with which the company has close ties related to new technology development. The region is heart of the automotive sector in Italy. The facility will adapt the Fuel Efficiency and Emissions Device unit to some of the most popular engines used in the transportation industry. Start Technologies owns the

I just arrived home after home after a ten-day visit to both manufacturing companies and manufacturing trade shows across Italy. Arranged by Machines Italia, as part of the Italian Trade Commission, I saw a variety of innovative products and production floors which I will write about over the next coming weeks. A few things struck me as belonging particularly to manufacturing in Italy. The foremost is everyone I met, including company presidents and trade association representatives, view themselves as artists. Manufacturing is an art in Italy. Custom-designed machines (as well as production