News from PLANT ENGINEERING: Week of Jan. 23

By Plant Engineering Staff January 20, 2006

ARC forum to discuss operational performance

The ARC Advisory Group’s 10th annual forum, “Next Generation Manufacturing: PLANT ENGINEERING is a media sponsor of this event.Because manufacturers today face a daunting world of unpredictable market conditions and competition, evaluating best practices from a variety of industries and adapting the very best to your business drives sustainable competitive advantage.

Among the topics to be covered are:

The Highly Optimized Plant/Factory of the Future: Several industry leaders will present their vision of the plant of the future in this session.

The Highly Flexible Plant/Factory of the Future: Manufacturing is moving into an era that will require levels of coordination and collaboration that existing legacy systems will not be able to deliver.

Driving Performance Through Collaborative Operations and IT Management: Business, IT and Operating organizations must work in concert if an organization hopes to achieve operational excellence.

Supplier Management Strategies for Global Manufacturers: Manufacturers need to collaborate with their suppliers to help them achieve superior performance.ential for achieving performance requirements in manufacturing of the future strategies.

Achieving Standards-based Interoperability Across the Enterprise : Making decisions and taking action today requires visibility into applications across the enterprise.

Emerging Wireless Technologies: Will industry efforts such as the ISA SP-100 committee activities, ratification of the Zigbee standard, or migration of industry protocols to wireless sufficiently overcome manufacturer concerns over wireless performance and security? How will the prospect of standardization impact this traditionally proprietary realm, and will it ultimately result in more widespread usage? This session will feature a review of current industrial wireless standardization activities as well as real-world applications.

Managing Technology for Plant Safety and Security: Security is a top concern for manufacturing, driven by safety, national security and increased regulations.

OMAC Initiatives for Enhancing Interoperability in Manufacturing: Guidelines for the appropriate application of advanced automation technology have business value for packaging machinery.cialization.

The Forum fee is $1,895.ct info@arcweb.com for more information.

To register, go online to www.arcweb.com, call (781) 471-1122, or to obtain a registration form, send an e-mail to info@arcweb.com or a fax to (781) 471-1100.

Employers must post OSHA injury summaries

Beginning Feb. 1, employers must post a summary of the total number of job-related injuries and illnesses that occurred last year. Employers are required to post the Summary OSHA Form 300A from Feb.1 to April 30, 2006.The summary must list the total numbers of job-related injuries and illnesses that occurred in 2005 and were logged on the OSHA 300 form. Employment information about annual average number of employees and total hours worked during the calendar year is also required to assists in calculating incidence rates. Companies with no recordable injuries or illnesses in 2005 must post the form with zeros on the total line. All establishment summaries must be certified by a company executive.The form is to be displayed in a common area wherever notices to employees are usually posted. Employers must make a copy of the summary available to employees who move from worksite to worksite, such as construction workers, and employees who do not report to any fixed establishment on a regular basis.Employers with 10 or fewer employees and employers in certain industry groups are normally exempt from federal OSHA injury and illness recordkeeping and posting requirements. A complete list of exempt industries in the retail, services, finance and real estate sectors is posted on OSHA’s website.Copies of the OSHA Forms 300, 300A and 301 are available on the OSHA Recordkeeping Webpage in either Adobe PDF or Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet format.

Last week to voice your view on manufacturing

Readers have been weighing in on their views of this month’s PLANT ENGINEERING Web Poll question, “As we begin 2006, how would you assess the state of manufacturing?” The poll will run until Jan. 27, and final results will appear in the February issue of PLANT ENGINEERING. See what your colleagues have to say and voice your views at www.plantengineering.com, home of PLANT ENGINEERING’s newly re-launched Website.

Chinese end users to headline global fieldbus event

The Fieldbus Foundation has announced the keynote speakers for its 2006 General Assembly, to be held at the Ritz Carlton Portman Hotel in Shanghai, China, from Feb. 28 to March 1.This year

The Fieldbus Foundation.Throughout the event, foundation member companies will present tabletop exhibits displaying their latest FOUNDATION fieldbus devices, tools and host systems.

Register to attend the General Assembly by visiting www.fieldbus.org . Register early, space is limited.

Ivana boosts RCM2 efforts with Aladon acquisition

Ivara Corporation has acquired Aladon LLC, a specialist in the application of Reliability-Centered Maintenance. The acquisition was effective Jan. 1.

With the acquisition, Ivara is committed to the continued availability and success of RCM 2, developed by Aladon’s founder John Moubray.

“We are proud and excited to be able to announceAladon’s business and we are confident that our world class product is in very safe and reliable hands.”

Ivara will retain Aladon’s US operations based in Asheville, NC. The company will also utilize the Aladon Network to deliver RCM services to a growing international customer base, providing Ivara with global RCM capabilities.

PLANT ENGINEERING dinner honors top products

PLANT ENGINEERING magazine will honor its 2005 Product of the Year winners at a dinner Monday, March 20 at 6:30 p.m. at the DoubleTree Hotel in Rosemont, IL, which will host National Manufacturing Week this year. Also to be honored is DaimlerChrysler’s Belvidere, IL plant as the 2005 Top Plant. The keynote speaker is Dean J.Teglia, a partner at Accenture, who will discuss Acenture’s new report, “Going for Growth — Engineering high performance in the industrial products industry,” and an overview of global manufacturing.

Tickets for this year’s black-tie event are $150, and can be obtained by contacting Pat Mustari of PLANT NENGINEERING magazine at pmustari@reedbusiness.com.

In other award news at National Manufacturing Week, Control Engineering magazine has bestowed its Editors’ Choice Award on 45 products covered by the magazine’s staff during 2005. Winners are based on service to the industry, technological advancement, and market impact. This is the 19th year editors nominate, discuss, and select the products they feel best meet those criteria.

Control Engineering subscribers again are being asked to vote for their own favorites among the editors’ 45 selections to determine the winners of the third annual Engineers’ Choice Awards. They will choose the top winner in each of eight product categories. The winners will be revealed during the Editors’ Choice awards ceremony, to be held Tuesday, March 21 at National Manufacturing Week. View Control Engineering’s 2005 winners.

Schneider’s Cox to deliver keynote at NMW

Mary Frances Cox, senior vice president of operations at The Schneider Electric North American Operating Division, will deliver the keynote address at the 2006 National Manufacturing Week Conference, March 20-23, in Rosemont, IL.

Cox’s remarks on Tuesday, March 21 from 1 to 2 p.m.will focus on “Shaving Significant Cost Reductions Out of the Manufacturing Cost Base.” Since being named to head up operations in North America, she has led Schneider Electric’s operations improvement initiatives, which has reduced manufacturing costs in plants in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

“Large-scale cost reductions are of critical interest to manufacturing executives today,” said Cox, who joined Schneider Electric in 2002 as director of manufacturing strategy. “The operations arm contributes significantly to growth through efficient improvement strategies that enhance a manufacturer’s ability to price products competitively in the marketplace and to reinvest in the business.”

According to Cox, operations are central to achieving competitive lead times and to being consistent with on-time deliveries. “The connection between operations, growth and superior customer satisfaction is more evident at Schneider Electric North America than ever before,” she said. “Ultimately, operational effectiveness is centered on the ability to produce better results for the customer in the way of cycle times, on-time deliveries and overall product quality.”

For show information, go to www.manufacturingweek.com.

Events

Sustainable design on ASHRAE agenda

Several sessions relating to integrated or sustainable design will be presented at the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers’ 2006 Winter Meeting, Jan. 21-25, at Chicago’s Palmer House Hilton. There will be 104 sessions presented as part of the technical program.

Registration for the 2006 ASHRAE Winter Meeting is $635 ($375, ASHRAE member) prior to Dec. 2. After Dec. 2, the registration fee will be $750 ($490, ASHRAE member). For more information or to register, visit www.ashrae.org/chicago .

NMW blog up and running

The blog on the National Manufacturing Week web site is now on line. To post a comment, go to www.manufacturingweek.com , and then click on the blog link.

Register for NA 2006

Both registration and booth space are filling quickly for NA 2006, sponsored by the Material Handling Industry of America. The event is slated for March 27 through March 30 at the I-X Center in Cleveland.

NA 2006 focuses on the productivity solutions provided by material handling and logistics. The four-day event is designed to offer productivity solutions and information by showcasing the products and services of over 400 material handling and logistics providers.

Industry professionals from the United States, Canada, Mexico and around the world are expected to attend. More than 400 exhibitors from industry, commerce and government will display their productivity solutions on the 150,000 square foot show floor. The newly designed NA 2006 Education Conferences offer focused, half-hour seminars in specially designed “theaters” constructed right on the trade show floor.

For registration information, go to www.na2006.org.