USA and Canada

Blackland Aerospace, LP, the aerospace component manufacturing platform of Dallas based private equity firm, Blackland Group, LLC, has acquired Lewis Machine Company.

Based in East Hartford, Connecticut, Lewis Machine specializes in manufacturing complex precision-machined components for clients in the commercial and military jet engine, airframe, missile and power plant industries.

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett today cut the ribbon on Pratt Industries' new corrugated box plant, a facility that will bring at least 125 new jobs to Lehigh County.

The company established the new plant in Macungie to service its northeast United States customers. It will receive rolls of 100-percent recycled paper to convert into boxes and customized point-of-sale materials.

The new Humber River Regional Hospital will be North America’s first truly digital hospital. Dr. Rueben Devlin, president and CEO and Peter Bak, information, communications, automation and technology strategy officer, explain their vision to Richard Halfhide.

It may not be quite the highest mine in the world, but Los Bronces in the Chilean Andes has its own set of challenges for its new general manager Sam Rasmussen, as Alan Swaby learns.

Readers of this publication will be long familiar with arduous mining ventures. Normally, this means somewhere miles from nowhere in some hard to reach corner of the country. But in the case of one of the richest copper mines in the world, all the challenges and feelings of remoteness stem from the fact that it lies some 11,000ft above sea level.

After exciting exploration results from the fluorspar veins at St Lawrence, Newfoundland, CEO Lindsay Gorrill and chairman Richard Carl talk to Gay Sutton about financing the first mines through the Newspar Partnership with Arkema, and using this as a springboard for developing a much larger mining complex.

Fluorspar must be one of the world’s best kept secrets. Few outside of specific manufacturing sectors are aware of its importance, but for those who are, the race is on to find new supplies.

Extending its Smarter Commerce initiative, IBM announced a definitive agreement today to acquire Tealeaf Technology, Inc., a leading provider of customer experience analytics software that helps organizations react more swiftly to consumer trends in today's digital marketplace. Financial details were not disclosed.

The need to deliver a seamless mobile experience has become increasingly critical to chief marketing officers (CMOs) with global online commerce expected to hit $1 trillion by 2014 and mobile commerce $200 billion by 2015.

Economic activity in the US manufacturing sector expanded in April for the 33rd consecutive month, according to the latest Manufacturing ISM Report On Business.

The Institute for Supply Management index of manufacturing activity rose to 54.8 last month, from 53.4 in March. An index figure above 50 indicates growth. The ISM's measure of employment in the sector also rose to a nine-month high.

Horizon Milling announced its intention today to invest in its Saginaw flour milling facility, the largest flour mill in Texas, to enhance milling efficiencies and capabilities.

Pending civil and regulatory approval, the project is slated to begin this summer and be completed in summer 2013.

Ford Motor Company has reported 2012 first quarter pre-tax operating profit of $2.3 billion, and net income of $1.4 billion, led by a strong performance in North America.

The overall results are down from 2011 first quarter pre-tax operating profit of $2.8 billion, and net income of $2.6 billion, partly due to weaker economic conditions in Europe, and partly due to tax considerations and special charges, such as buyouts of hourly workers in the US in accordance with the 2011 UAW agreement.

Vancouver-based Methanex, the world’s largest supplier of methanol to major international markets, is to relocate one of its plants from Chile to Louisiana in the United States.

Methanex has four plants at its Cabo Negro complex in southern Chile, but they are operating significantly below capacity, mainly due to curtailments of natural gas supply from Argentina.