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
Maruti Suzuki Commences Second Factory at Kharkhoda with 2.5-lakh Units
Maruti Suzuki began commercial production at the second phase of its Kharkhoda plant, adding 250,000 vehicles per year and bringing the site’s total capacity to 500,000 units. The expansion lifts the company’s overall annual production capacity to 2.65 million vehicles across its four Indian factories. The Kharkhoda facility currently builds the Brezza and Vitara SUVs and is slated to reach a one‑million‑unit output once fully ramped. MSIL plans to invest roughly $1.7 billion in FY27 to add another 500,000 units at Kharkhoda and Hansalpur, following earlier land and Phase‑I spending of about $600 million and $1.2 billion respectively.
Century Tool Adds Thermoplastic Composites Trial Capabilities On-Site
CEAD B.V. has formed a strategic partnership with U.S. distributor AIC International to accelerate the rollout of large‑format additive manufacturing (LFAM) across North and Latin America. The collaboration aims to give composites makers in the region direct access to 3D‑printed...
Niu Technologies Posts $13.2M Q1 Loss as E‑Scooter Demand Softens
Niu Technologies announced a first‑quarter loss of RMB 93.9 million (≈$13.2 million), more than double the loss a year earlier, even as revenue rose 33% to RMB 909.5 million (≈$127 million). The widened loss underscores weakening demand for electric scooters despite higher sales volume.
Supply Chain Resiliency Increasingly Trumps Cost in Perma-Crisis Era
Corporations are reallocating capital toward supply‑chain resiliency as geopolitical tensions, tariff threats, and lingering pandemic effects create a "perma‑crisis" environment. A May 1 KPMG survey shows 73% of firms will overhaul their supply‑chain operating models within three years, prioritizing risk management....
XPeng Starts Mass Production of First China‑Made Robotaxi in Guangzhou, Aims for H2 2026 Pilot
XPeng announced today that its first robotaxi has entered mass production in Guangzhou, making it the first Chinese automaker to produce a Level‑4 robotaxi at scale. The vehicle, built on the GX platform with four in‑house Turing AI chips delivering...
DLR Uses Aibuild to Combine AFP and 3D Printing
The German Aerospace Center (DLR) has teamed with London‑based Aibuild to fuse automated fiber placement (AFP) with robotic fused granular fabrication (FGF) for in‑situ 3D printing of thermoplastic onto composite laminates. The AI‑driven software synchronises digital scanning, adaptive tool‑paths and...
Why Your E-Stop Button Logic Can Be a Liability
The article warns that programming stop buttons as normally‑closed (NC) contacts creates a hidden safety risk, because a broken wire leaves the machine running. It advocates using normally‑open (NO, XIC) contacts so loss of power automatically disables the output, matching...
Entergy Signs with Hyundai Steel-Posco as Part of Recent Metals Deals
Entergy signed a power agreement on April 30 to supply electricity to Hyundai Steel‑Posco’s new electric‑arc furnace mill in Donaldsonville, Louisiana. The 1,800‑acre plant, Hyundai Motor Group’s first North American steelmaking venture, is backed by a $582 million, 20% stake investment from...
Tvasta Differentiates Cedar 3D Printer With AI-Based Concrete Mix Optimization
Indian startup Tvasta, in partnership with global 3D‑printing contractor 14Trees, unveiled Cedar, an AI‑ready large‑scale concrete 3D printer. Cedar automatically optimizes mix designs using locally sourced aggregates, drawing on an AI model trained on thousands of mix combinations. The system...
Higher Aluminum Prices Are Powering One Former Dow Component. Here's How to Buy for Less
Alcoa is capitalizing on a four‑year high in LME aluminum prices, prompting a buy‑write (covered‑call) trade that lets investors acquire shares at a reduced net cost. The June $70 buy‑write proposes buying at $62.50 and selling a $70 call for...
Ford in Talks to Supply Pickups to Military in North America
Ford Motor Co. is in active talks with defense ministries across North America and Europe to supply converted F‑Series pickup trucks, including Super Duty models, for military use. The automaker highlighted its Ford Pro platform as a foundation for vehicle and...
Bpreg Composites, Fibionic Form Synergy to Intersect Natural Fibers with Bionically Optimized Architectures
Fibionic, an Austrian deep‑tech startup, and Turkey’s Bpreg Composites have teamed up to fuse tailored fiber placement (TFP) with natural‑fiber composite architectures. Early trials using Bpreg’s unidirectional flax and hemp tapes on Fibionic’s bionically optimized fiber placement system demonstrated precise...
Kaleidex Announces Major New MedTech Manufacturing Facility in Yorkshire
Kaleidex Group announced Kaleidex One, a 60,000 sq ft precision‑manufacturing hub in Yorkshire slated for a 2027 launch. The "Factory of the Future" will combine clean‑room assembly, rapid prototyping, automation and end‑to‑end production services for global OEMs and emerging MedTech firms. It...
Tungsten Carbide Manufacturing and the Future of Next-Generation Robotics
Robotics performance increasingly depends on durable components, and tungsten carbide is emerging as a key material for wear‑critical parts. Its hardness and dimensional stability allow pins, guides, grippers and tooling to retain precision over millions of cycles, reducing downtime and...
RVmagnetics, Testia Launch Project to Embed MicroWire Sensors in Composite Pressurized Tanks
New Generation Tanks (NGT) and Spanish startup Hydros Power have launched HyDDIM, a Eurostars‑funded R&D project to develop interchangeable hydrogen capsules. The capsules are 15 L composite pressure vessels operating at 350 bar, storing about 340 g of hydrogen and weighing roughly 20%...
Skuld Patents Its Process to Cast Wrought Aluminum From Scrap
Skuld, a U.S. manufacturing firm, has filed a patent for its Additive Manufacturing Evaporative Casting (AMEC) process that can produce wrought‑grade aluminum alloys such as 6061 and 7075 directly from mixed‑metal scrap. The method combines AI‑driven spark testing to identify...
French Equation: An Ecosystem at Work
JEC World 2026 underscored a decisive shift in composites from pure performance to industrialisation, demanding stable, repeatable, data‑driven processes with circularity baked in as a contractual norm. France emerged as a dense ecosystem of SMEs delivering the essential building blocks—process...
The Reliability and Accuracy of Machine Vision Systems
The Control Intelligence podcast episode “Closing the loop in factory inspection with artificial intelligence” examines how AI‑driven machine‑vision systems are raising reliability and accuracy in production quality checks. It details how sub‑millimeter defect detection paired with real‑time decision loops can...
Augury Shaping the Future of Production with the Industrial AI Workforce
Augury announced its Industrial AI Workforce, a suite of role‑based AI agents that embed machine‑health insights into the daily workflows of reliability, maintenance and operations teams. The agents fuse Augury's Machine Health data with AVEVA CONNECT operational context and Google Cloud’s...
TDConnex Wins India's 2026 MSME Leading Innovator Award, Boosting Micro‑Precision Supply Chains
TDConnex was named Leading Innovator of the Year – Electronics at the 2026 India MSME Awards, recognizing its micro‑precision manufacturing that now powers over a billion devices worldwide. The award highlights the company's expanding Indian footprint and its new 1 million‑sq‑ft...
Labbit Deploys AI Validation Assistant to Accelerate Regulated Lab Workflows
Labbit announced the Validation Assistant, an AI-driven tool that automates test planning, execution, and audit‑ready documentation for system changes in regulated laboratories. The feature, unveiled on May 18, 2026, aims to cut the manual effort that has long slowed innovation...
KTMEA Raises Concerns over Rising Costs, Labour Shortage in Textile Sector
The Karur Textile Manufacturers and Exporters Association (KTMEA) warned that raw‑material prices have jumped 30‑60% amid West Asia geopolitical tensions, while recycled cotton and polyester yarn costs rose 10‑20%. The surge threatens export growth and employment in the Karur textile...
Renamed Kerry Dairy Ireland Outlines Investment Plans
Kerry Dairy Ireland, now rebranded as Kinisla, announced a €300 million ($350 million) five‑year investment in manufacturing, innovation and sustainability. The plan includes creating more than 100 new roles across central functions, innovation and commercial operations within the next 12‑24 months. The...
Comau Enters Into a Binding Agreement to Acquire Invent Smart Intralogistics Solutions
Comau has signed a binding agreement to acquire 100% of Invent, a Brazil‑based intralogistics and warehouse‑automation specialist, with the deal slated to close in the third quarter of 2026 pending regulatory approval. The purchase follows Comau’s earlier acquisition of Automha...
CADEXSOFT Announces the Release of Manufacturing Toolkit 2026.3
CADEXSOFT unveiled Manufacturing Toolkit 2026.3, a CAD SDK aimed at developers of quoting and Manufacturing‑as‑a‑Service platforms. The release adds a high‑performance Ray Marching wall‑thickness algorithm, refined sheet‑metal bead and CNC feature recognition, and expanded nesting support across C#, Java and...
The New Fabric of Demand: Modernizing Collaboration and Transparency for Real-Time Production
At ARC Advisory Group’s 2026 Industry Leadership Forum, senior executives from Rolls‑Royce, BTX Precision and MxD discussed the need to replace legacy, siloed workflows with an industrial data fabric that links market signals to real‑time production. The keynote highlighted that...
Xiaomi Sets up Subsidiary for Battery and Electric Motor Production
Xiaomi has launched a new subsidiary, Beijing Xiaomi Jingxu Technology, to manufacture electric‑vehicle batteries and motors. The unit, fully owned by Xiaomi Intelligent Technology, was registered with about $1.4 million in capital. A joint‑venture battery plant, involving CATL, BAIC and others,...
South Carolina Senator Introduces Bill to Bolster Domestic Textile Industry
Senator Lindsey Graham introduced the Coast Guard Personnel Equipment Act, a bill that would require all U.S. military uniforms—including those for the Coast Guard—to be produced by domestic textile manufacturers. The legislation expands the Berry Amendment, which already bars offshore...
Optiemus Plans to Set up Second Plant for Screen Protector Manufacturing
Optiemus Infracom will launch a second Noida plant within 6‑8 months to produce 15‑20 million screen protectors under new BIS certification, rolling out its premium Rhinotech and mass‑market Optisafe brands. The facility complements a joint venture with Corning International to make...
Unionfab Expands Metal 3D Printing in North America, Germany
Unionfab, the service arm of UnionTech, is expanding its industrial metal 3D printing operations to the United States, Canada and Germany. Leveraging over 100 multi‑laser SLM systems and an AI‑driven manufacturing platform, the company can shrink low‑volume part lead times...
Gotion Receives €92 Million for Two Battery Projects in Spain
Chinese battery maker Gotion High‑Tech has been provisionally awarded a €92 million ($100 million) grant from Spain’s PERTE VEC e‑Mobility programme for two projects in Valladolid. The projects, backed by a €944.3 million ($1.03 billion) investment, will build a battery‑cathode plant and a recycling...
Anglo American Flags Potential Production Hit at Collahuasi After Chile Tribunal Ruling
Anglo American PLC disclosed that Chile's Second Environmental Tribunal is reviewing a 2021 permit for Collahuasi's expansion, including a near‑complete desalination plant. The mining group said the ruling could affect operations but noted alternative water sources mitigate immediate risk. The...
Xpeng Advances Southeast Asia Push with Indonesian Factory Takeover
Chinese EV maker Xpeng has acquired a 90.1% stake in PT Era Industri Otomotif (EIDO), the manufacturing arm of Indonesia’s Erajaya Group. The deal, effective May 13, gives Xpeng control of a dedicated assembly facility in Southeast Asia’s largest auto...
Murata to Expand Thermistor Production Capacity with New Japan Facility
Murata Manufacturing announced the construction of a new five‑story production building at its Yokaichi Plant in Shiga, Japan, slated to begin in May 2026 and finish by August 2028. The $113 million investment will add roughly 2,951 m² of ground space and 18,010 m² of...
Intel EMIB Yields Near‑perfect, Cost‑effective Packaging
It's a function of package reticle size (and EMIB vs EMIB-T) , but the contacts I have at Intel say 'almost perfect' and 'never an issue'. It's also worth noting that once you make the emibs, you test for known good...
Wheeled Humanoid Deployed at ZEEKR Smart Factory
Suzhou Botler #Robotics Rolls Out Wheeled Humanoid at ZEEKR Smart Factory by @CyberRobooo #Robotics #MachineLearning #ArtificialIntelligence #ML #Innovation https://t.co/j9EFqRQKnh
France Urges Renault, Stellantis to Keep Parts Sourcing Local
The French government is urging Renault and Stellantis to give preference to European parts suppliers, warning that industrial sovereignty requires a collective effort. Both automakers are deepening ties with China: Renault’s new Twingo E‑Tech will use a motor from Shanghai e‑Drive,...
LPBF Modular Fan Blades Target Quieter HVAC
German researchers demonstrated a laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) process that creates modular metal fan‑blade leading edges for HVAC applications. By splitting a 498 mm rotor and printing only the noise‑control region, they can produce dozens of variants in a single...
EU to Force Companies to Buy Components From Non-Chinese Suppliers, FT Reports
The European Union is drafting rules that will require companies to source critical components from at least three non‑Chinese suppliers, limiting any single supplier to 30‑40% of total purchases. The measure focuses on sectors such as chemicals and industrial machinery,...
Integrated Inspection for Smarter Manufacturing
Manufacturers are increasingly embedding on‑machine inspection systems directly into CNC equipment, allowing real‑time measurement of part dimensions as machining proceeds. This shift replaces traditional off‑line quality checks, cutting inspection lead times and reducing the risk of costly rework or scrap....
Manufacturing Technology Orders Climb as U.S. Investment Momentum Builds
New orders for metalworking machinery hit $681.3 million in March 2026, up 40.3% month‑over‑month and 31.5% year‑over‑year. First‑quarter USMTO orders reached $1.61 billion, a 27.8% annual increase. Despite rising inflation and the Iran war, automation demand stays strong as manufacturers confront a labor...
Secured 130k Lb Boomalloy For
We've received about 130,000lbs of powder metal "Boomalloy" billet, to be forged into turbine discs. This is enough metal for ~1.3GW of turbines. This stuff normally takes over a year to procure—but we partnered deeply with our supplier and got it...
Why Old Plants Hate Modern PLCs?
Old manufacturing plants view modern PLCs as disruptive rather than beneficial. Decades‑old controllers have proven reliability, and teams rely on undocumented tweaks and hands‑on expertise. Introducing networked, software‑centric PLCs uncovers hidden wiring flaws, forces IT collaboration, and raises cybersecurity worries....
The Shifting Cost Structure of Advanced Manufacturing
The recent closure of the Strait of Hormuz has triggered a cascade of supply‑chain shocks for the semiconductor industry, most notably a sharp rise in helium prices and a collapse in Gulf air‑cargo capacity. These disruptions expose the sector’s heavy...
45,000-Worker Samsung DRAM Strike Threatens Global Memory Supply
Samsung Electronics faces a walkout of roughly 45,000 workers at its memory‑chip factories, the largest labor action in the DRAM sector. The strike raises immediate concerns about shortages of high‑bandwidth memory needed for data‑center and artificial‑intelligence workloads worldwide.
Toyota Seeks $2 B Texas Plant Approval, Pledges 2,000 Jobs by 2030
Toyota Motor Corp. has filed with Texas officials to build a $2 billion assembly line—codenamed Project Orca—at its San Antonio complex. The plan calls for construction to start by the end of 2026, production in 2030 and the creation of roughly...
Tecomet and Orchid Orthopedic Solutions Merge to Form Global MedTech Manufacturing Platform
Tecomet and Orchid Orthopedic Solutions have finalized a cross‑border merger, creating a unified global manufacturing platform for orthopedic devices. The deal, announced today, combines Tecomet’s European production base with Orchid’s North American footprint, positioning the new entity as a major...
Hubei Launches 29‑Character Digital ID System for Humanoid Robots
The Hubei Humanoid Robot Innovation Centre in Wuhan has deployed a digital identification platform that assigns a 29‑character code to every humanoid robot. The system, the first of its kind nationwide, is designed to monitor robots from production through operation,...
Ford Spins Off Energy Unit, Morgan Stanley Calls It a $10B Battery Bet
Ford Motor announced the spin‑off of Ford Energy, a dedicated battery storage subsidiary, prompting a 13% jump in its shares. Morgan Stanley valued the unit at $10 billion, citing a $2 billion Kentucky plant build‑out and a licensing deal with CATL that...
Malaysia Sets 2030 Goal for Level 3 Driverless Cars in New Roadmap
Malaysia's Deputy Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, Sim Tze Tzin, announced a national roadmap aiming for Level 3 autonomous vehicle capability by 2030. The plan tasks the Malaysia Automotive, Robotics and IoT Institute with building the ecosystem, from semiconductor design...