Made in America: Manufacturing, Farming Giant Caterpillar Continues Foray Into Technology Innovation
by June 28, 2015 6:26 am 149 views
Editor’s note: Each Sunday, Talk Business & Politics provides “Made In America,” a wrap-up of manufacturing news in our email newsletter, which you can sign up to receive daily for free here.
MANUFACTURING, FARMING GIANT CATERPILLAR CONTINUES FORAY INTO TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION
After making huge investments in data and predictive analytics startup firms earlier this year, Caterpillar Inc. has entered into a strategic alliance with another tech firm that has developed mobile hardware and software that provides the heavy equipment industry with a streamlined system for measurement and data collection.
Caterpillar said it and Grand Rapids-based Modustri will work together to develop innovations that enhance customers of the agri and farming giant to measure wear on parts and optimize their fleets more effectively.
By using web-based and mobile platforms, the companies will deliver simplified processes that provide customers accurate, immediate access to useful, real-time data while still in the field, officials said. This technology could save customers hundreds of hours and millions of dollars by proactively helping Cat dealers and customers better measure wear rates and manage wear parts replacements – including those from other suppliers.
To learn more about the tech-focused alliance, click here.
UA AGRICULTURE DIVISION: FARMERS FACING DEPRESSED COMMODITY PRICES
Producers in Arkansas are facing dropping commodity prices as abundant storages of rice, grains and other products saturate the market, according to economic experts at the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.
Archie Flanders, assistant professor of agricultural economics for the division, said the surplus comes after several years of increasing prices and high yields in crops that can be stored year over year. “After years of extremely favorable prices, last year we had somewhat of a decline, and a further decline in prices this year,” Flanders said. “Right now, every crop has an abundant supply, and every crop is affected, across the board.”
According to estimates released earlier in June by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, global price projections for long-grain rice, for example, have decreased to $10-$11 per hundredweight from the 2014/2015 estimate of $11.90-$12.10 per hundredweight. Cotton’s future appears uncertain, as the 2014/15 estimate of 60.5 cents per pound is now projected to either drop to as low as 50 cents per pound or rise as high as 70 cents per pound by year’s end.
To learn more, read the report from the University of Arkansas’ Cooperative Extension Service.
AREA COMPANIES BENEFIT FROM WAL-MART’S ONSHORING AGENDA
Almost a year ago, Wal-Mart held an “open call” for manufacturers to present product ideas. Hugh Jarratt showed up with a plastic taco plate. It’s been a hit. He just sent more plates to 49 Wal-Mart distribution centers, and he’s got two new ideas for the open call set for July 7 in Bentonville.
Jarratt, an entrepreneur and lawyer from Fayetteville, had his taco plate invention produced at PolyTech Plastic Moldings in Prairie Grove. He said the past year has been an exciting ride for his company, Jarrett Industries, and for PolyTech. What does he have in store next and what opportunities exist for inventors and manufacturers with the upcoming manufacturing summit? Read more here.
NEAR-TERM OUTLOOK FOR REGION SOURS, BUT TRANSPORTATION EMPLOYMENT REBOUNDS
A May survey of business contacts in the Little Rock Zone of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis shows a little more than half of respondents expect economic conditions in 2015 will be better than in 2014. That’s down from three months earlier, when a little more than 80% were optimistic about the near-term outlook.
Still, Arkansas’ transportation employment in the first quarter of 2015 experienced its fastest year-over-year growth rate in over a decade. Arkansas’ personal income grew by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, nearly two percentage points faster than in the prior quarter and better than the national average. Read more on a variety of economic stats here.
LINDE’S SOUTH ARKANSAS LIQUID NITROGEN PLANT IN FULL OPERATION
A spokeswoman with Linde North America said the gas and engineering company’s new $50 million air separation gasification plant in Lewisville is now in full operation. The liquid nitrogen produced at the South Arkansas plant will be shipped by tanker truck to food processors for freezing and chilling of a variety of meats, poultry and a host of other products.