Latest news with #ISM
Techday NZ
5 days ago
- Business
- Techday NZ
OpenText gains top IRAP security approval for government use
OpenText has received the highest-level security clearance under the Australian Government's Information Security Registered Assessors Program (IRAP), enabling more widespread use of its platforms by agencies that handle classified and sensitive data. IRAP is an independent security assessment that is conducted by an accredited third-party assessor against the Australian Government's Information Security Manual (ISM). The assessment covers information classifications such as OFFICIAL, PROTECTED, SECRET, and TOP SECRET. In this instance, OpenText's IRAP assessment was performed against the PROTECTED classification level. This certification offers federal, state, and local government departments added assurance when selecting technology partners to help manage and secure critical information assets. The IRAP assessment process provides a benchmark for evaluating the security of information and communications technology (ICT) systems. Public sector challenges George Harb, Vice President for OpenText in Australia and New Zealand, commented on the importance of this achievement for government organisations. He said the assessment comes at a time when public sector entities are facing increased urgency to modernise their operations while ensuring ongoing compliance with regulatory requirements. Governments across Australia are under increasing pressure to deliver secure and efficient digital services, but many agencies still face major hurdles in moving away from legacy systems, despite the known risks and inefficiencies. Harb added that the assessment demonstrates the company's readiness to meet government expectations for secure and compliant platforms. This IRAP assessment confirms that OpenText platforms meet the rigorous standards required by government and are ready to support agencies with secure collaboration, strong data governance, and full compliance with Australian sovereignty and cybersecurity requirements. Demand for compliance OpenText technologies are currently used by more than 700 government agencies and local councils across Australia and New Zealand, supporting both information management as well as the delivery of digital services. We've seen a sharp increase in demand from the public sector for assurance that platforms meet local compliance and data residency requirements. IRAP provides a clear benchmark for security, and we're seeing agencies use it more actively to guide procurement decisions. The company says the IRAP assessment brings direct benefits for agencies that require robust security measures when selecting partners for sensitive and classified work. This IRAP assessment gives our public sector clients confidence that OpenText can support critical operations without compromising security or sovereignty. Scope of assured solutions Two OpenText solutions were mentioned as part of the IRAP assessment. OpenText Content Management, known as Extended ECM, is designed to help agencies securely store and organise documents. It also facilitates the application of appropriate access controls and supports compliance with recordkeeping requirements. OpenText Core Data Discovery & Risk Insights, also known as Voltage Fusion, enables organisations to identify, classify, and manage sensitive data across diverse environments. This function is intended to reduce exposure to risk and enhance protection for government-held data. Framework and future use IRAP remains an Australian government initiative developed to enhance cybersecurity standards across government and industry by providing a standard framework for assessing the security of ICT systems. By achieving this certification, OpenText positions its platforms for broader adoption by agencies with responsibilities for managing classified information. Follow us on: Share on:
Los Angeles Times
14-07-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Manufacturers are stuck in a rut despite subsidies from Biden and protection from Trump
Democrats and Republicans don't agree on much, but they share a conviction that the government should help American manufacturers, one way or another. Democratic President Joe Biden handed out subsidies to chipmakers and electric vehicle manufacturers. Republican President Donald Trump is building a wall of import taxes — tariffs — around the U.S. economy to protect domestic industry from foreign competition. Yet American manufacturing has been stuck in a rut for nearly three years. And it remains to be seen whether the trend will reverse itself. The U.S. Labor Department reports that American factories shed 7,000 jobs in June for the second month in a row. Manufacturing employment is on track to drop for the third straight year. The Institute for Supply Management, an association of purchasing managers, reported that manufacturing activity in the United States shrank in June for the fourth straight month. In fact, U.S. factories have been in decline for 30 of the 32 months since October 2022, according to ISM. 'The past three years have been a real slog for manufacturing,'' said Eric Hagopian, CEO of Pilot Precision Products, a maker of industrial cutting tools in South Deerfield, Massachusetts. 'We didn't get destroyed like we did in the recession of 2008. But we've been in this stagnant, sort of stationary environment.'' Big economic factors contributed to the slowdown: A surge in inflation, arising from the unexpectedly strong economic recovery from COVID-19, raised factory expenses and prompted the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates 11 times in 2022 and 2023. The higher borrowing costs added to the strain. Government policy was meant to help. Biden's tax incentives for semiconductor and clean energy production triggered a factory-building boom – investment in manufacturing facilities more than tripled from April 2021 through October 2024 – that seemed to herald a coming surge in factory production and hiring. Eventually anyway. But the factory investment spree has faded as the incoming Trump administration launched trade wars and, working with Congress, ended Biden's subsidies for green energy. Now, predicts Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, 'manufacturing production will continue to flatline.' 'If production is flat, that suggests manufacturing employment will continue to slide,' Zandi said. 'Manufacturing is likely to suffer a recession in the coming year.'' Meanwhile, Trump is attempting to protect U.S. manufacturers — and to coax factories to relocate and produce in America — by imposing tariffs on goods made overseas. He slapped 50% taxes on steel and aluminum, 25% on autos and auto parts, 10% on many other imports. In some ways, Trump's tariffs can give U.S. factories an edge. Chris Zuzick, vice president at Waukesha Metal Products, said the Sussex, Wisconsin-based manufacturer is facing stiff competition for a big contract in Texas. A foreign company offers much lower prices. But 'when you throw the tariff on, it gets us closer,'' Zuzick said. 'So that's definitely a situation where it's beneficial.'' But American factories import and use foreign products, too – machinery, chemicals, raw materials like steel and aluminum. Taxing those inputs can drive up costs and make U.S producers less competitive in world markets. Consider steel. Trump's tariffs don't just make imported steel more expensive. By putting the foreign competition at a disadvantage, the tariffs allow U.S. steelmakers to raise prices – and they have. U.S.-made steel was priced at $960 per metric ton as of June 23, more than double the world export price of $440 per ton, according to industry monitor SteelBenchmarker. In fact, U.S. steel prices are so high that Pilot Precision Products has continued to buy the steel it needs from suppliers in Austria and France — and pay Trump's tariff. Trump has also created considerable uncertainty by repeatedly tweaking and rescheduling his tariffs. Just before new import taxes were set to take effect on dozens of countries on July 9, for example, the president pushed the deadline back to Aug. 1 to allow more time for negotiation with U.S. trading partners. The flipflops have left factories, suppliers and customers bewildered about where things stand. Manufacturers voiced their complaints in the ISM survey: 'Customers do not want to make commitments in the wake of massive tariff uncertainty,'' a fabricated metal products company said. 'Tariffs continue to cause confusion and uncertainty for long-term procurement decisions,'' added a computer and electronics firm. 'The situation remains too volatile to firmly put such plans into place.'' Some may argue that things aren't necessarily bad for U.S. manufacturing; they've just returned to normal after a pandemic-related bust and boom. Factories slashed nearly 1.4 million jobs in March and April 2020 when COVID-19 forced many businesses to shut down and Americans to stay home. Then a funny thing happened: American consumers, cooped up and flush with COVID relief checks from the government, went on a spending spree, snapping up manufactured goods like air fryers, patio furniture and exercise machines. Suddenly, factories were scrambling to keep up. They brought back the workers they laid off – and then some. Factories added 379,000 jobs in 2021 — the most since 1994 — and then tacked on another 357,000 in 2022. But in 2023, factory hiring stopped growing and began backtracking as the economy returned to something closer to the pre-pandemic normal. In the end, it was a wash. Factory payrolls last month came to 12.75 million, almost exactly where they stood in February 2020 (12.74 million) just before COVID slammed the economy. 'It's a long, strange trip to get back to where we started,'' said Jared Bernstein, chair of Biden's White House Council of Economic Advisers. Zuzick at Waukesha Metal Products said that it will take time to see if Trump's tariffs succeed in bringing factories back to America. 'The fact is that manufacturing doesn't turn on a dime,'' he said. 'It takes time to switch gears.'' Hagopian at Pilot Precision is hopeful that tax breaks in Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill will help American manufacturing regain momentum. 'There may be light at the end of the tunnel that may not be a locomotive bearing down,'' he said. For now, manufacturers are likely to delay big decisions on investing or bringing on new workers until they see where Trump's tariffs settle and what impact they have on the economy, said Ned Hill, professor emeritus in economic development at Ohio State University. 'With all this uncertainty about what the rest of the year is going to look like,'' he said, 'there's a hesitancy to hire people just to lay them off in the near future.'' 'Everyone,'' said Zuzick at Waukesha Metal Products, 'is kind of just waiting for the new normal.'' Wiseman writes for the Associated Press.
Boston Globe
14-07-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
US manufacturers are stuck in a rut despite subsidies from Biden and protection from Trump
The US Labor Department reports that American factories shed 7,000 jobs in June for the second month in a row. Manufacturing employment is on track to drop for the third straight year. The Institute for Supply Management, an association of purchasing managers, reported that manufacturing activity in the United States shrank in June for the fourth straight month. In fact, US factories have been in decline for 30 of the 32 months since October 2022, according to ISM. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'The past three years have been a real slog for manufacturing,' said Eric Hagopian, CEO of Pilot Precision Products, a maker of industrial cutting tools in South Deerfield, Massachusetts. 'We didn't get destroyed like we did in the recession of 2008. But we've been in this stagnant, sort of stationary environment.' Advertisement Big economic factors contributed to the slowdown: A surge in inflation, arising from the unexpectedly strong economic recovery from COVID-19, raised factory expenses and prompted the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates 11 times in 2022 and 2023. The higher borrowing costs added to the strain. Advertisement Government policy was meant to help. Biden's tax incentives for semiconductor and clean energy production triggered a factory-building boom – investment in manufacturing facilities more than tripled from April 2021 through October 2024 – that seemed to herald a coming surge in factory production and hiring. Eventually anyway. But the factory investment spree has faded as the incoming Trump administration launched trade wars and, working with Congress, ended Biden's subsidies for green energy. Now, predicts Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, 'manufacturing production will continue to flatline.' 'If production is flat, that suggests manufacturing employment will continue to slide,' Zandi said. 'Manufacturing is likely to suffer a recession in the coming year.' Meanwhile, Trump is attempting to protect US manufacturers — and to coax factories to relocate and produce in America — by imposing tariffs on goods made overseas. He slapped 50 percent taxes on steel and aluminum, 25 percent on autos and auto parts, 10 percent on many other imports. In some ways, Trump's tariffs can give US factories an edge. Chris Zuzick, vice president at Waukesha Metal Products, said the Sussex, Wisconsin-based manufacturer is facing stiff competition for a big contract in Texas. A foreign company offers much lower prices. But 'when you throw the tariff on, it gets us closer,' Zuzick said. 'So that's definitely a situation where it's beneficial.' But American factories import and use foreign products, too – machinery, chemicals, raw materials like steel and aluminum. Taxing those inputs can drive up costs and make U.S producers less competitive in world markets. Consider steel. Trump's tariffs don't just make imported steel more expensive. By putting the foreign competition at a disadvantage, the tariffs allow US steelmakers to raise prices – and they have. US-made steel was priced at $960 per metric ton as of June 23, more than double the world export price of $440 per ton, according to industry monitor SteelBenchmarker. Advertisement In fact, US steel prices are so high that Pilot Precision Products has continued to buy the steel it needs from suppliers in Austria and France — and pay Trump's tariff. Trump has also created considerable uncertainty by repeatedly tweaking and rescheduling his tariffs. Just before new import taxes were set to take effect on dozens of countries on July 9, for example, the president pushed the deadline back to Aug. 1 to allow more time for negotiation with US trading partners. The flipflops have left factories, suppliers and customers bewildered about where things stand. Manufacturers voiced their complaints in the ISM survey: 'Customers do not want to make commitments in the wake of massive tariff uncertainty,' a fabricated metal products company said. 'Tariffs continue to cause confusion and uncertainty for long-term procurement decisions,' added a computer and electronics firm. 'The situation remains too volatile to firmly put such plans into place.' Some may argue that things aren't necessarily bad for US manufacturing; they've just returned to normal after a pandemic-related bust and boom. Factories slashed nearly 1.4 million jobs in March and April 2020 when COVID-19 forced many businesses to shut down and Americans to stay home. Then a funny thing happened: American consumers, cooped up and flush with COVID relief checks from the government, went on a spending spree, snapping up manufactured goods like air fryers, patio furniture and exercise machines. Suddenly, factories were scrambling to keep up. They brought back the workers they laid off – and then some. Factories added 379,000 jobs in 2021 — the most since 1994 — and then tacked on another 357,000 in 2022. Advertisement But in 2023, factory hiring stopped growing and began backtracking as the economy returned to something closer to the pre-pandemic normal. In the end, it was a wash. Factory payrolls last month came to 12.75 million, almost exactly where they stood in February 2020 (12.74 million) just before COVID slammed the economy. 'It's a long, strange trip to get back to where we started,' said Jared Bernstein, chair of Biden's White House Council of Economic Advisers. Zuzick at Waukesha Metal Products said that it will take time to see if Trump's tariffs succeed in bringing factories back to America. 'The fact is that manufacturing doesn't turn on a dime,' he said. 'It takes time to switch gears.' Hagopian at Pilot Precision is hopeful that tax breaks in Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill will help American manufacturing regain momentum. 'There may be light at the end of the tunnel that may not be a locomotive bearing down,' he said. For now, manufacturers are likely to delay big decisions on investing or bringing on new workers until they see where Trump's tariffs settle and what impact they have on the economy, said Ned Hill, professor emeritus in economic development at Ohio State University. 'With all this uncertainty about what the rest of the year is going to look like,' he said, 'there's a hesitancy to hire people just to lay them off in the near future.' 'Everyone,' said Zuzick at Waukesha Metal Products, 'is kind of just waiting for the new normal." Advertisement
Time of India
14-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
US manufacturing falters despite policy boost: Donald Trump's tariffs and Biden's subsidies fail to lift sector; jobs, output remain stuck in post-pandemic rut
US manufacturing is showing persistent signs of stagnation despite a policy push from both political sides — with President Donald Trump deploying steep tariffs and former President Joe Biden previously handing out subsidies — to shore up domestic industry. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Job losses and tepid production data point to a sector still waiting for momentum to return. Factories in the US cut 7,000 jobs in June, according to the Labor Department, marking the second straight month of declines. Manufacturing employment is now set to fall for a third consecutive year. Activity also continued to contract in June, with the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reporting that the sector has shrunk in 30 of the past 32 months since October 2022. The analysis highlights the limited impact of both the Biden-era factory investment boom and the Trump administration's aggressive tariff regime, reported by AP. 'The past three years have been a real slog for manufacturing,' said Eric Hagopian, CEO of Pilot Precision Products, a Massachusetts-based industrial tools maker. 'We didn't get destroyed like in 2008, but we've been in this stagnant, sort of stationary environment. ' The slowdown has been driven by several factors, including inflationary pressures that spiked following the post-COVID recovery and the Federal Reserve's sharp interest rate hikes in 2022 and 2023. Though Biden's clean energy and chip subsidies sparked a surge in factory construction between 2021 and 2024, investments have since slowed after Trump returned to power and Congress reversed many green energy incentives. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, warned that 'manufacturing production will continue to flatline,' adding that employment in the sector is likely to shrink further in the coming year. Trump, meanwhile, is pursuing protectionist policies to encourage domestic manufacturing. The administration has imposed tariffs of 50% on steel and aluminum, 25% on autos and parts, and 10% on a range of other imports. While the levies offer some companies a pricing edge, they also raise costs on imported materials essential to US producers. 'For some bids, the tariff helps us stay competitive,' said Chris Zuzick, VP at Waukesha Metal Products in Wisconsin, AP quoted. But steel prices, buoyed by the protectionist policy, have soared — reaching $960 per metric ton in the US, more than double the $440 world average as of June 23, according to SteelBenchmarker. Despite the high duties, firms like Pilot Precision still source steel from France and Austria — even after paying tariffs — because of price and quality dynamics. Further complicating matters is the lack of clarity around policy. Trump has repeatedly delayed and revised tariff schedules, leaving manufacturers in limbo. 'Customers do not want to make commitments in the wake of massive tariff uncertainty,' an ISM survey respondent from the fabricated metal products industry noted. A computer hardware firm added, 'The situation remains too volatile to firmly put such plans into place. ' The recent slowdown may also reflect a reversion to pre-pandemic norms. After losing nearly 1.4 million jobs in early 2020, factories surged during the COVID-driven goods boom, adding 379,000 jobs in 2021 and 357,000 in 2022. But hiring then plateaued in 2023 and has since reversed. As of June, factory payrolls stood at 12.75 million — almost unchanged from the 12.74 million recorded in February 2020. 'It's a long, strange trip to get back to where we started,' said Jared Bernstein, chair of Biden's Council of Economic Advisers. While manufacturers wait for clearer signals from the Trump administration's upcoming 'One Big Beautiful Bill,' many remain cautious. Hagopian is hopeful that targeted tax breaks might help, and Zuzick echoed that it's too soon to judge the tariff impact: 'Manufacturing doesn't turn on a dime.' With policy flip-flops, cost pressure and weak demand all in play, most factories are keeping hiring and investment plans on hold. 'Everyone,' Zuzick said, 'is kind of just waiting for the new normal.'
14-07-2025
- Business
US manufacturers are stuck in a rut despite subsidies and protection from Trump
WASHINGTON -- Democrats and Republicans don't agree on much, but they share a conviction that the government should help American manufacturers, one way or another. Democratic President Joe Biden handed out subsidies to chipmakers and electric vehicle manufacturers. Republican President Donald Trump is building a wall of import taxes — tariffs — around the U.S. economy to protect domestic industry from foreign competition. Yet American manufacturing has been stuck in a rut for nearly three years. And it remains to be seen whether the trend will reverse itself. The U.S. Labor Department reports that American factories shed 7,000 jobs in June for the second month in a row. Manufacturing employment is on track to drop for the third straight year. The Institute for Supply Management, an association of purchasing managers, reported that manufacturing activity in the United States shrank in June for the fourth straight month. In fact, U.S. factories have been in decline for 30 of the 32 months since October 2022, according to ISM. 'The past three years have been a real slog for manufacturing,'' said Eric Hagopian, CEO of Pilot Precision Products, a maker of industrial cutting tools in South Deerfield, Massachusetts. 'We didn't get destroyed like we did in the recession of 2008. But we've been in this stagnant, sort of stationary environment.'' Big economic factors contributed to the slowdown: A surge in inflation, arising from the unexpectedly strong economic recovery from COVID-19, raised factory expenses and prompted the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates 11 times in 2022 and 2023. The higher borrowing costs added to the strain. Government policy was meant to help. Biden's tax incentives for semiconductor and clean energy production triggered a factory-building boom – investment in manufacturing facilities more than tripled from April 2021 through October 2024 – that seemed to herald a coming surge in factory production and hiring. Eventually anyway. But the factory investment spree has faded as the incoming Trump administration launched trade wars and, working with Congress, ended Biden's subsidies for green energy. Now, predicts Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, 'manufacturing production will continue to flatline.' 'If production is flat, that suggests manufacturing employment will continue to slide,' Zandi said. 'Manufacturing is likely to suffer a recession in the coming year.'' Meanwhile, Trump is attempting to protect U.S. manufacturers — and to coax factories to relocate and produce in America — by imposing tariffs on goods made overseas. He slapped 50% taxes on steel and aluminum, 25% on autos and auto parts, 10% on many other imports. In some ways, Trump's tariffs can give U.S. factories an edge. Chris Zuzick, vice president at Waukesha Metal Products, said the Sussex, Wisconsin-based manufacturer is facing stiff competition for a big contract in Texas. A foreign company offers much lower prices. But 'when you throw the tariff on, it gets us closer,'' Zuzick said. 'So that's definitely a situation where it's beneficial.'' But American factories import and use foreign products, too – machinery, chemicals, raw materials like steel and aluminum. Taxing those inputs can drive up costs and make U.S producers less competitive in world markets. Consider steel. Trump's tariffs don't just make imported steel more expensive. By putting the foreign competition at a disadvantage, the tariffs allow U.S. steelmakers to raise prices – and they have. U.S.-made steel was priced at $960 per metric ton as of June 23, more than double the world export price of $440 per ton, according to industry monitor SteelBenchmarker. In fact, U.S. steel prices are so high that Pilot Precision Products has continued to buy the steel it needs from suppliers in Austria and France — and pay Trump's tariff. Trump has also created considerable uncertainty by repeatedly tweaking and rescheduling his tariffs. Just before new import taxes were set to take effect on dozens of countries on July 9, for example, the president pushed the deadline back to Aug. 1 to allow more time for negotiation with U.S. trading partners. The flipflops have left factories, suppliers and customers bewildered about where things stand. Manufacturers voiced their complaints in the ISM survey: 'Customers do not want to make commitments in the wake of massive tariff uncertainty,'' a fabricated metal products company said. 'Tariffs continue to cause confusion and uncertainty for long-term procurement decisions,'' added a computer and electronics firm. 'The situation remains too volatile to firmly put such plans into place.'' Some may argue that things aren't necessarily bad for U.S. manufacturing; they've just returned to normal after a pandemic-related bust and boom. Factories slashed nearly 1.4 million jobs in March and April 2020 when COVID-19 forced many businesses to shut down and Americans to stay home. Then a funny thing happened: American consumers, cooped up and flush with COVID relief checks from the government, went on a spending spree, snapping up manufactured goods like air fryers, patio furniture and exercise machines. Suddenly, factories were scrambling to keep up. They brought back the workers they laid off – and then some. Factories added 379,000 jobs in 2021 — the most since 1994 — and then tacked on another 357,000 in 2022. But in 2023, factory hiring stopped growing and began backtracking as the economy returned to something closer to the pre-pandemic normal. In the end, it was a wash. Factory payrolls last month came to 12.75 million, almost exactly where they stood in February 2020 (12.74 million) just before COVID slammed the economy. 'It's a long, strange trip to get back to where we started,'' said Jared Bernstein, chair of Biden's White House Council of Economic Advisers. Zuzick at Waukesha Metal Products said that it will take time to see if Trump's tariffs succeed in bringing factories back to America. 'The fact is that manufacturing doesn't turn on a dime,'' he said. 'It takes time to switch gears.'' Hagopian at Pilot Precision is hopeful that tax breaks in Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill will help American manufacturing regain momentum. 'There may be light at the end of the tunnel that may not be a locomotive bearing down,'' he said. For now, manufacturers are likely to delay big decisions on investing or bringing on new workers until they see where Trump's tariffs settle and what impact they have on the economy, said Ned Hill, professor emeritus in economic development at Ohio State University. 'With all this uncertainty about what the rest of the year is going to look like,'' he said, 'there's a hesitancy to hire people just to lay them off in the near future.'' 'Everyone,'' said Zuzick at Waukesha Metal Products, 'is kind of just waiting for the new normal.''
