Such is the weakness of the US automotive market that even Toyota has scaled down its sales and production plans for 2008. ┬á The Japanese automaker announced today that it has lowered its global sales forecast from 9.85 million to 9.5 million vehicles, still a one percent increase on last yearÔÇÖs 9.37 million vehicles, but nowhere near the six percent growth it achieved in 2007 or the five percent it originally predicted for this year.┬á┬á All automobile manufacturers are having to deal with reduced demand in the US as soaring gasoline prices and fears of a recession p

The healthy optionThe Sisters of Mercy Health System is staying true to the principles of its founders by adopting 21st-century management and delivery approaches, Ruari McCallion learns. The Sisters of Mercy were founded in Ireland at the turn of the 19th century by Catherine McAuley, a young woman who inherited a fortune from her adoptive parents and put it to work rendering support, shelter, care and education to the poor and disadvantaged of Dublin.  The Sisters of Mercy Health System (SMHS), based in St.

Ahead in the sandsBantrel provides a wide range of services for its petroleum clients in the oil sands of Alberta, Gary Toushek discovers. Bantrel began 25 years ago as a small group of engineers with the objective of pursuing gas and oil projects in the Beaufort Sea, north of the Arctic Circle. When a drilling moratorium was put on that region, the group began working for some of the emerging oil sands giants in Alberta, such as Suncor and Syncrude, and as the oil sands grew, Bantrel grew as well.

Perfecting improvement While lean and continuous improvement have been part of the culture for some time at Flowserve Corp., Keith Regan learns how the company is looking to extend its initiatives into supply chain and logistics. Although Flowserve Corp. celebrated its 10th anniversary only recently, the companyÔÇÖs roots reach back more than 200 years to the 1790 founding of Simpson & Thompson. TodayÔÇÖs Flowserve, based in Irving, Texas, was formed by the merger in 1997 of BW/IP and Durco International.

Swinging for the fenceWith an enviable cash flow, Highpine Oil & Gas is looking for new opportunities, reports Gary Toushek. Highpine Oil & Gas Limited is a Calgary-based company engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and production of crude oil, natural gas, and gas liquids in western Canada, and currently focused on the Pembina Nisku Fairway in central Alberta. It was incorporated as a private company in 1998 and went public three years ago.

In with the oldGary Toushek learns how Redcorp Ventures Ltd. is employing some innovative methods to make an old mine new again. New commodity prices for base minerals and precious metals are good reasons to revisit an old mine that produced faithfully for seven years.  The Tulsequah Chief mine is located at the juncture of the Tulsequah and Taku Rivers in a remote part of the northwestern corner of British Columbia, very close to the Alaskan border, not far from Juneau. Originally mined by a subsidiary of Cominco Ltd.

The US government has charged a Netherlands-based oil trading firm with manipulating crude oil prices in the first civil complaint since energy regulators began a new investigation into wrongdoings in energy markets.┬á The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) accused Optiver Holding, two of its subsidiaries and three employees with manipulation and attempted manipulation of crude oil, heating oil and gasoline futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange.┬á The CFTC, the governmentÔÇÖs main regulator of commodity markets, said the accused tried to ÔÇ£bang the closeÔ

Silver buckshotTriMet, the Portland regionÔÇÖs transit district, uses a variety of strategies to keep people moving around the city economically and efficiently, Gary Toushek learns. The early years of public transit in the Portland, Oregon, area were precarious to say the least. About 35 different entitiesÔÇöpublic, private, or combinationsÔÇötried over the course of a century to create a workable transit system, but none was successful. With Rose City Transit facing bankruptcy, the state legislature stepped in and created TriMet in the late 1960s.

In with the oldGary Toushek learns how Redcorp Ventures Ltd. is employing some innovative methods to make an old mine new again. New commodity prices for base minerals and precious metals are good reasons to revisit an old mine that produced faithfully for seven years.  The Tulsequah Chief mine is located at the juncture of the Tulsequah and Taku Rivers in a remote part of the northwestern corner of British Columbia, very close to the Alaskan border, not far from Juneau. Originally mined by a subsidiary of Cominco Ltd.

Getting into shapeMountain States Health Alliance is busy constructing new capacity and replacing old buildings as it cuts operating costs and improves care and service, Mark Moody tells Ruari McCallion. The new Franklin Woods Community Hospital in Johnson City, Tennessee, is showing the community the shape of things to come from the Mountain States Health Alliance (MHSA). ÔÇ£It isnÔÇÖt a conventional square or rectangular building; itÔÇÖs been designed in a Z-shape, which enables it to both provide the space we need and also preserve the natural environ