Belgium and the Netherlands have submitted preliminary paperwork to FIFA headquarters to co-host the 2018 World Cup, formally opening what promises to be a particularly spirited battle for the biggest prize in global sport this side of the Olympics.
The toy industry has been in the news more often than it would perhaps like in recent months, thanks in large part to the wave of toy recalls and consumer alerts last fall which led to a comprehensive overhaul of production oversight. Of course, few things can sway manufacturers in the way that a series of congressional hearings and scandals in the media can, as witnessed in the admission from Mattel CEO Robert Eckert that ''we were let down, and so we let you down'' after three significant toy recalls prompted by concerns of poisonous lead paint being used in toys sold to American children.
The lead paint scare could be compared to the Grinch who stole Christmas.
More than 25 million toys manufactured in China have been recalled in the past year, and more are expected to follow as toy manufacturers continue their investigations of products that may have lead contents which exceed the allowable limit in the United States.
Challenges are a normal part of business — that’s a fact. And every company, whether it’s a startup, a business in a high-growth phase, or even a long-standing established organization, will face both small and large hurdles every year. But no matter what your company faces — a slow economy, industry shifts, a merger, or even the death of a key executive — if you move through the challenge in a specific way, you will find opportunity in the adversity and come out stronger.
The Inescapable Sound of Noise By Mary Ann Latko, CIH, CSP, QEP
Director of Scientific and Technical Initiatives
American Industrial Hygiene Association
Whether noise is encountered on the job or in the community, most people are at risk of hearing loss if they don’t take precautions. The occupational and environmental health and safety professionals of the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) believe that noise exposure is an omnipresent issue in our communities and workplaces.
Globalization, offshoring, and outsourcing represent the most significant and challenging problems facing management. Should we outsource and offshore manufacturing? How do we adapt our business in the face of globalization? The answers to these questions are far from simple and straightforward. Nevertheless, there are some principles that managers can follow in addressing these. I have been following these topics for a number of years and have been formulating these principles as I have talked to a number of companies, both domestic and international.
My first Product Flow Diagram (PFD) was for a metal shop. It illustrated products moving from the Northeast to the Sunbelt and accounted for a new plant startup and plant layout. The PFD tracked heat treatments, annealing, screw machining, boring, milling, assembly, and quality inspection. What started as a simple walkthrough turned into a can of worms because of all the convergence and divergence of materials between operations, staging, quality control, and so on.
In an effort to decrease pollution, China’s government has decided to shut down industries that emit soot and carbon into the atmosphere surrounding Beijing. It also plans to pull vehicles off of Beijing streets for the 2008 Summer Olympics. This will take place several weeks before the Olympics begin on August 8.
As manufacturers struggle to fill current and pending positions that require skilled labor, they’d do well to consider an often overlooked source of talented and able employees: the military. With baby boomers retiring, federal forecasters predict that approximately 40% of the skilled labor force will retire. Couple that with a loss of apprenticeship programs and the skills demand that comes from the increasingly sophisticated technology found in plants, and there will be a shortage of skilled factory workers, which has many manufacturers girding for a crisis.
Put a group of strangers together, ask them to work side by side in the same building or office for eight or more hours each day, and you're bound to have some conflict. And when that group contains people from differing generations, all with different values and views of the world, the amount of conflict your office experiences can greatly increase.
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