Manufacturing seek students

A trio of publicly supported technical training institutions for high school students have improved local skill levels, but are lacking the students to fill the classrooms, says MySanatonio.com.

These academies were formed to interest more high school students in technical fields and to give them the skills employers say they need, says Trinity University economics professor, Richard Butler.

However, finding enough students to fill the academies has been difficult, particularly in the Manufacturing Technology Academy, which began in 2004. It has 16 students but could hold 84, Butler said.

Derek Hanekom, the South African deputy minister of science and technology, has affirmed the importance of the aerospace sector to the growth of the country and its development goals, says Engineering News.

He says the global aerospace industry is expected to grow by 25% over the next two decades and reach an annual income of $250-billion.

According to Hanekom, the aerospace industry is not only an important industry in its own right, but stimulates growth and innovation in other industries. In so doing, it contributes in many ways to the growth of the manufacturing sector as a whole.

E2open has been included in the START-IT 125, a list of the most influential manufacturing technology providers, as determined by the editors and editorial advisors of START-IT magazine, reports SYS.CON.

Designed to provide a snapshot of the industrial market and the companies with the greatest impact on its direction, START-IT 125 validates the importance of E2open's supply-chain process and information platform to strategic supply-chain initiatives.

"Industry leaders are focusing on synchronising the extended supply network. This represents a significant shift from traditional manufacturing-centric models," says Lorenzo Martinelli, senior VP of E2open.