This is a multi-part message in MIME format. 8bit text/html IW_IndustryWeek Daily_: IndustryWeek's Daily Headlines -- 4/3/08 View this shop as a Web page Please add IW_IndustryWeek Daily_ to your Safe Sender list. IndustryWeek's Daily Headlines -- April 3, 2008 Brought to you by IndustryWeek at Visit our forums and Blogs at *** Become More Competitive -- Attend This Free Online Conference *** Compete better against rivals in domestic markets and low-cost countries. Uncover better processes, better intelligence, and better technology that can help your company boost its The free Manufacturing Competitiveness online conference will give you strategies and tactics that can help your company enhance its operational processes. Choose from a variety of sessions during this two-day online event, April 29-30. Don't forget to invite your co-workers! TABLE OF CONTENTS **Today's Feature: How To Work with China and PYA -- Protect Your Assets [WEB EXCLUSIVE] **Today's Feature: From Parts Unknown **Today's Feature: Smart Power **News Updates And Forum Posts **Very Small Manufacturers More Affected by Global Conditions **U.S. Gains Significantly in Global Business Cost Comparison Thanks to Lower Dollar **Just How Socially Responsible are Corporations Today? Update **Foreign Exchange: Weak Eurozone Data Drives Euro Down Versus Dollar **Global Economy: Total Admits Chinese Sovereign Investment **Innovation & Product Development: Boeing Flies First Plane **IW Best Plants Benchmarking Database: All new data in Version 7.0 TODAY'S FEATURES How To Work with China and PYA -- Protect Your Assets: The biggest error companies make is that with familiarity comes a false sense of security. [WEB EXCLUSIVE] From Parts Unknown: How to identify what might be missing from your parts pricing strategy. Smart Power: A smart grid could allow manufacturers more control over their power consumption. NEWS UPDATES AND FORUM POSTS In an effort to keep you up-to-date, IndustryWeek adds news items throughout the day. You can receive these instantly through our RSS feeds or by visiting our daily news page. This item ran yesterday on -- click on the link for the details. Nucor Completes Acquisitions of Metals Processors Keep up-to-date with the latest manufacturing discussions in IndustryWeek's Forums at >Chinese Investment Courted By MI, CA, IL & GA "We are losing control of our economy to foreing interests, and with it our national security and economic long term health, all while washington fiddles thru the fires" Follow the link below to read more. TODAY'S HEADLINES *** Very Small Manufacturers More Affected by Global Conditions *** Compiled By Adrienne Selko Currency exchange rate pressures lead to an increase in the exit rates of very small manufacturers (fewer than 20 employees), finds a report recently released by the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration. "Interestingly, small manufacturers in high-tech industries are more insulated from international competitive pressures than those in other sectors," said Robert Feinberg, professor at American University and author of the paper. The study,"The Impact of International Competition on Small-Firm Exit in U.S. Manufacturing", focused on 1990 to 2004. The author noted little variation in the overall exit rate of small manufacturers over time, but a reasonable amount of variation across firm size and industry. Factors affecting exit across firm sizes included overall economic activity, labor costs, and whether the firm's industry sector produced consumer goods. Changes in an industry's import share produced mixed results across time periods and firm sizes. For more information and a complete copy of the report, visit the Office of Advocacy website at *** U.S. Gains Significantly in Global Business Cost Comparison Thanks to Lower Dollar *** Compiled By Adrienne Selko The U.S. has shown a significant gain among the G7 countries as a cost-effective location for business, due to the lower U.S. dollar, according to KPMG's 2008 Competitive Alternatives study that compares business costs in 136 cities in 10 countries in North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. Canada and the U.S. now lead the G7 countries for affordable business costs. Mexico, new to the study in 2008 to allow a comparison among the North American Free Trade partners, is the cheapest place to do business, with costs approximately 20.5% below the U.S. baseline. Canada and Australia have lost most of their previous cost advantages over the U.S., as their currencies appreciated, while Germany and Japan remain the most expensive countries in which to do business. "When we did this study in 2006, we found that 4 of the G7 countries had a cost advantage over the U.S. Now, given the dollar depreciation, the U.S. has surpassed all of the European G7 countries, and has only a nominal disadvantage to Canada. U.S. business costs are now much more competitive than they have ever been in the study," said Mark MacDonald Global Director, Competitive Alternatives, KPMG. Major cost components, such as labor, industrial facility costs, and natural gas are lowest in Mexico. However, Mexico did not rank as well for transportation or telecom costs, or for business environment factors, such as innovation, infrastructure, regulatory environment and quality of life. Within North America, among the major cities studied, the Mexican cities of Puebla, Guadalajara, and Monterrey offer the lowest business costs, followed by San Juan, Puerto Rico. These cities rank ahead of a group of Southern U.S. cities that all offer moderately low business costs: Atlanta, Tampa, and Dallas-Fort Worth. At the other end of the spectrum, San Jose, California (Silicon Valley), and New York City continue to represent the most expensive cities in which to do business. New to the 2008 report is analysis of a wide variety of non-cost factors that influence the attractiveness of business and site locations. Site selection factors compared in the report include macro-economic indicators, labor markets, innovation, business and environmental regulation, quality of infrastructure, energy supply, and quality of life. "Selecting the most favorable business location doesn't always come down to merely dollars and cents. One of the key reasons the non-cost factors were included in this study is that factors such as education, skilled labor pool, and cost of housing, for example, may play a key role in the success of a business," said Glenn Mair, MMK Consulting, one of the study authors in association with KPMG. Country Comparison France ranks 5th among the 10 countries examined, and has the lowest cost structure among the European countries studied. The United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Italy are also very closely grouped, ranking 6th through 8th, with business costs between 7.1% and 7.9% above the U.S. benchmark. Japan is still a relatively high-cost jurisdiction, ranking ninth overall. However, Japan has gained some ground against other countries over the longer-term, due to its low inflation rates and the lower volatility of the yen vis-a-vis the U.S. dollar. Germany (ranked 10th) has the highest cost structure overall, with costs 16.8% higher than the U.S. benchmark. Germany, along with Italy and Japan, also face the additional challenge of an ageing population, with the largest proportions of the population older than 44 and the smallest proportion under 25. Detailed study results are available online at *** Just How Socially Responsible are Corporations Today? *** Compiled By Adrienne Selko Citing a lack of interest or priority, 62.5% of companies are not engaged in corporate social responsibility programs according to a study conducted by The Marketing Executives Networking Group (MENG). These results seem at odds with the fact that 60% of respondents think that corporate social responsibility programs have or will have a positive impact on profitability and overall performance of the company. Additionally, the key opportunities that these marketing executives associated with these programs included employee motivation (71%), influencing customer behaviors (54%), growth and innovation (54%) and increased profits (25%). "Clearly, companies that are not participating in programs of this sort are missing out on tremendous business opportunities that not only directly affect the bottom line, but also offer indirect financial incentives reaped when employees are more motivated and loyal," remarked Richard Guha, Chairman of the MENG Board of Directors. "In a slowing economy these programs become even more important." Those companies that do have corporate social responsibility programs are seemingly very committed to them, with 39% committing between one and five years to programs and a 50% committing more than five years to their initiatives. Additionally, 66% of companies with such programs diligently created formal charters for their initiatives before beginning implementation. Of this group, 44% first identified causes and issues that mattered most to their customers and clients prior to formalizing these charters, while 39% percent also factored in employee causes and concerns. This shows a keen understanding within these companies of the bottom line importance of influencing key stakeholders with corporate social responsibility initiatives. "Making a difference has become the new profit driver," said Samantha Taylor, founder of Reputation Dynamics, a corporate responsibility advisory services company, and the MENG member who led the survey. "If companies don't act now and adopt social responsibility strategies, they will be left behind." But even those companies committed to their CSR initiatives said that there were challenges associated with them, including resources (57%), cost (40%), and demonstrating accountability and results (38%). Having an impact in the community and an enhanced reputation were key factors identified as determining whether the companies they work for will be able to demonstrate results. Sources: IndustryWeek staff, Agence France-Presse ************** MARKET REPORT ************** North America Markets (Close, 4-02-08) DJIA, U.S.: 12,605.83, -48.53 NASDAQ U.S.: 2,361.40, -1.35 S&P 500, U.S.: 1,367.53, -2.65 Toronto 300, Canada: 13,514.14 +73.42 European Markets: (11 a.m. GMT, 4-03-08) FTSE-100, UK: 5,890.30, -25.60 DAX, Germany: 6,743.27, -34.17 Asian Markets: (Close, 4-03-08) Nikkei225, Japan: 13,389.90, +200.54 Hang Seng, Hong Kong: 24,264.63, +392.20 Sensex, Mumbai: 15,832.55, +82.15 Commodities Update (4-02-08, Settle) NYMEX..... Future Change Gold June 08 900.20 $/oz +12.40 Silver May 08 17.18 $/oz +0.29 Copper May 08 3.86 $/lb -0.02 Crude Oil May 08 104.83 $/bbl +3.85 Gasoline May 08 2.77 $/gallon +0.13 Heating Oil May 08 2.95 $/gallon +0.07 Natural Gas May 08 9.83 $/MMBtu +0.11 ***Foreign Exchange*** Weak Eurozone Data Drives Euro Down Versus Dollar: (AFP) The European single currency slipped against the dollar on April 3 as official data revealed slowing sales in the eurozone, analysts said. The euro fell to 1.5590 dollars from 1.5687 in New York late on Wednesday. Against the Japanese currency, the dollar rose to 102.76 yen from 102.29 on Wednesday. Retailers in the 15 countries sharing the euro saw sales slow in February more than economists expected driven by weak consumer spending in Germany, official EU data showed on Thursday. The dollar meanwhile edged higher against the euro on the eve of a key monthly US jobs report. The US unit also got a boost from a private sector jobs survey released Wednesday that suggested the US economy was not as weak as some had expected, said dealers, who said the market was focusing more on Bernanke's more optimistic outlook for the second half of the year than his warning that the economy may shrink in the first half. ***Global Economy*** Total Admits Chinese Sovereign Investment: (AFP) French oil giant Total said Thursday it expects Asian investors to increase their holding in the company in due course after announcing that a Chinese state-owned fund had bought stock. A Total spokesperson said the the Chinese state-owned fund, which was not identified, had been building up a holding in Total over the past several months, but declined to specify how much the fund had bought nor whether it was the China Investment Corporation, the body Beijing recently set up to invest some of its massive foreign exchange reserves of 1.65 trillion dollars. Total said that it already had among its shareholders such sovereign wealth funds which have attracted attention and some criticism from those who believe they may follow their governments' political bidding on occasion. "Sovereign wealth funds place their money in profitable assets and for the long-term. Therefore the entry of a Chinese sovereign wealth fund is a positive message for the group," the Total spokesman said. ***Innovation & Product Development*** Boeing Flies First Plane: (AFP) US aircraft maker Boeing flew a plane earlier this year that was powered by a hydrogen battery in a first for the aviation industry that could herald a greener future, senior company officials said in Spain on Thursday. Hydrogen power uses of chemical "fuel cells" that can tap the energy produced from the chemical transformation of hydrogen and oxygen into water. The success marks another "historical technological success for Boeing," officials said. Boeing's new model the Dreamliner uses high-tech composites which reduces its weight and which the company says will make it consume 20 percent less fuel then similar-sized planes already on the market. The International Energy Agency has said that hydrogen and hydrogen fuel cells could play a key role in weaning energy users away from oil, gas and coal which have been blamed for climate change. But the company said that although hydrogen fuel cells could be used to power small planes it did not believe they could become the primary power source for large passenger planes. Sources: IndustryWeek staff, Agence France-Presse Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2008. AFP text, photos, graphics and logos shall not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. AFP shall not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in any AFP content, or for any actions taken in consequence. *** All new data in Version 7.0 *** The best keep getting better. Find out what the best plants do to succeed with IndustryWeek's Best Plants Benchmarking Database. Straight from this year's competition, get the data from the winners you're reading about. See what measures these plants take to achieve the highest levels. Over 235 metrics from more than 230 plants show you how the best achieved their success. Download this sample report and see how you can get better. Copyright 1998-2008 Penton Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Penton Media's Privacy Policy Thank you for reading IndustryWeek's Daily Headlines. You are Purchased as To Purchase from IndustryWeek's Daily Headlines, please visit Unsubsribe.

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