Celebrating 10 Years of the Open Process Automation™ Forum
The Open Group marks a decade since launching the Open Process Automation™ Forum (OPAF) on January 31, 2017. Over ten years the Forum has delivered the Open Process Automation Standard, a vendor‑neutral, modular and secure framework for industrial control systems. By replacing closed, proprietary architectures, OPAF has enabled interoperable solutions across the global automation community. The milestone underscores the growing acceptance of open standards in process industries.
Ruling Party Proposes Bold Vision to Transform Zimbabwe Into Global Battery Manufacturing Hub
Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU‑PF party announced a strategic push to transform the country from a raw lithium exporter into a full‑stack battery manufacturing hub. The plan highlights the recent attraction of four of the world’s top six lithium firms and the...
NiTi TPMS Sheet Lattices Promise Lightweight Performance
Researchers have demonstrated laser powder‑bed fused nickel‑titanium (NiTi) triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS) sheet lattices that deliver high specific stiffness and energy absorption while retaining superelastic behavior. By pushing wall thicknesses to the limits of LPBF resolution, the continuous‑sheet architecture...
UK and Australia Explore Steel Cooperation for AUKUS
The United Kingdom and Australia are assessing how their steel sectors can jointly support the AUKUS submarine programme, following the first UK‑Australia Defence Industry Dialogue since 2018. Defence Minister Luke Pollard highlighted that British firms, notably Sheffield Forgemasters, are already...
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...
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...
Chiesi and Bespak Partner to Advance Carbon Minimal Inhaler Production With UK Manufacturing Site
Chiesi Group and inhalation CDMO Bespak have expanded their long‑standing partnership by increasing pressurized metered‑dose inhaler (pMDI) manufacturing capacity at Bespak’s Holmes Chapel, UK site. The move supports Chiesi’s Carbon Minimal Inhaler (CMI) program, which targets up to a 90 %...
Booz Allen’s US$300M Andreessen Horowitz Investment and the Role of 3D Printing in National Security Innovation
In January 2026 Booz Allen Hamilton pledged a US $300 million capital commitment to Andreessen Horowitz, with an option to expand to $400 million, to back hard‑tech startups focused on AI, robotics and additive manufacturing. The partnership spotlights Firestorm Labs’ xCell, a containerized 3D‑printing...
Researchers Explore Use of Digital Twins For Resin 3D Printers
Researchers have introduced digital‑twin models that ingest printer settings and sensor data to predict resin cure states and dynamically adjust exposures in vat photopolymerization. The approach combines optics, cure kinetics, thermal and oxygen transport models, enabling pixel‑level compensation, heat‑management scheduling,...
Canada Is Racing to Make This Key Battery Ingredient at Home – by Anam Khan (BNN Bloomberg – March 10,...
Canada’s battery supply chain is hampered by a lack of domestic graphite refining, with 90% of battery‑grade graphite processed in China. Nouveau Monde Graphite (NMG) is launching a Phase‑2 mine and battery material plant in Bécancour, Quebec, backed by federal...
IBM and Lam Research Announce Collaboration to Advance Sub-1nm Logic Scaling
IBM and Lam Research have signed a five‑year partnership to push logic scaling below the 1 nm node. The collaboration will co‑develop novel materials, advanced etch and deposition processes, and High‑NA EUV lithography techniques to enable sub‑1 nm transistors. Leveraging IBM’s Albany...
Robotic Arm 3D Food Printing Targets Kitchen Automation
Researchers propose using six‑axis robotic arms for 3D food printing to bring true kitchen automation. Unlike traditional gantry printers that lay flat planes, a robot arm can plate directly, trace non‑planar paths, and navigate obstacles. The study highlights major hurdles...
Upgraded HaiPick Climb Aims to Make the Aisle Obsolete
Hai Robotics has upgraded its HaiPick Climb system to support double‑deep storage and sub‑120‑second delivery cycles, enabling up to 4,000 tote deliveries per hour. The compact design can hold 45,000 totes within 10,764 sq ft, boosting inventory density without expanding warehouse footprints....
Airbus Delivers Only 35 Aircraft in February
Airbus delivered just 35 aircraft in February, a sharp drop from its annual target of 870 deliveries. The A320neo family made up 25 of those planes, while A220‑300 deliveries rose to eight and the A350 program added two jets, leaving...
Homerun Resources Advances Antimony-Free Solar Glass Strategy in Brazil
At the PDAC conference, Homerun Resources announced it is close to completing a bankable feasibility study for Latin America’s first antimony‑free solar‑glass manufacturing facility in Bahia, Brazil. The project leverages a high‑purity, low‑iron silica deposit that contains under 10 ppm iron,...
QC2A Desktop 3D Printer Brings Full-Color 3D Printing Below US$10K
The inew3d QC2A desktop printer, launched on Kickstarter, brings true full‑color photopolymer jetting to the desktop market for under US $10,000. It delivers an unprecedented 720 × 2880 dpi resolution, translating to roughly 0.035 mm detail, and supports six material channels including CMY, white, transparent...
Plastic Ingenuity Expands Thermoform Healthcare Packaging Into Europe
Plastic Ingenuity, a leading North American thermoformer, has acquired Germany‑based Spezi‑Pack to launch European operations. The deal brings nearly four decades of local expertise and retains Spezi‑Pack’s leadership, ensuring uninterrupted service. Planned investments include an ISO Class 7 cleanroom and new thermoforming...
Polymaker’s Advanced Filament Selection Tool Includes Color Matching and Material Comparison
Polymaker has launched an advanced online filament selection tool that streamlines product discovery through color matching, finish filters, and engineering property comparisons. Users can input RGB, HEX, HSL, or CYMK codes, upload images for automatic color extraction, and select from...
Operationalizing Secure Semiconductor Collaboration: Safely, Globally, and at Scale
Semiconductor fabs now face a massive cyber‑attack surface as software components proliferate across thousands of suppliers. Traditional isolation and ad‑hoc VPNs can’t keep pace with rapid patching needs, leaving long exposure windows. Industry standards such as SEMI E187/E188/E191 set a...
Why Labor Shortages Are Becoming a Hidden Risk for Industrial Investors in 2026
Labor shortages have shifted from a seasonal inconvenience to a structural risk for industrial investors in 2026. Modern plants require workers who blend technical, analytical, and digital skills, and the shortage of such talent leaves expensive equipment idle. An aging...
Bausch+Lomb Chooses Steriline to Improve Production of Ophthalmic Medical Devices
Steriline has delivered its OFCM84 aseptic filling and capping line to Bausch+Lomb Italia to boost eye‑care product output. The line runs at 200 bottles per minute, features CIP/SIP automation, and complies with EU GMP Annex 1 grade‑A cleanroom requirements. Its design...
Sikorsky Ramps Up Production of S-92A+, Latest Variant of Its Flagship Helicopter
Sikorsky announced the start of its first production batch of the S‑92A+ helicopter, the newest iteration of its heavy‑lift platform. The company will assemble five aircraft – two for a newly‑added head‑of‑state customer and three additional units – while maintaining...
Bambu Lab 3D Printers Filament Shortages Hit PETG & ABS Supplies
Bambu Lab is experiencing a severe shortage of its PETG High Flow and ABS filaments, as in‑house production transitions and a late‑2025 printer sales surge outpaced supply. Restocks sell out within minutes, leaving hobbyists and professional print farms scrambling for...
Green Additive Manufacturing For Circular Medical Devices
Researchers propose a comprehensive green additive manufacturing (AM) cycle for medical devices, integrating circular‑economy principles into design, material selection, and process control. The roadmap emphasizes digital inventory, on‑site production, and validated reuse pathways while addressing strict sterilization and biocompatibility regulations....
B-21 Bomber Production to Accelerate
Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Air Force are speeding up production of the B‑21 Raider stealth bomber as testing progresses. The company has poured more than $5 billion into digital engineering and manufacturing infrastructure to support the ramp‑up. Final assembly continues...
Things From Intel 10K That Make You Go …. Hmmmm
Intel’s 2025 Form 10‑K reveals manufacturing constraints centered on its Intel 7 process rather than external partners like TSMC. Gross margins sit near 35 percent, yet GAAP operating margins turned negative after a large legacy asset write‑down and depreciation changes. The Foundry division...
China Plans Its Own ASML: Semiconductor Industry to Become More Independent
Leading Chinese chip executives issued a stark assessment of their domestic semiconductor sector, calling it small, fragmented, and weak despite years of state subsidies. Their analysis, timed with the 2026‑2030 five‑year plan, sets targets to stabilize 28 nm production, achieve reliable...
Imabari Shipbuilding Delivers 64,000 DWT Bulk Carrier ULTRA DETERMINATION
Imabari Shipbuilding has delivered the 64,000‑dwt handymax bulk carrier ULTRA DETERMINATION from its Shin Kasado Dockyard in Japan. The vessel features four deck cranes, wide hatch openings and topside hopper tanks, allowing it to transport bulk commodities, steel products and...
How 3D Printing Innovation in Prosthetics Led From CU Labs to Hanger’s Acquisition of Point Designs
Hanger, Inc. announced the 2025 acquisition of Point Designs, a Colorado‑based startup specializing in 3D printed prosthetic fingers. The company, founded in 2016 from University of Colorado labs, offers modular titanium digits such as the Point Digit and Point Pivot+...
Norgine Announces £23 Million Investment to Expand Medicines Manufacturing in Wales
Norgine announced a £23 million injection to expand its Hengoed, Wales, manufacturing site, taking total investment at the location to more than £50 million since 2022. The upgrade will add high‑speed, energy‑efficient production lines and increase warehousing capacity, allowing the company to...
Eco-Friendly Cotton that Repels Water and Separates Oil
Researchers at INL have introduced a fluorine‑free technique that coats cotton with hydrophobic nanoparticles and hexadecyltrimethoxysilane, creating a water‑repellent, stain‑resistant fabric. The treatment forms micro‑ and nanoscale textures that preserve breathability while allowing oil to pass, enabling efficient oil‑water separation....
Qnity Announces $61.5M Investment in New Advanced Semiconductor Research & Manufacturing Facility
Qnity Electronics announced a $61.5 million investment to acquire a new advanced semiconductor research and manufacturing facility in Taiwan’s Hsinchu Science Park. The site will house state‑of‑the‑art clean rooms, research labs, warehousing and office space to boost advanced‑node and packaging capacity....
Foxboro Control System Updated Information
Schneider Electric introduced Foxboro SDA, a software‑defined distributed control system that decouples control software from hardware. The open architecture offers vendor independence, scalability, and seamless integration with legacy plants. Built on IEC 62443‑3‑3 standards, it delivers cyber‑secure, AI‑ready operations while lowering...
3D Printed Ceramic Array Converts Water Flow Into Measurable Electrical Signals
Researchers identified that the porous ceramic spines of sea urchins generate millivolt‑scale electrical signals when water flows over them, a phenomenon driven by electrokinetic charge separation rather than biological activity. By replicating the spine’s graded stereom architecture with a triply...
Digital Twins Key Prosperous Process Control
Digital twins have evolved from simple simulations to comprehensive, living operational assets that mirror plant behavior in real time. By layering process dynamics, control logic, instrumentation, and scenario data, they enable predictive insights, safe rehearsal of high‑risk events, and continuous...
Fordlandia: How Henry Ford Forgot His Own First Principle
Henry Ford’s success stemmed from daily, on‑site observation—a principle later called the gemba walk—but he abandoned it when he launched Fordlandia, a massive rubber plantation in Brazil. The venture, intended to secure rubber for tires, suffered from dense tree planting,...
Dual Laser LPBF Targets Support Free Overhang Quality
A patent from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics proposes a dual‑laser LPBF system that treats overhangs and bulk support as separate manufacturing problems. The low‑power micro‑laser (10‑40 µm spot, 10‑15 µm layers) prints overhang regions, while a high‑power, larger‑spot laser (60‑100 µm,...
Flashforge’s Hidden Filament Cutter Reclaims FFF Build Area
Flashforge has filed a patent for a retractable filament cutter that stays outside the printable envelope until needed. The mechanism mounts on the printer frame and swings into the build area via a linkage, eliminating the permanent post that occupies...
Bioinspired AM Boosts Robotic Limb Stiffness And Sensing
Researchers have demonstrated a bioinspired additive manufacturing (AM) strategy that simultaneously increases robotic limb stiffness and embeds strain‑sensing capability. By allocating stiffer polymers along high‑stress paths and compliant, piezoresistive material where strain is most informative, the printed limb achieves higher...
OM in the News: Bringing Mac Mini Production Stateside
Apple announced a major expansion of its Houston manufacturing hub, moving Mac mini production to the United States for the first time. The plan also scales AI server output at the Texas site and launches an Advanced Manufacturing Center to...
Zelensky's Hometown Steel Giant Shuts Next Plant, Signals Deeper Industrial Woes
ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih announced the shutdown of its Foundry‑Mechanical Plant (LMZ) in Zelensky’s hometown, effective end‑May. The closure will displace more than 2,400 workers and underscores the cumulative strain on Ukraine’s metallurgy sector after four years of conflict. Escalating energy...
Nickel Nationalism Holds Back Indonesia’s Clean Tech Ambitions – by Riandy Laksono (East Asia Forum – March 5, 2026)
Indonesia’s 2020 ban on raw‑nickel exports sparked a surge in domestic smelting and processing, positioning the country as a textbook case of resource‑based industrialisation. Yet its clean‑technology ambitions remain modest: EV exports totaled only US$12 million in 2024, dwarfed by Thailand’s...
NVIDIA Stops China-Focused H200 "Hopper" GPU Production
NVIDIA has halted production of its China‑focused H200 Hopper GPU at TSMC, leaving roughly 250,000 units in inventory awaiting U.S. export clearance and Chinese import permits. The pause follows export‑control constraints that limit the chips to non‑security‑sensitive applications. NVIDIA plans...
ElasticStage: The On-Demand Vinyl, CD Revolution for Indie Artists
ElasticStage launches an on‑demand vinyl and CD service that lets independent musicians sell physical releases without upfront manufacturing costs or minimum order requirements. The UK‑based platform ships to over 90 countries, producing each record in 10‑15 days using an eco‑friendly...
When No Two Spines Are Alike: Inside the First AI-Designed Cervical Implant
UC San Diego Health performed the world’s first fully personalized anterior cervical spine implant, combining high‑resolution imaging, AI‑driven design, and titanium 3D printing. The AI algorithm generated a patient‑specific geometry that matches the vertebral endplates, restores natural lordosis, and optimizes...
How iRobot’s Supply Chain Became Its Last Resort
iRobot, the pioneer of consumer robotics, saw its revenue peak at $1.56 billion in 2021 before facing intense price competition from low‑cost Chinese rivals. In August 2022 Amazon announced a $1.7 billion cash offer to acquire iRobot, aiming to integrate Roomba’s home‑mapping...
SOLen 3D Printed Soft Optical Sensor For Mechanosensing
Researchers unveiled SOLen, a fully 3D‑printed soft optical sensor that embeds a miniature lens to guide light through an elastomeric waveguide for mechanosensing. By routing light internally, the device measures pressure, stretch and shear without metal traces, reducing drift, hysteresis...
A Sustainable Fibre System that Would Not Have a Cost to Our Planet
During a plant visit, Sylka Carpets discovered massive post‑consumer carpet waste—400,000 tons landfilled in the UK and over 1.8 million tons in the US. In response, its R&D team spent two years creating EcoSylk®, a fiber that separates carpet into polypropylene, calcium and...
Problems With Legacy DCS
Legacy distributed control systems (DCS) are reaching end‑of‑life, leaving plant operators without vendor‑supported upgrades. ABB and Schneider Electric have announced migration toolkits, but the announcements lack concrete technical detail. Industry experts, including John Rezabek, are urging the adoption of Open...