Today's Manufacturing Pulse
Stellantis to pour $1.08B into next‑gen EV line at Mulhouse plant
President Emmanuel Macron announced Stellantis will invest more than €1 billion (about $1.08 billion) in a next‑generation electric‑vehicle production line at its Mulhouse facility, slated to start in 2029 as part of France’s push to electrify two‑thirds of new cars by 2030.
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By the numbers: TIEA Connectors raises $8M Series A
NORD Delivers Heavy-Duty Industrial Gear Units, Motors, and Controls for Mining Applications
NORD Drivesystems introduced its MAXXDRIVE industrial gear unit series, capable of delivering up to 2,495,900 lb‑in of torque for heavy‑duty mining equipment such as crushers, mills, and conveyors. The units feature a one‑piece UNICASE housing that resists dust, temperature swings, and leaks, while optional cooling systems maintain thermal stability. Integrated IE5+ motors and NORDAC PRO variable frequency drives create a modular, energy‑efficient solution that lowers consumption and reduces maintenance downtime. The product line also offers extensive options, including brakes, couplings, and safety‑rated motors for hazardous environments.
Army’s SkyFoundry Plan To Build Own Cheap Drones Has ‘Evolved,’ Official Notes Commercial Involvement
The Army’s SkyFoundry program, originally slated to internally produce 10,000 cheap drones per year, has pivoted to a fully commercial partnership model. Rich Martin, AMC’s supply‑chain director, emphasized that the service cannot scale drone manufacturing alone and will rely on...
NSW Urged to Back Tomago Aluminium Smelter to Protect Jobs and Industry
The Australian Workers’ Union is pressing the New South Wales government to finalize financial backing for the Tomago aluminium smelter, warning that delays could jeopardise hundreds of jobs and the state’s industrial sovereignty. The smelter, the largest employer in the...
Polar Light Awarded €1.1m EU Grant for 18-Month 2ndGenMicroLED Project
Polar Light Technologies secured a €1.1 million (≈ $1.2 million USD) Eurostars grant for an 18‑month project called ‘2ndGenMicroLED.’ The consortium, which includes Germany’s Finetech GmbH & Co KG, will develop the first dual‑color micro‑LED micro‑display using a bottom‑up pyramidal GaN/InGaN architecture. The technology targets ultra‑compact,...
Readying Industrial Connectivity for Cybersecurity Requirements
Cyber attacks on industrial operations have highlighted the lag in OT cybersecurity compared with IT. The EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), effective from December 2024, forces manufacturers to report vulnerabilities and obtain CE marking for new digital products by December 2027. Standards...
US Freight Market Hits Unprecedented Bullish Surge
You are not bullish enough. The trucking market is an 11 out of a 10 right now, with some the strongest charts since COVID. The resurgence of the US industrial economy and manufacturing renaissance is real, along with tightening capacity....
Tower Acquires 300mm Fab From JV Partner in Japan
Tower Semiconductor will acquire full ownership and operational control of the 300mm Fab 7 in Uozu, Japan, from its joint‑venture partner Nuvoton. The 65nm facility produces RF‑SOI, power‑management ICs, sensors and silicon‑photonics chips, and Tower aims to quadruple its capacity...
Control Station and Dimension Software Partner to Bring Control Loop Monitoring Into Operations Dashboards
Control Station and Dimension Software have integrated PlantESP, Control Station’s control loop performance monitoring platform, with Dimension’s Asset Intellect operations intelligence environment. The new workflow pulls loop diagnostics—such as oscillations, valve stiction, and tuning issues—into unified dashboards alongside production, maintenance and...
Lace Lithography Raises $40M to Pursue Helium Atom Beam Chips at Atomic Resolution
Lace Lithography, a Microsoft‑backed Norwegian chip‑making equipment startup, closed a $40 million Series A round led by Atomico. The funding will accelerate its helium‑atom beam lithography platform, which promises feature sizes ten times smaller than today’s EUV tools and a test tool...
Jeff Bezos Launches $100 B AI Acquisition Fund to Overhaul Factories
Jeff Bezos has announced a $100 billion fund aimed at acquiring manufacturers and deploying AI to modernize factory floors. The vehicle, linked to his Project Prometheus venture, could become one of the largest buy‑out funds in history and blurs the line...
Flying Fox – Fox Lightening
Flying Fox Engineering is developing the Fox Lightning, a low‑cost, fixed‑wing UAV priced around $2,500 per unit. The drone offers a 25‑mile range and a 5.5‑lb payload, targeting rapid, large‑scale deployment in electronic‑warfare and GPS‑denied environments. The company has entered...
PDW Raises Over $110M to Expand Military Drone Production
Performance Drone Works (PDW) announced a Series B round that raised over $110 million, led by Ondas and joined by strategic investors such as Hood River, Cedar Pine, Hanwha’s venture fund and Booz Allen Hamilton. The capital will fund a hiring...
Surprisingly Simple, Sustainable Lithium Extraction
Researchers at Princeton unveiled two low‑impact lithium extraction techniques that could dramatically accelerate supply growth. The porous‑string method uses capillary‑wicking cotton fibers to concentrate lithium chloride up to 6% in a process up to twenty times faster than conventional evaporation,...
JLR’s SAP S/4HANA Journey: Mastering Clean Core Through Governed Extensibility
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) embarked on a SAP S/4HANA migration to replace a legacy ERP and create a future‑proof, agile foundation. The project centered on a Clean Core strategy, keeping the system as standard as possible while using a governance...
What Engineers Need to Understand About Metal AM Surface Finishing
Engineers at the AMUG 2026 conference learned that metal additive‑manufacturing parts almost always require post‑processing, and that surface‑finishing strategies must be defined during the design phase. The panel highlighted how material‑removal budgets, print orientation, and surface‑roughness metrics such as Rt...
Bunker Fuel Shortages in Asia at Tipping Point as War Disruption Continues
Asian ocean carriers are currently managing bunker fuel supplies, but tightening inventories signal a looming shortage if the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked. Global fuel suppliers warn that prolonged closure could trigger worldwide deficits. To cushion the impact, operators are...
So Robot Is Really Taking over Complex Job...
Figure 03, an autonomous robot developed by Figure AI, can sort a package every four seconds with 95 % barcode‑scan accuracy, handling soft bags, padded envelopes and rigid boxes without human guidance. Backed by OpenAI, Microsoft, NVIDIA and Jeff Bezos, the system—named Helix—combines...
Torsten Slok: $14 Trillion in IG Supply Coming to the Market
Torsten Slok warns that roughly $14 trillion of intermodal (IG) capacity will hit the market over the next two years, driven by a wave of new rail, truck and terminal assets. The surge could outpace demand, creating excess supply in freight...
Report: 65% of Pharma Supply Chain Leaders Have Limited Confidence in AI
A new WBR Insights LogiPharma Playbook surveyed 100 European pharma supply‑chain heads and found that while AI is being piloted, confidence remains low. Sixty‑five percent of leaders doubt AI can reliably predict or mitigate disruptions, and only 36% have moved...
Robotics Sector Reaches Critical Inflection Point Amid AI Integration
The robotics and automation sector is at a pivotal inflection point as artificial intelligence becomes embedded in physical systems, expanding the market beyond traditional industrial applications. Zeno Mercer of VettaFi highlighted rapid advances in autonomous aerial and ground robots, driven...
Attabotics Launches Metal ASRS Bin to Mitigate Fire Risk
Attabotics introduced the Guardian bin, a metal‑based storage container designed to lower fire risk in automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS). The bin replaces combustible plastic with galvanized steel, contains leaked liquids, and improves fire‑suppression fluid distribution. Its flat‑pack design...
Canadian Auto Production Fell in 2025 as Tariffs and Other Uncertainty Took a Bite
Canadian auto production slipped another 7% in 2025, falling to 1.2 million vehicles, marking a second consecutive year of decline. The drop is largely attributed to the United States’ 25% tariffs imposed in March and lingering uncertainty around the electric‑vehicle transition....
Chemical Origins of Environmental Modifications to MOR Lithographic Chemistry
Researchers at imec presented new findings on metal‑oxide resists (MORs) for EUV lithography, showing that atmospheric oxygen, not CO₂ or humidity, drives post‑exposure chemical changes. Using the BEFORCE platform, they demonstrated that O₂ induces carbonyl formation and accelerates ligand loss...
Sallea Extends Salt-Based Templating Technology to Advanced Composites Manufacturing
Swiss spin‑off Sallea is extending its proprietary salt‑based templating platform from biomanufacturing to advanced composites and high‑performance materials. The process creates water‑soluble salt cores that act as temporary molds, allowing intricate internal geometries that are later dissolved away. It works...
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Sonair is launching its award‑winning ADAR 3D ultrasonic sensor at MODEX 2026, marking the technology’s first North American debut. The sensor provides a full 180°×180° field of view and real‑time 3‑D perception using sound, eliminating blind spots and overcoming optical...
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CaPow will showcase its Power‑in‑Motion™ Genesis platform at MODEX 2026 in Atlanta, demonstrating wireless energy delivery to two distinct robot models—Ocado Chuck and MiR600—via a modular charging pad. The live demo highlights continuous power transfer that eliminates traditional docking stops, promising...
Amtech Launches Sourcing Program to Combat Supply Chain Vulnerability
Amtech Electrocircuits has introduced a Multi‑Path Sourcing Initiative to help original equipment manufacturers reduce reliance on single suppliers. The program maps bill‑of‑materials vulnerabilities, validates alternative vendors, and implements continuous monitoring across regions. It targets high‑risk sectors such as medical devices,...
‘I Want Everybody to Have Enough Food’: The Scientist Who Made Your Packaged Food Safer Just Won the World’s Most...
Dutch scientist Huub Lelieveld received the 2026 World Food Prize for pioneering modern food‑processing safety standards that dramatically cut foodborne illness and waste. His work at Unilever introduced hygienic production methods that reduced reliance on heavy preservatives, salt, sugar and...
MP Materials Announces $1.25 Billion U.S. Rare‑Earth Magnet Campus
MP Materials said it will invest $1.25 billion to develop a rare‑earth magnet manufacturing campus in the United States, a move intended to strengthen domestic supply chains and reduce dependence on Chinese imports.
Rivian Locks $1.25 B Uber Robotaxi Deal, Secures Thousands of R2 Orders
Rivian has secured a multi‑year partnership with Uber that could bring as much as $1.25 billion in cash and a commitment to buy up to 50,000 R2‑based robotaxis through 2031. The deal gives Rivian a guaranteed deployment pipeline while Uber expands...
Scout-Triggered Proteomics Sharpens HCP Control
Host-cell proteins (HCPs) remain a persistent impurity risk in biomanufacturing, with regulators demanding levels below 100 ppm in final drug products. Traditional ELISAs measure total HCPs but cannot identify individual proteins, while conventional multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) suffers from retention‑time shifts...
Umoe Starts Large-Scale Type 4 Cylinder Production in China, First Global H2 Project Deliveries
Umoe Advanced Composites has launched industrial‑scale production of Type 4 composite cylinders at its new 12,000‑sqm Jiaxing plant in China, the company’s largest global manufacturing base. The facility can produce up to 20,000 cylinders a year, effectively tripling UAC’s worldwide capacity...
D&L Sees Potential Supply Challenges as War Drags On
D&L Industries, the Philippines’ largest oleochemical and specialty plastics producer, warned that the ongoing Middle East war is creating supply‑access challenges as crude‑oil prices and raw‑material costs surge. CEO Alvin Lao said 2026 brings new uncertainties, with many suppliers invoking...
Private Ownership Gives Freight Edge Through Culture, Tech
Private ownership can be an edge in freight. On Talking Transports, I speak with Jarrett CEO Mike Jarrett about staying debt-free, focusing on culture, navigating market volatility & why tech supports — not replaces — relationships. 🎧 Listen to Episode 131...
Human‑Scale Bipedal Robot Ready for Real‑World Tasks
Human-Scale Bipedal Humanoid #Robot Designed for Real-World Tasks via @ZappyZappy7 #Robotics #RPA #ArtificialIntelligence #Innovation #Technology https://t.co/j5P47UBkpQ
Advanced Packaging in the Semiconductor Industry
Advanced packaging is reshaping the semiconductor sector by enabling higher transistor density and heterogeneous integration through 2.5D, 3D, and fan‑out wafer‑level techniques. The global market is projected to exceed $30 billion by 2028, driven by demand for AI, high‑performance computing, and...
China Rolls Out AI Electric Mining Trucks, Automating Industry
China Deploys #AI-Powered Electric Mining Trucks, Driving Heavy Industry Toward Full #Automation by @IntEngineering #SelfDrivingCars #AutonomousVehicles #ArtificialIntelligence #Automation #Automotive #Transport https://t.co/IEENy7uDyD
Ohio’s “Green” Steel Project Reverts to Coal
What’s next for Ohio’s former green steel project? More coal, it seems. #energysky -- via Canary Media: https://t.co/d2dQ9i4G6T
Meet the Canadian E-Bike Maker Who Is Redefining the Factory Floor
Toronto‑based Beachman Motor Co. assembles all‑electric, retro‑styled motorcycles using mostly Chinese‑made components, employing about a dozen staff in a scaled‑down plant. The flagship Beachman ’64 retails for roughly $4,400 USD and targets urban commuters seeking a simple, design‑forward ride. After a...
Advait Greenergy Launches 30 MW Electrolyzer Plant in India
Advait Greenergy opens 30 MW electrolyzer assembly facility in India #energysky -- via pv magazine global: https://t.co/JI7ycDKt5B
Dual‑Arm Bipedal Robot Tackles Heavy‑Load Logistics
Dual-Arm Bipedal #Robot Designed for High-Payload Logistics Operations by @tweetciiiim #EmergingTech #Technology #Innovation #Tech https://t.co/B2oykv52XF
Honeywell AI Powered Control Room Assistant
Honeywell announced the commercial launch of Experion Operations Assistant, an AI‑powered control‑room solution built on its Experion PKS platform. The assistant merges historical and real‑time data to forecast unsafe conditions and production losses, giving operators 5‑10 minutes of advance warning...
Manufacturing Is Evolving—Adapt Now to Stay Competitive
🔄 Manufacturing is changing. Are you adapting? The manufacturing landscape is evolving rapidly with new technologies, automation, and efficiency strategies. To stay competitive, you need to adapt and innovate. https://t.co/oPJqrYL9Nu
Metrics Matter Only When They Inform Decisions
Metrics are only valuable if they drive decisions. Lisa Anderson shares practical insights on using performance metrics to guide critical supply chain decisions. Watch the Supply Chain Byte. #SupplyChain #Manufacturing #PerformanceMetrics https://t.co/8CF8HFcniM
EFT Partners with BSPL to Produce E610P Agriculture Drone
EFT has teamed with Bharat Skytech Pvt Ltd (BSPL) to launch the EFT BHARAT brand, localising production of its E610P agricultural drone in India. The partnership includes the transfer of production moulds for key components, enabling ‘Make in India’ manufacturing, distribution,...
Strait Closure Threatens Global Chemical Supply Chains
Strait closure. Global chemical supply chains and production? And what those chemicals are needed for?
Waaree Launches $415M Solar Glass Plant, Expands Kotsons Stake
Waaree to build US$415 million solar glass plant, increases holding in Kotsons #energysky -- via pv-tech: https://t.co/B3eNdTAj3A
Rentschler Highlights Milford Site Progress and Growth
Rentsc hler Biopharma announced that its Milford, Massachusetts CDMO site has entered a new growth phase, adding a 22,000‑square‑foot cleanroom and four 2,000‑liter single‑use bioreactors. The expansion, the largest in the company’s 150‑year history, brings the U.S. facility to the...
Robot Dog Gathers Data in U.S. Chip Factories
Robot Dog Deployed for #Data Collection in U.S. Semiconductor Production by @TXInstruments #AI #Robotics #Technology #Engineering #Innovation https://t.co/sZ6drs9A4a
Seagate: If You're Adding Platters, You've Hit a Density Wall
Seagate’s SVP Jason Feist says the company is doubling down on areal‑density growth, leveraging its Mozaic 3 and upcoming Mozaic 4 HAMR drives that deliver 3‑4 TB per platter, rather than adding more platters like Western Digital. He notes that hyperscalers prefer higher‑density, cost‑efficient...