Factories don't just make things. Viewed properly, they are where the rubber of corporate strategy meets the road of the marketplace. Ideally, then, a factory should operate in alignment with competitive business priorities: in short, it should be focused. When a business tries to group too many different products, markets, and technologies into the same manufacturing facility, performance and productivity suffer.

More than 50 percent of manufacturers plan to enter a new market in the next five years and almost all plan to expand existing sites or open new facilities in countries with existing operations.

Mid-sized manufacturers show continued optimism about revenues and employment, according to the 14th edition of the Purchasing and Manufacturing Survey from Prime Advantage, a buying consortium.

Women in Manufacturing has received a $100,000 grant from the GE Foundation.

It has been roughly four decades since industrial robots - with mechanical arms that can be programmed to weld, paint and pick up and place objects with monotonous regularity - first began to transform assembly lines in Europe, Japan and the U.S. Yet walk the floor of any manufacturer, from metal shops to electronics factories, and you might be surprised by how many tasks are still performed by human hands - even some that could be done by machines.

A number of major companies - from PepsiCo to Walmart to U.P.S. - have recognized that corporations have a responsibility to address the causes of climate change before it is too late. We do not have to wait for an international treaty or new regulations to act.

Cloud computing can assist manufacturers to effectively respond to increased order volumes and complexity.