There are three interesting articles in today's The New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com) applicable to manufacturing. The reports are on General Motors, Ford and Sun.
General Motors turned in disappointing quarterly results. Reading the article, it seems that the company has sales problems everywhere. Even North American results were disappointing -- it expected poor results in Europe where the car maker is struggling and had announced huge layoffs. Reports attribute the North American decline to buyers beginning to shun SUVs due to high gasoline prices and to the company's inability to convince buyers that its cars are worth buying on their own merits without steep discounts and creative financing.
Ford, on the other hand which looks like the same hand, in another report is trying hard to achieve that latter situation. That is, it is trying to show prospective customers that it has a stable of cars that are worth buying without incentives. I hope they do it, for the sake of manufacturing jobs and economic well being that depends on the success of these companies.
Sun Microsystems, in the third article, announced another loss. But this loss was smaller than expected and the company is calling it a turnaround. Perhaps this is what happens when top management concentrates on running the company rather than suing other companies. Sun and Microsoft recently settled their longstanding legal wrangling followed by Sun releasing a number of initiatives. It's still a company struggling to find its place in the new economy, but at least it looks stronger.
6:15:02 AM 
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