IndustryWeek's Daily Headlines -- 4/11/08

This is a multi-part message in MIME format. 8bit text/html IW_IndustryWeek Daily_: IndustryWeek's Daily Headlines -- 4/11/08 View this shop as a Web page Please add IW_IndustryWeek Daily_ to your Safe Sender list. IndustryWeek's Daily Headlines -- April 11, 2008 Brought to you by IndustryWeek at Visit our forums and Blogs at *** IW Webcast: Mobility in Food & Beverage Distribution *** Confronted by exploding ingredient and distribution costs, the escalating complexity of their global supply chains, and ever-increasing customer demands, food and beverage manufacturers are looking to technology as one of the few avenues where new gains can be achieved. Attend this April 24 webcast to learn how leading food and beverage companies are using mobility to improve their businesses. Sponsored by Motorola. Register at: TABLE OF CONTENTS **Today's Feature: Viewpoint: China’s Different Cost Perspective [WEB EXCLUSIVE] **Today's Feature: Florida Rock Industries Inc.: Under New Management [WEB EXCLUSIVE] **Today's Feature: Bookshelf: American Welding Society Welding Handbook, 9th Edition Volume 3, Welding Processes **News Updates And Forum Posts **Is A 'Green' A Byproduct of Supply Chain Optmization? **Securities Class Action Settlements Rise in Number, Decline in Value in 2007 **European Slowdown But No Recession Update **Foreign Exchange: Dollar Slips Before Key G7 Finance Meeting **Labor: Romanian Car Workers End Strike China Unveils Home Grown 350 Kph Bullet Train **IW Webcast: Mobility in Food & Beverage Distribution TODAY'S FEATURES Viewpoint: China's Different Cost Perspective [WEB EXCLUSIVE] Florida Rock Industries Inc.: Under New Management: Aggregates producer cements acquisition deal with Vulcan Materials. [WEB EXCLUSIVE] Bookshelf: American Welding Society Welding Handbook, 9th Edition Volume 3, Welding Processes: American Welding Society, 669 pages, $192 ($25 to AWS members), electronic versions available 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. These items ran yesterday on -- click on the link for the details. IBM, OATSystems Chosen for World’s Largest RFID-enabled Manufacturing Project Latest Robotic Solutions for Assembly, Arc welding, Machine Tending on Display EADS Group Leaders are 'Not Cheats' Says CEO Keep up-to-date with the latest manufacturing discussions in IndustryWeek's Forums at >Detroit Finally Gets It Right (sort of) (Chain Reactions) "...GM, Ford and Chrysler have figured out how to beat the Chinese at their own game –- the only catch is that the entire United States has to suffer an economic slowdown for this strategy to work." Visit the link below to read more and comment. TODAY'S HEADLINES *** Is A 'Green' A Byproduct of Supply Chain Optmization? *** Compiled By Adrienne Selko According to a new report from Diamond Management & Technology Consultants, Inc., a consulting firm, companies that take a holistic view of their supply chains and incorporate principles at key points along the way will create opportunities to increase shareholder value. "Becoming green is no longer an end in and of itself, but the byproduct of optimizing a supply chain," said Mark Baum, a partner at Diamond who leads the firm's Consumer Packaged Goods practice. "At the same time, transitioning to a Green Supply Chain while also maximizing efficiency is not a clear-cut process." The report, entitled "The Case for a 'Green' Supply Chain: Turning Mandate into Opportunity," provides a set of recommendations for a Green Supply Chain framework. A company should continually evaluate and prioritize green investments in the supply chain based on their returns--in both financial and non-financial terms according to the report. "When prioritizing potential opportunities, it is important for companies to keep in mind that not every initiative will have a positive return on investment," said Baum. "Therefore, it is essential to think about all green initiatives together as a balanced portfolio, with some initiatives being done on an investment basis." A Green Supply Chain requires strong sponsorship from key executives and stakeholders and a robust business case that highlights a prioritized list of targeted opportunities, according to the report. Diamond's report notes that the business case should include specific metrics--not only for measuring success, but also to continuously look for opportunities to improve. "Part of a long-term strategy is realizing that a full-blown Green Supply Chain implementation may, in some cases, have a short-term negative impact on the company's bottom line," said Yug. "That is precisely why companies are best served tackling it in smaller stages, beginning in areas that have the greatest business and environmental impact. Environmental initiatives need to be integrated with other companywide projects to ensure one doesn't compromise the other." The report points out examples of Green Supply Chains at work: -- Johnson & Johnson's energy efficiency program resulted in an estimated $30 million in annualized savings over the 10 years prior to 2006. Also, Johnson & Johnson's Green House Gas reduction projects are achieving an average 16% internal rate of return, according to the company's 2006 sustainability report. -- Nestle's packaging material savings between 1991 and 2006--part of an ongoing, company-wide sustainability in $510 million of savings worldwide. -- Heineken aims to reduce fuel and electricity costs by 15% for the period between 2002 and 2010. As of a 2006 sustainability report, Heineken had achieved a savings of 6%--even after the acquisition of new breweries. -- Wal-Mart recently set the goal of a 5% reduction in packaging by 2013. It has been widely reported that the retail giant expects the cut in packaging will save 667,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere. Moreover, the company anticipates $3.4 billion in direct savings and roughly $11 billion insavings across the supply chain. To obtain a complete copy of Diamond's report, send an shop to *** Securities Class Action Settlements Rise in Number, Decline in Value in 2007 *** By Jill Jusko It was an up and down year for securities class action cases in 2007. The number of such cases settled last year rose 21% to 111, but the total value of the settlements dived 60% to $7 billion in 2007, according to Cornerstone Research. That dive is due in large part to the fact that 2006 recorded an all time high in total settlements of $17.2 billion, bolstered largely by the $7.2 billion Enron case settlement. The median settlement reached $9 million in 2007, a spike over the previous year driven by an increase of midrange settlements, those of $10 million to $20 million. In 2007, midrange settlements accounted for nearly 25% of the total number of settlements, compared with just over 10% of the total in the prior year. Other data from Cornerstone Research show: -- Tyco was the only settlement approved in 2007 to exceed $1 billion. -- Nine settlements in 2007 exceeded $100 million, compared with 14 in 2006. -- The $3.2 billion Tyco International settlement accounted for nearly 45% of the total value of settlements approved in 2007. Stanford Law School Professor Joseph Grundfest says the aggregate dollar value of settlements is likely to drop sharply over the next few years "because the inventory of large cases in the pipeline just isn't there." Grundfest is director of the Securities Action Clearinghouse, sponsored in cooperation with Cornerstone Research. He adds "The interesting open question is whether the subprime crisis will cause an uptick in securities fraud settlement activity that might, given settlement cycles in the litigation industry, only become apparent three to five years from now." *** European Slowdown But No Recession *** Compiled By Adrienne Selko The European manufacturing sector appears to be heading for a soft landing but no recession, due largely to pockets of strength in Germany and Central Europe, according to the semiannual Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI European Industrial Outlook. The report divides Europe into two distinct regions, Western Europe and Central Europe. The former generally comprises the 15 countries that form the currency union (Eurozone), while the latter includes the four largest economies of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE4): the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Manufacturing production in Western Europe is experiencing an emerging gap between "fast growers" in Austria, Finland, Germany, and Switzerland, and "slow growers" in France, Italy, and Spain according to Kris Bledowski, Ph.D., Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI Economist. The former group is benefiting from continued export demand in Central Europe and Asia, while the latter group faces challenges from domestic weakness and flagging international The Eurozone manufacturing sector is forecast to grow between 1% and 1.5% in 2008, down from 2.5% in 2007. While Central Europe continues to fare better that Western Europe, manufacturing growth in the CEE4 fell by one-half in 2007, mirroring a similar decline in the West. Consumer durable goods and selected capital goods remain strong, supported by rising incomes and exports. Yet there are clear signs of weakness, most notably in process industries and in some consumer non-durables such as food and drinks, and in high-tech product lines such as office equipment and IT gear. Manufacturing production growth in Central Europe will decelerate from the 12% range in 2007 to 5% in 2008. In the Eurozone top year-over-year performers in 2007 were office machinery (24% growth) and electronic valves and other components (22.5%). In Central Europe, growth was seen in railway rolling stock (50.6%) and television and radio transmitters (47.4%). "Europe's manufacturing as a whole is slowing but there are pockets of strength, such as Germany and Central Europe, which should assure at the very least a soft landing scenario for 2008," Bledowski said. ************** MARKET REPORT ************** North America Markets (Close, 4-10-08) DJIA, U.S.: 12,581.98, +54.72 NASDAQ U.S.: 2,351.70, +29.58 S&P 500, U.S.: 1,360.55, +6.06 Toronto 300, Canada: 13,909.58, +159.03 European Markets: (11 a.m. GMT, 4-11-08) FTSE-100, UK: 5,915.90, -49.20 DAX, Germany: 6,623.31, -81.01 Asian Markets: (Close, 4-11-08) Nikkei225, Japan: 13,323.73, +378.43 Hang Seng, Hong Kong: 24,667.79, +480.69 Sensex, Mumbai: 15,807.64, +112.54 Commodities Update (4-10-08, Settle) NYMEX..... Future Change Gold Jun 08 918.20 $/oz -6.20 Silver May 08 18.04 $/oz -0.16 Copper May 08 3.92 $/lb -0.08 Crude Oil May 08 110.11 $/bbl -0.76 Gasoline May 08 2.79 $/gallon +0.02 Heating Oil May 08 3.19 $/gallon -0.04 Natural Gas May 08 10.10 $/MMBtu +0.04 ***Foreign Exchange*** Dollar Slips Before Key G7 Finance Meeting: (AFP) In London, the dollar dipped on April 11 amid fading expectations of any joint effort by world finance chiefs to talk up the sagging greenback at a key meeting in Washington, dealers said. The euro changed hands at 1.5834 dollars against US$1.5742 late on April 10, at 161.20 yen (160.38), 0.8011 pounds (0.7985) and 1.5884 Swiss francs (1.5871). The dollar stood at 101.81 yen (101.88) and 1.0031 Swiss francs (1.0078). The pound was at 1.9765 dollars (1.9708). ***Labor*** Romanian Car Workers End Strike: (AFP) Workers at French-owned Romanian car plant Dacia called off a strike of more than two weeks on April 11 after accepting a new pay offer, a management spokesman said. "The strike is over and work resumed at 1:00 pm," Liviu Ion said. The deal came two days after unions rejected an earlier offer as a court rejected a management application to rule illegal the strike declared on March 24. A mass rally by several thousand workers at the Pitesti factory on April 10 was followed by new proposals which were put to the strikers on April 11 after talks late into the night. The deal provides for a monthly rise of 360 lei (97 euros), of which 300 will be back-dated to January 1 and the remaining 60 payable from September 1, plus an annual bonus of at least 900 lei. Dacia, Romania's leading carmaker, was bought in 1999 by Renault, and achieved record sales last year of more than 230,000 vehicles in Romania and for export, a 17.4% increase compared to 2006. China Unveils Home Grown 350 Kph Bullet Train: (AFP) China on April 11 unveiled a home-made bullet train, which it said was capable of reaching 350 kilometers (210 miles) an hour and would begin services out of Beijing before the Olympics, state media said. Three of the trains will start running on a new 120-kilometer route between the capital and the northern port city of Tianjin by the end of June. A total of 57 bullet trains, among the fastest in the world, are expected to be put in commercial operation by the end of 2009, the report said.The eight-carriage train, with its streamlined body made of light aluminium alloy, is based on technology from Siemens and can seat 557 passengers. China in December unveiled the first domestically developed bullet train that could reach 300 kilometers an hour, becoming the fourth country after France, Germany and Japan to have made such high-speed locomotives. 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. *** IndustryWeek Online Conference: Become More Competitive *** Find out how better processes, better intelligence, and better technology can help your company boost its IndustryWeek's Manufacturing Competitiveness online conference brings you 10 sessions over two days, April 29-30. Session themes include business intelligence, supply chain performance management, energy management, innovation, labor improvements, and more. Sign up here: 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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