Manufacturing

With competition heating up in the aerospace and defence manufacturing sector, businesses are having to completely rethink the ways in which they go to market.

Written by: Arsenin Rodriguez

The aerospace and defence sector is typically very resilient to economic downturns. Long product development and production programmes, and an often predictable order pipeline, help the industry maintain a more stable business when compared with other discrete manufacturing sectors.

Owens Corning announced today that its new furnace in its Tlaxcala, Mexico, glass reinforcements facility is operational. This is another step in the company’s plans to increase its global capacity to produce composite material.

Owens Corning is a leading global producer of glass fiber reinforcements for composite systems and residential and commercial building materials.

The AlterG Anti-Gravity Treadmill has been on trial in the Regional Trauma Unit at the NHS Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, Northern Ireland for the past three months. During that time over two hundred patients have benefited from the unique 'anti-gravity' technology.

After twenty years of market creation in China, what will it look like as it reaches maturity, and what will this mean for western companies? Part one of a three-part series looks at the emergence of business-to-business markets.

Africa’s largest manufacturer of polyurethane foam products has been very busy extending its products, markets and technology—and supporting new businesses as part of its growth strategy.

A new product emerging onto the world market is setting the bar much higher for pipe construction. Alan Stothard, managing director of IQS International, explains how Huachuang steel reinforced HDPE pipe can deliver significant financial and environmental savings.

Whitmore focuses on cutting down wear in industrial applications – the tougher the job, the better Whitmore likes it.

When we spoke to Jack Ellis he was a long way geographically from Rockwall, Texas, where the specialized lubrication company is based—though not so far semantically. The firm’s much traveled VP of sales found himself in Rockhampton, a small town on the coast of Queensland. Traveling with distributors in Australia is his favorite way of connecting with key coal mining customers in the Hunter and Bowen Valleys.

Bridgestone Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo, is the world’s largest tyre and rubber company; and its South African subsidiary is one of few able to supply and support the ultra large heavy-duty tyres suitable for underground and open pit mining.

Martin Engineering is expecting to make a big splash at MINExpo International 2012 by introducing its own brand of electric vibrators and newly developed EVO heavy duty products for bulk handling applications.

Trolex, which designs and manufactures monitoring, control and automation equipment for the mining industry, has ambitious plans for growth and diversification. Technical director Stan Curtis talks about the will to innovate.