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By Katherine Skiba | Federal officials on Wednesday announced a $4.5 million pilot program to help small and medium manufacturers in Illinois and three other Great Lake states use supercomputing technology to speed product design.
The public-private partnership will assist firms in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio, officials said. Get the full story »
From the Rockford Register-Star | United Auto Workers representatives said the union has reached a tentative labor agreement with Caterpillar Inc., averting a possible walkout. The UAW says the new, six-year tentative agreement was reached Monday night and will be presented for a ratification vote next weekend.
The agreement would cover some 9,500 hourly production and maintenance workers in Peoria, Aurora, Decatur and Pontiac in Illinois as well as in York, Pa.; Denver; and Memphis, Tenn. | Get the full story>>
Caterpillar’s machinery sales through dealers accelerated in the trailing three-month period through January, according to data posted on the equipment maker’s website.
Dealer-reported retail sales were up 49 percent worldwide from a year earlier, accelerating from the 44 percent pace reported last month. The increase was led by jumps of 58 percent in North America and 56 percent in Latin America, both marking a sequential increase, according to data on the website. Get the full story »
With cotton prices hitting all-time high Thursday, clothing sellers are challenged to do everything they can to avoid passing the cost on to shoppers.
“T-shirts may get thinner,“ said Chris Callieri, principal with A.T. Kearney’s retail and consumer practice. Callieri said some of his clients are playing around with the “density“ of cotton fabric, to see how they can use less of it. “But you have to be careful with that approach so that it doesn’t affect the quality of the garment,“ he said. Get the full story »
Boeing Co. said on Thursday it took seven new orders for commercial planes in the week ended Feb. 15 — three 767 jets and four 777s.
The 767 orders were from Chile’s LAN Airlines, which announced earlier this week that it was buying the three planes for $510 million as part of its long-term fleet strategy. Get the full story »
U.S. industrial output unexpectedly fell in January as a return to normal winter temperatures caused a sharp fall in utility output, while production from mines also fell, a Federal Reserve report showed on Wednesday.
Industrial production fell 0.1 percent in January after an upwardly revised 1.2 percent jump in December, which had been driven by unseasonably cold weather that spiked heating demand. Get the full story »
U.S. producer prices rose 0.8 percent in January in line with expectations on an increase in energy prices, a Labor Department report showed Wednesday. Get the full story »
Farm equipment maker Deere & Co. reported a doubling of quarterly profit Wednesday amid strong North American sales of large, high-margin machines and price increases, and lifted its full-year profit forecast.
The world’s largest maker of tractors and combines earned $513 million, or $1.20 per share, in the first quarter ended Jan. 31, up from $243.2 million, or 57 cents per share a year earlier. Get the full story »
Warrenville-based truck and bus manufacturer Navistar International Corp. has named retired Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the former top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, to its board. Get the full story »
Illinois Tool Works Inc. said Monday it will see a significant tax deduction, most likely in the first quarter, as the result of a court case in Australia.
The Glenview-based company, which makes automotive and food services equipment, industrial packaging and other products, said the Federal Court of Australia issued a favorable decision Feb. 4 in its dispute with the Australian Taxation Office over income tax deductions. Get the full story »
The cancellation of 32 orders for Boeing 737s this week appears to have been by Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE), and more order retractions could be coming from the airplane lessor, an analyst said on Friday.
Boeing declined to comment on Friday and has not identified the customer that canceled the order, potentially worth more than $2 billion. DAE representatives were not immediately available to comment. Get the full story »
Mitsubishi Motors Corp. is poised to announce the production of a new vehicle at its Normal plant today in a deal backed by $30 million in government incentives. The deal is expected to breathe new life into a facility that, for years, has operated with an uncertain future.
The plant produces the Galant, Endeavor, Eclipse and Eclipse Spyder, among the oldest and least popular of the Mitsubishi line. The Japanese auto manufacturer has announced plans to phase out their production by 2014, a move that would have eventually meant layoffs in Normal and an end to Mitsubishi production in the U.S. Get the full story »
The head of Boeing’s commercial airplanes division says it could eventually increase the production rate of its new 787 jetliner beyond the previously announced 10 per month it plans to build by the end of 2013.
Boeing Co. says it has lost orders for 32 of its 737s, though the update posted by the company on Thursday did not identify the customer or customers who dropped the orders.
Boeing also says it added orders for ten 737s from unidentified customers. Get the full story »
Shares of Glenview-based Anixter International Inc. jumped Tuesday after the company said its fourth-quarter profit more than doubled, easily topping Wall Street analysts’ expectations.
The stock rose $3.90, or 6.2 percent, to $67.17 in late trading. Get the full story »
