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.
Also developing:
By the numbers: TIEA Connectors raises $8M Series A
Vericut CNC Software Powers Formula 1 Component Precision
Vericut’s CNC simulation software is now a core tool for Formula 1 teams, enabling engineers to verify and optimize complex composite and metal parts before they hit the shop floor. The platform creates digital twins of machines, detects collisions, and validates tool paths, eliminating costly scrap and machine downtime. Its Force Optimization module automatically adjusts feed rates based on cutting‑force analysis, extending tool life and shortening cycle times. Vericut’s capabilities are also being adopted in aerospace, medical devices, and defense, underscoring its cross‑industry relevance.
Critics Slam Tesla TeraFab and AI Layoffs as Excuses
🐂💩“I call bullshit. The whole thing is bullshit.” @ramahluwalia on Tesla’s TeraFab. Meanwhile @perkinscr97 says AI layoffs are a “beautiful excuse” for restructuring. On @bitsandbips. https://t.co/MbGw3uy8b6
Baker Hughes to Supply Tech for Offshore LNG Project in Texas
Baker Hughes has been awarded a contract to provide gas compression and power generation equipment for ST LNG’s proposed 8.4 million‑tonne‑per‑annum offshore export terminal off Matagorda, Texas. The deal includes two LM6000PF turbine‑driven centrifugal compressor trains and three NovaLT16 turbine generator...
Baker Hughes to Supply Tech for Offshore LNG Project in Texas
Baker Hughes secured a contract to supply gas compression and power generation equipment for ST LNG’s proposed offshore liquefied natural gas export terminal off Matagorda, Texas. The agreement includes two LM6000PF turbine‑driven centrifugal compressor trains and three NovaLT16 turbine generator packages,...
American Battery Factory Secures 4.5GWh Offtake Agreements for Arizona LFP Gigafactory
American Battery Factory (AFB) has locked in offtake agreements for 4.5 GWh of the 5.5 GWh output slated for its Arizona LFP gigafactory, clearing a major financing hurdle. The plant, built with Sprung Structures’ rapid‑deploy fabric modules, will begin production in late 2027...
RELEX Report: AI Moves Into Core Supply Chain Decisions as Volatility Persists
RELEX Solutions' State of Supply Chain 2026 report shows AI moving from experiment to core decision support, with 47% of firms using or planning AI-driven inventory optimization and 41% applying AI to logistics. Confidence in AI has risen, as 67%...
UCB Investing $2B To Build Manufacturing Facility in Georgia
UCB announced a $2 billion investment to build a 460,000‑square‑foot biologics manufacturing plant in Gwinnett County, Georgia, its first U.S. production site. The facility will create about 330 permanent jobs and over 1,000 construction positions, leveraging AI, robotics and automation. Georgia...
Semicon China: AI, Advanced Packaging Set to Drive Country’s Chip Industry Growth
China’s semiconductor sector is set to capture nearly half of global wafer‑fabrication capacity by 2028, rising to 42% from 32% in 2025. The growth is being propelled by the adoption of agentic AI, which dramatically increases inference compute needs, and...
America Wants to Reshore Manufacturing—But Who Will Do the Work?
U.S. companies are pouring billions into reshoring manufacturing, spurred by the CHIPS Act and Inflation Reduction Act, but a critical workforce gap threatens these investments. Research from the University of Tennessee shows only one‑third of firms have advanced reshoring plans,...
Factory Construction Falls 15% Despite Trump's $18T Promise
Factory construction was down 15% over the last year, even before adjusting for inflation https://t.co/YNFjjiLWfV Reality hasn't heard about Trump's $18 trillion in investment coming into the country. Trump always says, "no one has seen anything like it," which is...
Honda, Sony Drop Afeela EV Project, Reassess Partnership
Honda Motor Co. and Sony Group have scrapped their joint Afeela electric‑vehicle project, ending development of the first‑ and second‑generation models. The decision comes as Honda faces $15.7 billion in EV‑related charges and a broader EV overhaul, while Sony Honda Mobility...
Pentagon Inks Deal with BAE, Lockheed to Quadruple THAAD Seeker Production
The Pentagon has signed multiyear agreements with BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin to quadruple production of infrared seekers for the THAAD missile‑defense interceptor. Annual output will rise from 96 to 400 units, while BAE’s seeker contracts run for seven years...
Broker’s Call: NALCO (Buy)
SBI Securities has upgraded NALCO to a Buy with a target of ₹420.9 (~$5,070) versus the current ₹367.15 (~$4,425). The integrated aluminium producer is moving ahead with a 0.5 mtpa capacity expansion, with a detailed project report due by mid‑2026 and...
Syncore and Sereact Plan to Roll Out More than 100 AI-Powered Robotic Systems
Syncore and AI‑robotics specialist Sereact announced a letter of intent at LogiMat to roll out more than 100 AI‑powered robotic systems across Europe in the coming years. The collaboration builds on existing pick‑and‑place units and inventory‑monitoring vision, and now adds...
Creality Patent Targets Cleaner FFF Material Changes
Creality has filed a patent for a compact waste‑cleaning mechanism that automatically clears purge material after filament changes in desktop FFF printers. The device uses a nozzle‑pressured arm to sweep waste from a narrow chamber without additional motors or sensors....
Bold Laser Automation Introduces a Precision Laser Cleaning System for Advanced Manufacturing
Bold Laser Automation has launched the LPCl1820UV, a Class 1 industrial laser system that uses a 349 nm Q‑switched UV source delivering up to 120 µJ per pulse for precision surface cleaning. The platform integrates nanosecond laser processing, high‑accuracy motion control, advanced beam...
RAYMOND TO DEMONSTRATE HOW IT DRIVES THE RHYTHM OF THE WAREHOUSE AT MODEX 2026
Raymond Corporation will showcase its end‑to‑end intralogistics portfolio at MODEX 2026 in Atlanta, featuring new electric lift trucks, automated Courier trucks, and the iWAREHOUSE intelligent‑warehouse suite. The booth will host six 10‑minute "Material Handling Moments" sessions that deliver actionable solutions...
RFID and PLM: The Missing Link Between Physical Assets and the Digital Thread
Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems excel at tracking design, manufacturing and service data, yet they often lack a reliable link to the physical product. Embedding RFID tags on components provides a permanent, unique identifier that can be read without line‑of‑sight....
Global PV Equipment Market to Reach 2.6 Times Current Size by 2035
A study by Germany’s VDMA and Fraunhofer projects global capital expenditure on photovoltaic manufacturing equipment to rise from about $16.6 billion in 2025 to $43.8 billion by 2035, roughly 2.6 times current size. The growth mirrors an expected 2.5‑fold increase in annual...
Porsche Design Opens Timepiece Manufactory in Grenchen
Porsche Design inaugurated a new Timepieces Manufactory in Grenchen, Switzerland, moving from its Solothurn site and consolidating development, engineering, assembly, quality management, and after‑sales under one roof. The historic 1955 building, formerly home to Eterna, has been modernized with ISO‑classified...
Renasens Closes €10m Seed to Scale Textile Recycling
Swedish deep‑tech startup Renasens closed a €10 million seed round (about $11 million) to build a pilot plant in Borås, Sweden, for its waterless, chemical‑free textile recycling platform. The technology uses supercritical carbon dioxide to dissolve polymer chains, enabling the separation of...
FAA Approves TAM’s Saab 2000 Freighter Conversion
Täby Air Maintenance (TAM) received Federal Aviation Administration approval for its Saab 2000 freighter conversion Supplemental Type Certificate, clearing the path to sell the modified aircraft in the United States. The conversion, which began in early 2022, offers a 55.4 m³ cargo...
Basler AG and Orbbec Launch Technology Partnership for Industrial 3D Vision in Logistics and Factory Automation
Basler AG and Chinese robotics specialist Orbbec have formed a strategic partnership to develop industrial 3D vision solutions for logistics and factory automation. Their first joint product, the Basler Stereo mini camera, will debut at LogiMAT 2026 and targets autonomous mobile...
Ironhorse ACM AC Drives and ACN EtherCAT Communications Modules From AutomationDirect
AutomationDirect launched the IronHorse ACM series AC drives, offering V/Hz and sensorless vector control for low‑horsepower motors using single‑phase 120 V or 230 V power. The drives cover 1/8 to 3 HP, feature five digital inputs, two relay outputs, analog I/O, dynamic braking,...
Hactl Moves to 100% Recycled Plastic Sheets for Cargo
Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited (Hactl) has completed a transition to 100 % closed‑loop recycled plastic sheets for its cargo operations, after piloting 30‑50 % recycled content since 2022. The program, developed with the Nano and Advanced Materials Institute, uses post‑consumer...
Shaviv Deburring Tools, Sets and Accessories From AutomationDirect
AutomationDirect announced the launch of new Shaviv deburring tool sets, including a premium 21‑piece and a 12‑piece kit, both featuring ergonomic universal handles and quick‑change blade holders. The expanded Heavy‑duty and Mango IIB/IIE configurations add compact, direct‑blade designs for tight‑space...
Define Instruments Panel Meters & Signal Conditioners
AutomationDirect has added Define Instruments digital panel meters, signal conditioners, and temperature transmitters to its catalog. The Merlin series meters accept current, temperature, voltage, potentiometer and pulse inputs, feature advanced scaling, USB‑based configuration and an IP65‑rated LED display. The LPI610...
More Datalogic Smart-VS Vision Sensors From AutomationDirect
AutomationDirect has added two new Datalogic Smart‑VS vision sensors to its catalog: the Smart‑VS Plus and the Smart‑VS EVO. The Plus model introduces a third object classification and expands image storage to 20 frames while maintaining a 50‑400 mm range and...
Australian Forwarders Seek Aid as Surcharges and ‘Dumped’ Boxes Drive Costs Up
Australian freight forwarders, backed by APSA and the Freight & Trade Alliance, are seeking government assistance to offset soaring shipping costs caused by the US/Israeli war against Iran. Conflict‑related surcharges and end‑of‑voyage fees are adding up to about $4,000 per...
Flexport Dispute Sheds Light on How AI Is Reshaping Freight Forwarding
Flexport is suing former employees and rival startup Freightmate AI over alleged misuse of shipment documents to train AI tools. The dispute centers on thousands of real‑world freight documents that were downloaded and could give Freightmate a data advantage, rather...
The Hidden Cost of Expiring Inventory for Small Food Manufacturers
In this 38‑minute live webinar, Steve Maurer—an industry veteran with 35 years of food‑processing experience—explains the hidden costs of expired inventory for small food manufacturers. He breaks down direct losses (raw material, labor, overhead) and indirect expenses such as storage,...
Bending Both Ways: Robot Hand Achieves Superhuman Dexterity
This #Robot Hand Bends Both Ways — Unlocking Superhuman Dexterity via @ZappyZappy7 #AI #Robotics #MachineLearning #ArtificialIntelligence #ML #MI https://t.co/hjiYhdanj6
Imc Test & Measurement Announces FAMOS Live Workshop March 25, 2026
imc Test & Measurement UK is hosting a free, full‑day FAMOS Live Workshop on March 25 2026 at the British Motor Museum in Warwick. The hands‑on event targets engineers, test specialists and analysts, offering practical sessions on data visualization, import/export, automated workflows,...
Robots Install 100 MW of Solar Panels on 1-GW AES Project
Maximo, an AES‑incubated solar‑robotics firm, installed 100 MW of panels at the 1‑GW Bellefield project in Kern County, California, using a coordinated fleet of four robots. The robotic system achieved peak installation rates of 474 modules per day, boosting human installer...
Diamonds in Defense: Northrop Grumman’s Secret to Next-Gen Power and Protection
Northrop Grumman’s Microelectronics Center has demonstrated a diamond‑based receiver‑protection component that endured more than 100 watts of power, roughly double the capacity of current semiconductor devices. The test confirms diamonds’ superior thermal conductivity—five times that of copper—and their ability to...
Daniel Yang Worked at a Chinese Carbon Wheels Factory
Renowned bike journalist Daniel Yang toured a Chinese carbon‑wheel factory, with Light Bicycle documenting the entire production line. The behind‑the‑scenes footage shows that the majority of Asian‑made carbon wheels are manufactured in China, regardless of brand origin. The visit highlights...
IRA Spurs 920 New Manufacturing Facilities Nationwide
Like the Inflation Reduction Act that had 920 announced and under construction manufacturing facilities? https://t.co/3GozcfkM29
ASRock Industrial Introduces Compact AI Edge System
ASRock Industrial unveiled the AI BOX‑A395, a compact edge AI system powered by AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 processors. The device packs up to 16 Zen 5 CPU cores, a Radeon 8060S GPU, an XDNA 2 NPU delivering 50 TOPS of AI acceleration, and up to 128 GB of...
Rising Plastic Costs Fuel Unexpected Inflation in Food Packaging
I wrote about plastic prices in yesterday's Odd Lots newsletter ahead of today's episode (which you should definitely listen to) Packaging really is an underappreciated driver of inflation, and plastics prices are already spiking You can't buy a bag of carrots without...
Industrial Additive Manufacturing Sector Records Renewed Growth of 5.6% - AMPOWER Report 2026
The AMPOWER 2026 report shows the industrial additive manufacturing market rebounded in 2025, posting a 5.6% revenue increase after a stagnant 2024. Growth was driven by a surge in lower‑cost machines and a remarkable 30%+ expansion in desktop polymer printers...
Nestlé Trials AI Technology to Tackle Factory Food Waste
Nestlé has piloted Zest’s AI platform across its factories, instantly linking fragmented production data to pinpoint and reduce food waste. The system uncovered four times more edible surplus than manual checks, redirecting 201.9 tonnes—equivalent to about 480,000 meals—to people in need...
Mitsubishi Electric Develops CNC Digital Twin Technology
Mitsubishi Electric and RWTH Aachen University have created a digital‑twin system for CNC machine tools that uses edge computing to correct errors in real time. Tests from April 2023 to March 2026 showed up to a 50 % reduction in machining errors caused...
SimScale Integrates PAMICS Solver for CFD Workflows
SimScale has partnered with AI Engineering GmbH to embed the PAMICS Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) solver into its cloud platform. Leveraging NVIDIA infrastructure, the meshless solver allows CFD simulations directly from CAD models, cutting meshing time and speeding up runtimes...
Using Checklists to Teach Quality Standards
Leaders often struggle to articulate quality standards for intangible work such as meetings, communication, and analysis, leaving expectations vague. The article proposes using checklists to convert these nebulous standards into concrete, binary criteria that are easy to apply and evaluate....
Cutting-Edge Sensor Tech Targets Cargo Theft as Losses Hit $725M
Supply chain losses from cargo theft jumped to about $725 million in 2025, driven by organized crime targeting high‑value freight. Wiliot, an Israeli‑San Diego IoT firm, offers battery‑free, paper‑thin Bluetooth tags that give each product a digital identity and real‑time visibility...
What Shippers Need From LCL Consolidators in the Era of Ever-Disruption
Tim Jurischka argues that LCL consolidators must shift from pure cost‑optimisation to building resilience amid persistent geopolitical and trade disruptions. He highlights that traditional, static consolidation networks struggle when routes are blocked or capacity tightens, leading to higher freight rates...
Dormer Pramet Unveils High-Performance Turning and Milling Range
Dormer Pramet has launched a new high‑performance turning and milling portfolio aimed at steel, stainless steel and cast‑iron machining. The lineup includes the T9425 and T5405 turning grades, the ML chipbreaker, the G8415 multi‑layer coated grade, and the S9xx end‑mill...
Galician Wood: Meet the Manufacturer Going Against the Grain to Prop up a Region
Finsa, a Galician wood‑manufacturing giant, reported a 2024 turnover of €1.2 billion (about $1.31 billion) while operating ten plants across twelve countries. The company’s flagship La Conexión site showcases a fully visible, circular production line that processes 95,000 trucks and over 90 cargo...