Tag Archives: Capacity

Differential inspection of generic manufacturing facilities

An article in the Wall Street Journal (February 16, 2011, B1-3) describes the fact that FDA inspection of US pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities is usually once every two years but foreign plants are inspected less frequently, with 64 % of the … Continue reading

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Pentagon Procurement opposes mergers

A Wall Street Journal article (February 9, 2011) reports that the procurement officials at the Pentagon will oppose mergers of defense suppliers. The belief is that competition has to be maintained to increase the US government’s buying power.  The Pentagon … Continue reading

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China to Stockpile Rare Earth Metals, should the US do so too ?

A Wall Street Journal article (February 7,2011) describes plans by the Chinese Ministry of Land and Resources to build reserves of rare earth metals in order to protect their industries, impact pollution and manage the supply and demand relationship for … Continue reading

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Strong Yen causes Nissan to shift global production

A Wall Street Journal article (1 February 2011) reports that given the strong yen, Nissan will consider shifting production out of Japan to the US and other markets.  The article claims that a move of one yen (against the dollar) … Continue reading

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Drug Shortages and Senate Response

A Wall Street Journal article (1 February 2011) cites 178 drugs in short supply in 2010, requiring hospitals to scramble to find alternate drugs, new sources of supply etc.  These alternative treatments that ncrease costs or require approvals of untested … Continue reading

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Are Boeing Dreamliner delays history ?

A New York Times article (January 27,2011, B3) quotes executives at Boeing being optimistic that production of Dreamliners can be ramped up significantly over the next three years. The company claims that problems for the first few planes were due … Continue reading

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U.S.Manufacturing jobs grow 1.2 %

A report in the Wall Street Journal (January 19, 2011) describes a 1.2 % growth in manufacturing jobs in the US in 2010, with a projected increase of 2.5 % in 2011. The article also states that while manufacturing output … Continue reading

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US Factory Output, Capacity Utilization Increases

An article in the Wall Street Journal (January 15,2011) reports that US factory output rose 0.8 % in December (from November).  Capacity utilization was reported to increase to 76 % from 75.4 % in November and business inventories increased 0.2 … Continue reading

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The weak dollar vs Yen and Toyota’s production decisions

An Associated Press article (January 15,2011, http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Toyota-Rising-yen-could-force-apf-1661264517.html?x=0) describes the impact of the current 83 yen to the dollar exchange rate on Toyota’s decisions regarding production. Toyota has the largest Japanese production of all Japanese automakers, and the strong yen decreases … Continue reading

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Rare Earths Elimination in Electric Motors by Toyota

A Wall Street Journal article (January 14,2011) describes imminent breakthroughs announced by Toyota in eliminating use of rare earth metals in electric motors for hybrids.  This is a response to earlier reports claiming decreased exports of rare earths by China … Continue reading

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