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Executive Hotline
Boeing Delivers 285 Planes in ‘04,
Predicts
Jump to 320 in ‘05, 385 in ‘06
Boeing is recovering from a weak couple of years as '05 and ‘06 look
good. It shipped 381 in ‘02 & 527 in ‘01. It ended output of its 717
jet and lost contract from DOD air tankers so profit was $186 million
vs.$1.13 billion a year earlier. Its new 7E7 has firm orders for
126-plus.
Aircraft names will revert to numbers. The 7E7 Dreamliner will become
the 787, Number 8 is lucky in Asia. First 787-8 to China by Beijing
Olypmics in Aug. 2008. Libya’s Burag Air buying 6 737-800s & China
Eastern 6 737-700 worth $240 million. Boeing says China will need
2,300 craft over next 20 years.$7.2 billion deal for 60 planes from
Chinese airlines is largest so far.
Japan Airlines may buy up to 50 7E7s and purchased 30 for $4 billion
just prior to Christmas. Japan also ordering 30 737s worth $1.5
billion. Continental Airlines was 1st. buyer, ordering 10 7E7s for
$1.3 billion. There was little commercial interest in the
100-passenger 717 so its production line closes next year. It was a
remake of the Douglas MD-90. It sold for $42 million and was made in
Long Beach, CA. plant. Major airlines wanted bigger planes.
Meanwhile, Boeing named new top salesman, the president of Connexion
Inflight Internet service venture, Scott Carson as V.P-Sales.Boeing’s
2004 profit as $1.87 billion, more than double 2003 net earnings of
$718 million (89¢).Boeing also got $2.1 billion orders for Ethiopian
Airlines and Japan.
Defense Spending Helps Northrop.
Northrop-Grumman’s 4th quarter profit rose 31% as third biggest
defense contractor recorded stronger electronics and aerospace
performance plus lower pension cost.Northrop of L.A. makes everything
from Global Hawk spy plane to components of U.S. missile-defense
system, has 4th quarter net of $294 million, up from $224 million last
year..In 4th quarter sales rose in all 6 business units--ships,
integrated systems and space technolgoy recorded double-digit
percentage sales growth.
Operating profit rose 58% to $573 million from $362 million led by
strong performance in the electronics and integrated systems units.
For year, net rose 28% to $1.11 billion from $866 million. Sales rose
13% to $29.85 billion. Any cuts in defense spending over next 2 years
won’t affect Northrop because company is diverse enough to weather
budget changes.
Chip Sales May Be Down in ’05 But Posted Gains of 23.4%
in ‘04
Worldwide chip sales rose 23.4% in 2004 to $218.5 billion Intel,Santa
Clara, CA. remained largest semiconductor maker with 13% revenue
growth in ‘04. Dallas-based Texas Instruments had 31% growth to edge
up market share to 4.4% from 4.2%. Advanced Micro Devices, Sunnyvale,
CA., unveiled chip to rival Intel’s Centrino. Its called Turion, for
mobile computers. It’s also offering chips for personal DVD
units...Chipmaker Integrated Device Technology (IDT) spent $29 million
for 20 acre campus in So. San Jose, CA., moving 600 employees this
summer. Later, company will use additional 135,00 sq.ft. for R&D
facility.
A
chip is planned by two firms to protect water from terrorists. The
lab-on-a-chip is based on Sandia Nat’l Labs Chip of glass,size of
nickel, etched with channels no wider than human hair. It has 10,000
volt power attached & weighs under 3 lb....Nvidia, Santa Clara,CA., in
potential $1 billion deal with Sony’s graphics chips in Play Station 3
video game console.
Dynamic random access memory chips (DRAM) expected to grow at 12 of
major makers to $12.6 billion, up from $10.5 billion in ‘04....Intel
scientists built a laser on silicon chip. Silicon lasers could be mass
produced. With silicon in Raman lasers the effect is 10,000 stronger
than in today's glass fiber.
Prime Defense Contracts Hit 230.7 Billion in FY’04
The
DOD awarded $230.7 billion in prime contracts for FY ‘04, $21.7
billion more than FY '03. Lockheed-Martin led with $20.7 billion in
contracts. Boeing was 2nd with $17.1 billion and Northrop-Grumman
third with $11.9 billion. Bechtel is 15th with $1.7 billion,
Halliburton, Houston, hit sixth with $8 billion (VP Cheney headed it
before being VP) Parsons in Pasadena working in Iraq ranks 34th with
$809 million. Other top 10 were General Dynamics ($9.6 billion),
Raytheon, ($8.5 billion), United Technologies ($5.1 billion), Science
Applications Int’l($2.5 billion) Computer Sciences ($2.4 billion) and
Humana ($2.4 billion).
Fremont,CA. NUMMI Built
38,678 Vehicles, 2nd Highest In Its 20 Year History
NUMMI
was down only 3.65% in output for ‘04 from record 395,083 in
2003..Since it opened in ‘84 it has built about 5.8 million vehicles
in the old GM plant. It now has 5,700 employes who built in ‘04
167,970 Toyota Corolla sedans, 143,281 Tacoma pickups, 69,226 Pontiac
Vibe sport wagons and 201 Toyota Voltz, discontinued early last year.
Co. modified assembly line, retrained thousands of workers to produce
new model of Tacoma pickup truck name “truck of the year” by Motor
Trend magazine. Co. is more efficient than any other auto co. It
recently launched output at 2nd plant in Baja, CA.
Buy & Sell, Plus Mergers, Pace Continues High in
Western States
Merger interest is heating up and as of mid-Dec. IPO activity climbed
as 216 raised $43 billion exceeding 221 from prior 3 years combined.
In 1999 there was 486 and 406 in 2000. Mergers hit 7700 through
mid-Dec. worth $742 million. The peak was 2000, hitting $1.6 trillion.
United Technologies may buy Boeing’s Rocketdyne for $500 million-plus.
Its in a Los Angeles suburb...Oracle got $9.5 billion loan for
PeopleSoft buyout. Redwood City-based Oracle had price of $10.3
billion.... Cisco acquiring Wi-Fi. company Airspace, San Jose,CA. for
$450 million in stock. Cisco bought 12 firms last year...Alltel,
Little Rock,AR. bought Western Wireless, Bellvue,WA., for $4
billion..GE delayed buying InVision, Newark,CA for $900 million for 2
months ending Dec. 27,’04....Cisco Systems, San Jose, buying
security-software firm Perfigo for $74 million. Its Cisco’s 11th buy
this past year....Science Applications Int’l, San Diego, is selling
Telcorida Technologies of New Jersey, to two equity investors for
$1.35 billion... French software firm BVRP Software, acquiring V
Communications, San Jose,CA. and moving operations to Pleasanton,CA.
It has 66 employees...Agile Software of San Jose acquired Cimmetry
Systems of Montreal....Computer Sciences, El Segundo,CA., extended
contracts with General Dynamics,Falls Church,VA. worth $1.6 billion.
Computers & Software Active
IBM
is selling versions of its top supercomputer, the eServer Blue Gedne
is 1-rack systems that runs 5.7 trillion operations a second or 5.7
teraflops. It cost about $2 million per rack or can be leased. It has
2,048 microprocessors.... Cassatt, software firm in San Jose,CA., has
Collage a software that automates data centers with low cost
computers. It manages networks of servers running Linux or
Windows....Lenova, China’s largest computer maker, is moving
headquarters to IBM’s Armonk-based headquarters and become world’s 3rd
largest computer maker next to Dell & Hewlett-Packard....Low cost
alternative to PC making comback with Wyse Technology in San Jose
which sells thin-client terminals for $225. They replace regular
computers with desktop terminals. Investment firm Garnett & Helfrich
Capital invested $35 million for 50% stake in buyout part of about
$150 million. Hope is to boost $175 million in revenue to $350 million
and $1 billion by 2010..Advanced micro devices has 185 computer no
bigger than a hardcover book.
As
CEO Hector Ruiz expects by 2015 half world’s population will own
computers. Its internet communicator has Geode microprocessor (360
megahertz and Windows CE operating system)...Intel’s CEO Craig Barrett
says consumers will choose the PC as their main source of digital
entertainment in the living room. He says 20 computer-makers are
making entertainment PCs based on Intel designs....A shakeout is
predicted in high-tech as 3 of top 10 builders may exit market by
2007, says research firm Gartner,Inc. PC unit growth averaging 11.3%
annually past 2 years but may slow to 5.7% between 2006 and
2008...Intel had strong sales for 4th quarter ending Dec.25 hitting
$9.6 billion, up 10% from $8.7 billion in 2003..Intel will spend $5.1
billion, adding new plants and $5.2 billion on R&D, up from $4.8
billion. It has 2004 revenue of $34.2 billion earning $7.5 billion or
$1.16 per share.. Yahoo of Sunnyvale, CA. offers new desk-top search
software that can search more than 200 files types. Its working with
Pasadena’s search firm XI Technology.. Flextronics Int’l, San Jose
(Singapore) had $98.7 net income for FY 3rd quarter (Dec.31) Revenue
grew 3% to $4.28 billion. Dublin,CA based software and database maker
Sybase will hire 160-180 employes this year and could be some
ex-Peoplesoft workers when Oracle spent $10.3 billion in merger and
cut 5000 positions in both firms... TiVo, Inc., Alviso, CA., that
makes digital video recorders, will invite independent developers to
create software to beef up TiVo’s ability to deliver programming and
information via high-speed internet lines...
Worker productivity was up 4.1% in ‘04. Productivity in ‘02 & ‘03 was
4.4%. Only 3-year period close was 4.2% in ‘49-51. Commerce Dept. said
factory orders were up a record 11.1% in ‘04. United Technologies may
buy Boeing’s Rocketdyne in Canoga Park,CA.
Apple Computer’s Digital Lifestyle & Producivity
Software
New
Lineup The Year--include iPod digital music player, iMac computer
under $500 To be powered by PowerPC G4 chip with single combination
drive,update of music software (iWork ‘05) and version of iLife ‘05
with update of Apple works 6 document-creation called Pages.
Hewlett-Packard Involved in Many Industry Developments
Hewlett-Packard of Menlo Park,CA. is merging its printer & PC units.
The printer div. made $1.1 billion profit last quarter of ‘04. After
president Carley Florina took helm in 1999 she cut divisions from 83
to 5 but Dell of Round Rock,TX. topped H-P as top PC seller in 4th
quarter with 15.9% share with shipments rising 21.1% to 8.8 million.
PC sales worldwide were strong, up 13.7% to 51.5 million PCs. HP plans
to be No.1 in 2 markets smart phones an hand-held devices...Handhelds
hit 9.2 million last year rival to transistors, a device
“crossbar latch”...Also, it touts an advanced digital media hub with
no keyboards but remote controls and will store and manage digital
music, photos, home video and TV shows. It has built-in 240-GB hard
drive and slot for removable hard drive. Home media centers enable
users to stream content over home network to more TV sets....H-P’s
board of directors may shift some responsibilities from Pres. Florina
to other execs to improve performance. “She shouldn’t be running
everything every day”, say Sr. executives.
Many Co’s Make News at PressTime
Yahoo of Sunnyvale,CA. has launched a search tool, a version of YIQ
tool searches the internet for “contextually relevant content with
single click of mouse. Result then displayed in pop-up window over the
same page where search began. It can also be downloaded as toolbar, or
embedded into Web site....Apple Computer thinking small with new
products---the Mac Mini and iPod shuffle, a new group of word
processing and productivity programs named iWork ‘05, a $79 package,
iLife ‘05 upgrades digital media tools (iPhoto) Movie, 1DVD and
GarageBand, plus Final Cut Express HD, a 99 consumer version of video
editing tools such as Final Cut Pro.
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Industry News
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Enshu USA
Corporation Appoints Meyers Machinery Sales as Exclusive Distributor
for Southern California
Enshu USA Corporation and
Meyers Machinery Sales recently joined forces as the new distributor
for the Southern California machine tool market.
“The new change reflects
Enshu’s commitment to provide excellent sales and support available to
the Southern California market with Meyers Machinery Sales. It is
intended to strengthen and impove Enshu’s position in this vital
market for 2005", says Han Hansen Vice President of Sales and
Operations.
Enshu, is a premier
builder of vertical and horzontal machining centers and has expertise
in automotive, aerospace, and die/mold applications. Meyers Sales will
compliment this expertise with their many years of service and turnkey
experience. Meyers will provide sales, part support, and service for
all Enshu machines and all exsisting Enshu customers in Southern
California.
Meyers Machinery will have
it’s showroom in Orange, CA equipped with Enshu Vertical and
Horizontal machining centers under power for demostration and turnkey
requirements.
“With the addition of
Enshu to Meyers we can serve our Southern California’s manufacturing
industry with a high quality Japanese built machining center that
suits all of our customers demanding needs”,says James Carlisle
president of Meyers Machinery Sales.
Shop Floor Automations Opens New Office
Shop Floor Automations,
Inc. (SFA), the largest independent supplier of Predator Software
products, has recently moved its corporate offices. After 2 years in
La Mesa, California, Shop Floor Automations has moved into a new suite
with more space to provide in-house training classes, demonstration
days and room for additional staff.
Shop Floor Automations,
Inc. is the largest independent supplier of Predator Software products
in the world. Serving as the Western United States Service Center for
Predator Software, SFA provides sales, service, and support for all
Predator products. Based in La Mesa, California, with offices and
personnel in Los Angeles and Lancaster, California; Eugene, Oregon and
Phoenix, Arizona, SFA has remained Predator’s top reseller for six
years running.
Sony Precision Technology Announces Name Change
Sony Precision Technology
America, Inc. announced that it has changed its name to Sony
Manufacturing Systems America, Inc. (SMSA). The driving force behind
this name change is the overall growth and expansion of Sony’s efforts
and the consolidation of business lines.
“SMSA will continue to
provide its current and future customers with
high-quality products and the superb level of service they have come
to expect from Sony,” stated Koh Nakata, president, Sony
Manufacturing Systems America, Inc. “Our name change, along with the
addition of new cutting-edge products will allow us to further expand
our North American sales efforts.”
Products available from
Sony Manufacturing Systems America, Inc. in North America include
Precision Measuring Systems, Digital Instruments, Disc Analyzer ,
Rapid Prototype and Factory Automation.
Yamazen and Mitsubushi Heavy Industries
Expand Collaboration
Mitsubishi Heavy
Industries America, Inc. has announced the expansion of its
collaboration with Yamazen, Inc. as its major distributor of
Mitsubishi machine tool products in the United States.
“Under our agreement,
Yamazen Inc. will assume responsibility for all Mitsubishi machining
centers, large machine and grinder products,” says Masaaki Utaka,
division president of MHI America, Inc. Machine Tool Division. “With
our focus on providing quality machine tools, support and solutions at
a value point that today’s market demands, our relationship with
Yamazen is clearly something we felt should be expanded.”
“We are excited about the
opportunities expanding our relationship will bring,” says Masaaki
Nishide, president and C.O.O. of Yamazen Inc. “MHI is an important
partner whose products meet the demands of today’s manufacturing
community. Our role will be importer and distributor, providing
logistics, warehousing and national parts and service support, similar
to the services provided to our other key vendor partners.”
M.A. Ford Announced New National Sales Manager/North
America
M.A Ford announced the
promotion of Timothy R. Martin to the position of national sales
manager/North America. Martin previously held the position of Great
Lakes regional sales. Martin will be responsible for leading the
company’s factory direct sales personnel, their manufacturer’s rep
sales organization and North American distribution network.
Prior to joining M.A. Ford
in 2003, Martin, with 33 years of metalworking experience, was the
manager of distributor operations for Kennametal, Inc. While at
Kennametal, Martin also held the position of product manager of solid
carbide round tools. He also participated in technical program
development and was an instructor at Kennametal University.
Fagor Automation
Announces New North American General Manager
The appointment of Harsh
Bibra as the new Fagor Automation N.A. general manager has been
announced by Fagor Automation Corporation, a world-wide manufacturer
of CNC and Servo Systems, DRO Systems and Feedback Systems.
Mr. Bibra started with
Fagor Automation Corporation as the Canadian general manager in 1994
and has built Fagor into the leading CNC and DRO supplier in Canada.
Mr. Bibra had 10 years previous experience with another CNC control
company prior to 1994. Mr. Bibra brings with him a total of more
than 20 years managerial experience within the CNC and automation
market. As the new General Manager, Mr. Bibra will be responsible for
all Sales, Marketing and Business strategies throughout North America
for the coming years.
Meyers
Machinery Sales Appoints Southbay Territory Sales Manager
Meyers Machinery Sales
recently added Rene Castillo to the position of Southbay Territory
Sales Manager. Rene Castillo brings over 12 years of machine tool
sales to Meyers with over 18 years of customer service experience. He
lives and works in the southbay. “Rene, brings excellent sales
experience and has a great rapport with all his customers and is
always looking for the best manufacturing solution to all his
customers needs”, says Jim Carlisle president of Meyers Machinery
Sales.
Rene Castillo has complete
sales training in multi-axis turning, swiss turing, vertical &
horizonal milling, and grinding experience. He has worked with many
popular brands such as Toyoda, DMG, Star, Hyundia, Emco Maier,
Toshiba, Walters and many others.
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