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
Ukrainian Defense Companies Moving To All Domestic Production Of Components
Ukrainian drone and defense firms are rapidly localizing component production, now achieving 80‑90% domestic content for first‑level parts and aiming for 100% on‑shoring of critical systems. Companies such as The Fourth Law and Unwave are building a semiconductor fab to replace Chinese sensors and battery cells, while BRAVE1 is courting U.S. investors for a joint plant. Production targets have surged to over 5 million drones in 2025, with a goal of more than 7 million in 2026, driving massive demand for motors and other parts. The shift aligns with upcoming U.S. bans on Chinese semiconductors and critical minerals.
Xanadu Announces Negotiations Toward Up to CAD $390 Million in Support From the Governments of Canada and Ontario to Advance...
Xanadu Quantum Technologies has entered negotiations with the Canadian and Ontario governments for up to CAD 390 million to fund Project OPTIMISM, a plan to build domestic photonic and semiconductor manufacturing infrastructure. The initiative targets heterogeneous integration, PIC packaging, wafer‑level testing and quantum...
Automating Procure-to-Pay in Legacy ERP Using ETLs
Manufacturers relying on legacy ERP platforms such as QAD Standard or SAP R/3 face costly, manual procure‑to‑pay (P2P) processes that waste millions annually. By deploying ETL pipelines to extract, validate, and load supplier, PO, receipt, invoice, and payment data, firms can...
SK Keyfoundry Develops 450–2300V SiC Planar MOSFET Process Platform
SK keyfoundry has completed a silicon‑carbide (SiC) planar MOSFET process platform covering 450‑2300 V, achieving over 90 % yield and high reliability. The firm demonstrated the technology with a 1200 V MOSFET order from a new SiC design customer, targeting industrial equipment thermal‑efficiency...
LTL Segment Health Improving as Q1 Progresses
The less‑than‑truckload (LTL) market is showing a clear rebound in Q1 2026, highlighted by ArcBest’s tonnage per day rising 9.9% YoY in January and a 6% quarterly increase. ArcBest’s operating ratio is projected to improve by 100‑200 basis points, reflecting better...
Novelis’ Aluminum Sheet Receives Recognition
Novelis Inc. earned the 2026 Münchner Management Kolloquium Award of Excellence for an aluminum sheet produced entirely from end‑of‑life vehicle scrap, targeting exterior car‑body applications. The award highlights the technical feasibility of car‑to‑car recycling and the company’s push toward a...
Filtronic Target AUKUS Needs with Facility Expansion
Filtronic has moved into a 44,000 sq ft facility in Sedgefield, expanding its industrial capacity six‑fold. The new space enables the tier‑two defence supplier to meet growing demand from the AUKUS partnership, particularly for electronic‑warfare and radar RF components. Filtronic already supplies...
Torc Joins Virginia Autonomous Truck Training Grant
Torc Robotics has joined Virginia Tech Transportation Institute’s Dock to Door Coalition under a one‑year Go Virginia Region 2 grant to shape training for autonomous Class 8 truck technicians and inspectors. The initiative will map workforce needs, identify curriculum gaps, and develop...
Partnership Targets Central America Eco Textiles Expansion
Spanish textile manufacturer Nextil Group has entered a framework partnership with El Salvador’s clothing producer Varsity to scale sustainable textile production across Central America. The collaboration falls under Nextil’s NextGreen platform, which emphasizes circular manufacturing processes. By targeting the U.S. market,...
HyperLight, UMC, and Wavetek Announce Strategic Partnership for High-Volume Foundry Production of TFLN Chiplet™ Platform
HyperLight, UMC and its subsidiary Wavetek have formed a strategic partnership to launch high‑volume foundry production of the TFLN Chiplet™ Platform on both 6‑inch and 8‑inch wafers. The collaboration leverages UMC’s extensive wafer capacity to move thin‑film lithium niobate photonics...
Iran‑Hormuz Tensions Threaten Global Supply Chains, Manufacturers Must Act
The Iran conflict and the Strait of Hormuz could have major supply chain implications. Lisa Anderson explains why this global shipping chokepoint matters—and what manufacturers should be thinking about now. Watch the Supply Chain Byte. #SupplyChain #Geopolitics #Manufacturing https://t.co/hLUT5Rpp0T
New ASGCO® Belt Lifter Model for Larger Conveyors
ASGCO introduced a new Belt Lifter model designed for 48‑72‑inch (1,200‑1,800 mm) conveyor belts. The unit accommodates stringer widths from 56.5 to 86.5 inches, weighs 47.2 kg, and offers a closed height of 216 mm with a maximum lift of 482 mm. Built with rugged...
European Groups Form Cybersecurity Initiative for Industrial Automation
A European consortium has launched the three‑year ENFORCERS initiative to secure software supply chains, coordinate incident response, and enhance lifecycle resilience for industrial automation. Backed by EU funding, the project brings together manufacturers, cybersecurity vendors, and research institutes to build...
GEP: Global Manufacturing Levels Rose in February, Led by Asia
The GEP Global Supply Chain Volatility Index shows global manufacturing activity rose in February, driven by a surge in Asian factories that reached the busiest level since October 2022. North America’s index slipped into negative territory, indicating under‑utilized supplier capacity,...
Diesel Spikes 96¢/Gal, Straining U.S. Supply Chains
Diesel prices for U.S. truckers rose a record 96 cents a gallon this past week, a sign of the financial strains hitting supply chains following the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran. https://t.co/C9K90LaXGX
Defense Business Brief: 3D-Printing on the Battlefield; Reshoring Drone Dominance; AI on Submarines
The Pentagon is set to purchase 30,000 one‑way attack drones this month and aims for 300,000 by 2027, while simultaneously banning Chinese components to build a domestic supply chain. Firestorm has introduced a containerized, climate‑controlled 3D‑printing lab that can produce...
Biomanufacturing Seen as Key for Driving Domestic Crop Demand
Biomanufacturing is being positioned as a catalyst for domestic demand of row crops, according to Beth Conerty of the iFAB tech hub. By converting corn dextrose and soy‑based glycerol into value‑added chemicals, fuels, and ingredients, the sector creates new revenue...
Rivian Spin-Out Mind Robotics Raises $500M for Industrial AI-Powered Robots
Mind Robotics, a Rivian spin‑out, closed a $500 million Series A round co‑led by Accel and Andreessen Horowitz, lifting its valuation to roughly $2 billion. The funding follows a $115 million seed round, bringing total capital raised to $615 million since its November 2025 launch. The...
Nexperia China Launches Domestic Chip Production Amid Crisis
Nexperia China says it has begun producing its own chips This was clear from the beginning of this crisis... https://t.co/Sf9e2kXIYp
ICON Launches Titan 3D Concrete Printer Designed for Two-Storey Building Construction
ICON has announced the commercial launch of Titan, its new 3D concrete printer built to construct two‑storey residential structures. The system uses ICON’s low‑carbon CarbonX material and fits inside a standard shipping container for easy site deployment. Customers can place...
ICOMAT Establishes Factory II to Grow Composites Processing Capacity
Daher announced the launch of Factory II to scale up its up‑cycling of thermoplastic composite (TPC) materials. The new line will convert 100 % of pure carbon polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) scrap into semi‑finished pellets containing 56 % carbon fiber, achieving a capacity of...
Southern Spars Five-Axis Investment Accelerates Composites Manufacturing Capabilities
Southern Spars has installed a five‑axis CNC machining center at its Auckland plant, complemented by a custom mast feeding system that can handle components up to 50 meters long. The new equipment cuts machining cycles from weeks to days, enabling faster...
Bharat Forge Inaugurates Landing Gear Machining Facility in Pune with Liebherr-Aerospace
Bharat Forge Limited inaugurated a state‑of‑the‑art landing‑gear machining facility in Pune, developed jointly with Liebherr‑Aerospace. The plant is among the first in India and few worldwide to offer OEM‑approved machining for landing‑gear components, expanding the company’s aerospace portfolio that already...
Maersk Forced to Ship Fuel From US, Europe as Asia Bunkers Start to Run Dry
Maersk has begun sourcing marine fuel from the United States and Europe to supply its Asian fleet, after recent disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz left key Middle‑East and Asian bunkering hubs unable to meet demand. Chief commercial officer Karsten...
Oshkosh Defense, Marine Corps Establish Advanced, Digital Manufacturing Partnership
Oshkosh Defense has signed a public‑private agreement with the U.S. Marine Corps’ Marine Depot Maintenance Command to enable advanced, digital manufacturing of vehicle parts. The deal creates a digital manufacturing exchange (DMX) where technical data is transmitted and additively manufactured...
Why Modeled Recovery Rarely Matches Reality in Building Supplies
Material cost volatility is a constant challenge for building‑supplies manufacturers, but its impact varies dramatically based on contract terms, distribution architecture, and rebate design. Companies that treat price adjustments as a structural issue can design responses that flow through the...
Robots Now Sewing Blue Jeans for Trillion‑Dollar Fashion Industry
#WhosNext? Clothing workers? These #Robots Make Blue Jeans for the Trillion-dollar Clothing Industry. (Thomas net) #Robotics https://t.co/YeWCNIrzXX https://t.co/FNscVLNemn
Web Industries Expands Thermoset Slitting Capacity in France and Production Capacity in Texas
Web Industries will launch a new thermoset slitting line at its Nantes facility in May 2026, expanding capacity for high‑quality aerospace tape. The same investment adds next‑generation laser‑cutting equipment to its Denton, Texas plant, boosting productivity for composites and technical...
JEC Composites Startup Booster: Discover the 2026 Winners
The JEC Composites Startup Booster 2026 announced its winners at JEC World, after receiving more than 160 applications and selecting 20 finalists to pitch. Grand Winner Soarce showcased nanofiber composites that are eight times stronger than steel, while runner‑up nebumind...
Takase Kanageta Selects Plataine to Scale Production Scheduling Across Multi-Plant Operations
Takase Kanagata, a Japanese precision‑manufacturing firm, has chosen Plataine’s AI‑powered Production Scheduler, delivered with Argosy Japan Aerospace Materials, to support its 2030 Digital Factory and Industry 4.0 roadmap. The solution will enable Takase to scale production scheduling across multiple plants while...
The Rise of the Silver Collar Workforce
The article defines a new "silver‑collar" workforce that blends digital analytics with hands‑on operational expertise, positioning humans as stewards of increasingly autonomous machines. Productivity is now measured by how effectively humans and AI collaborate, especially as machines execute decisions that...
Mondelēz Boosts Toblerone Production with $83m Investment
Mondelēz International has invested CHF 65 m ($83 m) to create a Toblerone Center of Excellence in Bern and launch a new production line. The line, inaugurated by Swiss President Guy Parmelin, expands capacity at the plant that makes roughly 90% of Toblerone output....
Lonza Expands Agreement to Manufacture Gene Therapy for Transfusion-Dependent Beta-Thalassemia
Lonza has broadened its agreement with Genetix Biotherapeutics to increase manufacturing capacity for ZYNTEGLO, the sole FDA‑approved gene therapy for transfusion‑dependent beta‑thalassemia. Production will continue at Lonza’s Houston, Texas, dedicated cell‑and‑gene therapy site, with provisions to scale up for future...
E-Stops, Safety Controllers and Sensors Require Planning and Coordination
The article stresses that emergency stops, safety controllers, and sensors must be designed with coordinated planning rather than ad‑hoc additions. Dual‑channel redundancy and low‑voltage signaling ensure a single failure triggers a safe halt, while over‑specifying safety can provoke workarounds that...
Babybel Parent Spending $200M to Expand Cheese Production Amid Protein Boom
Bel Group is allocating $200 million to double its Babybel cheese plant in Brookings, South Dakota, boosting annual capacity to 20,000 tons and creating 150 jobs. The expansion, the largest U.S. investment in the company’s history, is timed to meet projected demand...
Portugal Ups Alstom Fleet Order to over 150 Units in Country’s ‘Biggest Ever Train Investment’
Portugal’s state railway CP has signed an addendum to its Alstom‑DST contract, boosting the order from 117 to 153 Adessia Stream electric multiple units. The extra 36 commuter trains lift the total investment to €1.064 billion, with €318 million allocated to the...
U.S. Government Growing Interest in Robotics
On March 10 the U.S. Department of Commerce hosted a roundtable with leaders from robotics, artificial intelligence, manufacturing and investment to chart how the United States can scale Physical AI‑enabled robotics. The discussion covered domestic supply‑chain strengthening, talent pipelines, digital...
Hidonix Is Now a Defense Company
Hidonix Industries announced a strategic shift from commercial applications to a primary focus on defense and public safety, leveraging its spatial intelligence, human‑centric AI, and robotics expertise. The company will target defense operators, emergency responders, and mission‑critical missions requiring precise...
The Freight Market’s New Reality: More Risk, Fewer Signals
The freight market is confronting a multi‑layered risk environment as cargo theft shifts from opportunistic grabs to organized fraud, with incidents up 93% since 2021 and strategic theft soaring over 1,400%. Shippers and 3PLs are moving from one‑time carrier checks...
Can Aii’s New Tool Deliver Granular Data Without Audit Fatigue?
Aii has launched the Energy and Carbon Benchmark, a voluntary tool that breaks down textile factory energy use by individual processes such as knitting and dyeing. The benchmark is designed to plug into existing platforms like the Higg Facility Environmental...
Siemens to Launch Rail Vehicle Production in Duisport’s Logport I
Siemens Mobility will launch a new rail‑vehicle production centre at duisport’s Logport I in Duisburg‑Rheinhausen, with construction finishing by the end of 2026 and operations starting in early 2027. The €25 million investment includes a production hall equipped with five cranes, two...
Discover the Winner of the SMC BMC Design Award 2026 “Live Better, Live Green”
The SMC BMC Design Award 2026 was unveiled at JEC World on March 11, spotlighting the theme “Live Better, Live Green.” Gold went to Hedera, a modular vertical‑garden system that converts building facades into lasting green infrastructure. Silver was awarded...
Wine-Making Waste Helps Recycle Cobalt and Nickel From Batteries
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have demonstrated an electrochemical process that uses tartaric acid, a wine‑making by‑product, to separate cobalt and nickel from lithium‑ion battery leachates. By applying sequential voltages, the method achieves over 99% cobalt purity and 96.5% nickel...
Reverse Engineering the UK Rail Sector’s Hard-to-Find Parts
Nufox Rubber used reverse engineering to recreate obsolete rubber seals for the UK’s Class 158 trains, addressing a parts shortage that threatens long‑lived rolling stock. The company digitised the original component, developed in‑house tooling, and produced fire‑rated seals meeting EN45545‑2 HL3 standards....
Bangladesh RMG Exports Fall 3.7 per Cent Year-on-Year
Bangladesh’s ready‑made garment (RMG) sector reported a 3.73% year‑on‑year decline in exports, totaling US$25.80 billion for the first eight months of FY2025‑26. The Export Promotion Bureau data highlight a slowdown in the country’s largest industrial export earner. The dip coincides with...
UPS Navigates Amazon Draw Down in Hard Pivot to Premium Services
UPS is executing its largest network consolidation while deliberately shedding about 50% of its Amazon volume by mid‑2026. The carrier has cut 30,000 jobs, closed 24 parcel‑sort facilities and is automating remaining sites to boost profitability. CFO Brian Dykes said...
NS, Progress Rail Collaborate to Upgrade 96 Locomotives
Norfolk Southern and Progress Rail will convert 96 DC‑traction SD70M‑2 locomotives to AC traction, with deliveries scheduled from 2027 to 2029. The upgrades include individual‑axle control, ADEM® diesel engine management and remanufactured 16‑cylinder EMD 710 engines delivering 4,300 hp. NS claims...
Patent Proposes Software-Based Method for Sidewall Color Mixing in Multi-Nozzle FFF Printing
A Chinese patent (CN121608391A) proposes a software‑driven method to generate richer sidewall colors on multi‑nozzle FFF printers by using ultra‑fine layer heights and alternating filament colors. The technique treats the wall as an optical grating, blending colors through micro‑layer stacking...
HOJ Innovations’ New AMR Division Adds to Its Inventory Management Software History
HOJ Innovations, a Utah‑based warehouse inventory software veteran with over 60 years of experience, announced the launch of an autonomous mobile robot (AMR) division in late October 2025. The new hardware arm integrates directly with its WarehouseOS platform, leveraging a...
Kraft Heinz Plan to Close NZ Factories “Devastating”, Union Says
Kraft Heinz’s New Zealand arm, Heinz Wattie’s, announced plans to shut factories in Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin, putting roughly 350 jobs at risk. The closures will end production of Wattie’s frozen vegetables and several branded lines such as Gregg’s coffee and...