Manufacturing is among the hardest hit sectors in the current economic slowdown, but companies can cause additional damage by allowing customers to perceive that their operations are having difficulties, according to the George S. May International Co. (Park Ridge, IL), a consulting firm.

The Manufacturing Skills Standards Council and the National Skill Standards Board have released the first voluntary skill standards for the manufacturing industry.

Original equipment manufac-turers in the electronics sector are planning to substantially increase outsourcing of manufacturing to contract manufacturers, according to a survey conducted by New York investment house Bear Sterns.

NASA has awarded five-year contracts to 11 companies to provide revolutionary research into new aerospace engines to support its Ultra Efficient Technology program.

Carl Zeiss IMT Corp. (Minneapolis) is building a new North American headquarters and an advanced coordinate measuring machine manufacturing facility.

TechSolve (Cincinnati) and Cincinnati Machine (Cincinnati) were awarded an Ohio Tech- nology Action Fund grant for $895,000 to fund the first phase of a 5-year initiative to help establish Ohio as a leader in ultra high-speed machining technology.

The rising price of natural gas is not only causing individuals to do a double take at recent bills, but manufacturers are suffering as well.

The National Institute of Standards (NIST) and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) signed a revised Memorandum of Understanding.

Mitutoyo America Corp. (Aurora, IL) purchased Nelson Precision Inc. (Mason, OH), a manufacturing measurement systems integrator.

Pilgrim Software's (Tampa, FL) quality and manufacturing integrated system (Q&MIS) enterprise resource planning (ERP) link has achieved BaanConnect certification.