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December 29, 2006

Light Friday: Rubber Sidewalks, Seasonal Spike in Sewage Spices, Suds and Science...

... Invisible Transistors, Mistletoe Not a Cure for Cancer (because we just weren't sure until now), Don't Call in Sick — Fake your Kidnapping, and MORE.

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December 28, 2006

7 Major Hiring Trends for 2007

About 40 percent of some 2,600 hiring managers recently said they plan to increase their number of full-time employees in 2007, according to results in CareerBuilder.com's "2007 Job Forecast" in December. Another 40 percent expect no change in their head counts, and 8 percent are expecting job eliminations. So keep an eye out for the following hiring trends in the new year.

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December 21, 2006

Good Tidings and the Gift of Quiet

This will be our last pre-holiday post, until we return mid-next week. From the IMT blog, we wish our dear readers a Merry Christmas or Happy Hannukah or Late-Winter-Solstice-in-the-Northern-Hemisphere Celebration (i.e., cheer for whichever holiday you intend to celebrate during your day(s) away from work). Happy Holidays!**

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December 20, 2006

5 Tax Tips to Save the New Year

Holidays are usually fun. Usually. They may not be as fun if you're an entrepreneur or small-business owner who has yet to finalize year-end tax strategies. Hopefully, we can help to make your tax burden less, er, burdensome. Just make sure to get your accounts set before New Year's Eve.

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December 19, 2006

UAW's Full Plate and Drastic Action

The U.S. labor movement already has gone through major changes in recent years, not the least of which is a dramatic decline in union membership. Now, as buyouts, plant closings and unmet agreements continue, so too do talk of union mergers and other drastic actions, particularly for the United Auto Workers.

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December 15, 2006

Light Friday: 'Snow'-tipped Space Mountains, Santa Science, Can the Plane Take Off?

We have a brainteaser for engineers and physics-minded readers. Also, some of the principles involved in Santa's epic annual journey: advanced knowledge of electromagnetic waves, the space/time continuum, nanotechnology, genetic engineering, and computer science.

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December 14, 2006

Rise, R&D, Rise: Tax Credit Resurrected

Last week we touched on the significance of whether the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate would extend a research and development tax credit during the final days of the lame duck session. Well, the extension was approved. Here's what it means for U.S. competitiveness.

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December 13, 2006

Corrugated Holds Stiff Under Pressure

In a sort of postscript to yesterday's IMT e-newsletter on the packaging industry and the holiday season, today corrugated gets some face time. Here we unload some stats of the flattening paperboard box market, as well as some designs and technologies that may help drive corrugated improvement.

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December 12, 2006

Unwrapping the Packaging Industry

Today's package designers are designing packaging for a new consumer — an on-the-go consumer. Here we parse growing trends that range from portable to flexible to biodegradable packaging, as well as industry machinery expenditures. Also, we look at why manufacturers and consumers are at odds over how holiday gifts are packaged.

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Features for the 'Moment of Truth'

As current competition at the retail shelf level is fierce, some of today's leading manufacturers have built a new demand-driven imperative around the "moment of truth" concept — the crucial point in time when a consumer makes a purchasing decision. Innovation in packaging is critical in this concept, as we examine herewith.

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Your Holidays are Numbered

Do you know how many fake Christmas trees in the U.S. are manufactured and imported from China, or the number of packages UPS expects to deliver worldwide every second on its peak day during the holidays? Warm up to some fun facts about this hectic time of the year.

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Obvious or Ingenious?

U.S. Supreme Court justices late last month heard arguments on the issue of what exactly constitutes "obviousness" when it comes to patent rules. If the high court decides to rewrite the legal standard to make it more restrictive, the effects could reshape intellectual property law and reduce the number of marginal patents throughout any number of industries.

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The Morphing Job of Engineering Brainy Gadgetry

While engineers create gadgets and psychologists study the human mind, the combination of the two creates the field of engineering psychology, sometimes called "human factors" or "cognitive engineering." Though it traditionally promoted easy-to-use tech designed with the strengths and limitations of human users as priorities, the oft-overlooked field is now expanding beyond ergonomic improvements.

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Burning Question

What is your business or career resolution for the New Year?

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Setting up Shop Online: Small Biz Survival

Three out of four holiday shoppers say they plan to shop for holiday gifts online, according to a recent Yahoo! Small Business survey, and 75 percent say they are likely to purchase gifts online from small businesses. Yet nearly half of all small businesses have not established a solid Web presence. What are you waiting for?!?!

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H-1B Visas

There's an ongoing debate in the engineering community about the value and effects of the H-1B visa program, with opinions running the gamut from enthusiastic support to strident condemnation, writes John Donovan, editor-in-chief of Portable Design. Here Donovan picks apart the payoff.

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Re-engineering New Orleans

As Nov. 30 marked the end of a mercifully mild hurricane season more than a year after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck the U.S. Gulf Coast, here we refocus on the region's reconstruction. Despite a number of hurdles and criticisms, there has been progress.

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10 Tips: Find Capacity When None Exists

As shippers everywhere face capacity challenges that are likely to stay for a while, they need to plan ahead, writes Deborah Catalano Ruriani at Inbound Logistics. Here she offers 10 tips on finding capacity, prescribed by two guys who should know.

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Project Green Light: Coping with New Zoning Issues

As more firms become wise to the ways of building "green," industry is seeing unique challenges surrounding new zoning procedures. When it comes to giving "green" construction projects the green light, zoning boards are being forced to rethink the approval process to support a new generation of architecture.

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Recommended Reading

In "Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things," acclaimed author Donald Norman draws on a wealth of examples and the latest scientific insights to articulate the profound influence of the feelings that objects evoke. This book should appeal not only to designers and manufacturers but also to managers, psychologists and, really, readers who love to think about their stuff.

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December 11, 2006

Case Packing: Traditional or the New Hotness?

Nothing wrong with tradition: painting your face for a football match; handwritten letters; paper newspapers; watching "A Charlie Brown Christmas" 37 times through the holiday season. Then again, the new hotness definitely has its benefits, too. When it comes to case packing, going robotic or traditional automation is an application-by-application decision.

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December 8, 2006

Light Friday: NASA's Permanent Moon Base, Avoiding Lawsuits at Office Parties, How Engineers Make Milkshakes...

...Congress' Real Labor Issue, Boeing's Patented Anti-Terrorist System, and "the Strongest Evidence to Date that Water Still Flows on the Surface of Mars."

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December 6, 2006

R&D Tax Credit Not Dead Yet

If the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate do not extend the research and development tax credit, among some other popular deductions, during the final days of the lame duck session, businesses could be big losers. If it is passed, however, businesses could look forward to a shiny new year.

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December 5, 2006

Electronics Make a Run For the Border

Mexico's electronics industry suffered a detrimental setback following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 due to the economic downturn in the U.S. Yet the country's electronics industry has rebounded nicely. In fact, electronics buyers involved in outsourcing decisions may find they are driving to Mexico rather than flying to China for EMS providers.

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December 4, 2006

Benchmarking for Continuous, Ongoing, Unending Improvement

Whatever you call it, improvement must not be a one-time project. Lasting improvement requires continuous improvement. In manufacturing and supply chain initiatives, benchmarking can lead to significant increases in long-term efficiency goals.

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December 1, 2006

Light Friday: Guacamole Lawsuit, Sandwich Patent, Bouncing Inventor...

...RFID at the Pub, Souped-up Golf Carts, Freaky Fish, Electric Car Supply vs. Demand, and MORE!

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