Nulogy Launches ‘Manufacturing Operating System’
Nulogy introduced its Manufacturing Operating System (MOS), a unified cloud platform that consolidates production, quality, compliance and collaboration tools for manufacturers, contract packagers and 3PLs. The solution promises real‑time visibility and agility by linking disparate enterprise and point solutions on a shared data foundation. Early adopters report 97% inventory accuracy, 99% customer fill rates and a 12% lift in overall equipment effectiveness within nine months. High‑profile customers include Autoliv, DHL Supply Chain, MSI Express and Summit Packaging Solutions.
HP Indigo Adds Mobile Robots to Its Portfolio, Developed by MoviĜo Robotics
HP Indigo announced it will sell and support autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) developed by MoviĜo Robotics to its print‑industry customers. The robots handle B‑to‑pallets, postal pallets, carts and racks for both sheet‑fed and web‑press environments. The partnership introduces the Sharko 5 RT,...
West Asia Conflict : Plastics Manufacturers Raise Concerns About Polymer Price Hikes, Seek Survival Package for MSME Units
The All India Plastics Manufacturers Association (AIPMA) warned that polymer prices have surged 59% in just 11 days amid the West Asia conflict, threatening the viability of India’s plastic‑processing sector. Over 90% of the roughly 50,000 units in the industry...
Tiny Threads Stand in for Major Metal Coils in Heating Breakthrough
Rice University researchers have demonstrated that carbon nanotube (CNT) fiber heaters can replace traditional metal coils in high‑temperature gas heating. In laboratory tests, CNT thread arrays delivered higher specific power loadings and survived harsh gas streams better than metal alloys....
Elon Musk Says His Chipmaking 'Terafab Project' Venture Will Launch in Seven Days — Musk's Latest Moonshot Multi-Billion Project Launches...
Elon Musk announced that his "Terafab Project" – a private chip‑making venture – will officially launch in seven days, on March 21, 2026. The effort is intended to supply Tesla, SpaceX and xAI with 100‑200 billion AI accelerators each year, a...
Borderlands Mexico: GM, Stellantis Drive Auto Exports to US in February
Mexico’s automotive sector produced 311,457 light vehicles in February, a 1.8% year‑over‑year decline, while exports slipped 4.4% to 247,945 units. General Motors and Stellantis remained the top exporters, with GM producing 69,652 vehicles and shipping 57,473, and Stellantis producing 40,865...
One of Britain’s Last Major Chemical Plants at Risk as Energy Prices Surge
Huntsman Corp. warned it will close its Teesside aniline plant if current gas prices persist for three months, citing the recent surge driven by the Iran conflict. The Wilton facility, employing about 80 workers, is one of the last remaining...
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Humanoid Robots Get to Work at German BMW Factory [Video]
BMW is extending its AI‑powered humanoid robot program from the Spartanburg plant to the Leipzig iFACTORY, deploying Hexagon’s AEON robots to assemble electric vehicles. The earlier Figure 02 robots helped position sheet metal for welding on more than 30,000 X3s, proving...
Elon Musk Says Tesla’s ‘Terafab’ AI Chip Manufacturing Project to Launch Next Week
Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that the company’s "Terafab" AI‑chip fab could go live within the next week, marking a rapid shift toward in‑house semiconductor production. The gigafactory is designed to churn out more than 100,000 wafer starts per month,...
Hettich Opens New Indore Plant; Eyes India as Key Global Manufacturing Hub
German furniture fittings leader Hettich inaugurated a 25,700 sq m automated undermount drawer‑runner plant in Indore, part of a roughly ₹2,000 crore investment in India. The new Quadro facility adds an annual capacity of about 5 million drawer runners and complements an existing hinge...
Chip Material Prices Double as Middle East Conflict Compounds China's Existing Gallium Export Ban — Wide Range of Materials for...
Prices for key compound‑semiconductor metals have surged, with tungsten, tantalum and molybdenum doubling and gallium climbing 123% to $2,100 per kilogram. The spike follows China’s late‑2024 gallium export ban to the United States and is amplified by the Middle East...
TCT Asia 2026 Now Returns to Shanghai Bigger Than Ever
TCT Asia 2026 returns to Shanghai’s National Exhibition and Convention Center with 550 exhibitors spread across 55,000 sq m, targeting more than 40,000 visitors from March 16‑19. The event reflects a booming additive‑manufacturing market valued at $20.24 bn in 2024 and projected to reach $56.21 bn...
Zeno Raises $25m to Scale up Motorbike Production
Zeno, an electric‑motorbike startup operating in Kenya and Uganda, secured $25 million in Series A financing—$20.5 million in equity led by Congruent Ventures and $4.5 million in debt from Camber Road and Trifecta Capital. The capital will expand its weekly output of 70‑80 Emara...
India: Strengthening Advanced and Additive Manufacturing
India is accelerating its smart manufacturing agenda by pairing advanced and additive manufacturing initiatives. High‑level forums in March 2026 produced the National Additive Manufacturing Symposium and a Prime Minister’s Science, Technology & Innovation Advisory Council meeting, unveiling the Additive Manufacturing...
Some BEAD Winners Seeing Tight Fiber Market
Rural broadband providers participating in the $42.45 billion BEAD program are encountering unexpected cancellations of orders for Build America, Buy America‑compliant fiber. Prices for BABA‑qualified cable have surged roughly 40 percent, straining project budgets and timelines. Manufacturers such as Corning cite...
Contour Grinding Services: Precision Finishing for Complex Metal Components
Contour grinding services provide precision shaping of intricate metal components, delivering micron‑level tolerances and smooth finishes. Advanced CNC‑controlled grinding machines and skilled technicians enable manufacturers to meet strict engineering specs across automotive, aerospace, medical, and tooling sectors. Providers like Composidie...
Western Star Retires 57X in Sharpening Vocational Focus
Western Star will cease production of its 57X on‑highway tractor in 2025, redirecting resources toward its growing vocational X Series. The move reflects Daimler Truck North America’s strategy to capture a larger share of the heavy‑duty vocational market, where the...
After Trump Photo Op, CMA CGM Will Re-Flag 30 Ships in France
CMA CGM announced it will re‑flag ten 24,000‑TEU vessels under the French flag starting in 2026, boosting its home‑registered fleet by 30% to 40 ships. The decision follows CEO Rodolphe Saade’s 2025 Oval Office appearance with President Trump, where a...
Advanced MES Capabilities for Scalable, High-Quality Solar Cell and Module Manufacturing
Kontron AIS unveiled new FabEagleMES capabilities aimed at high‑volume photovoltaic cell and module production. The suite adds configurable material‑flow routing, real‑time defect analytics, long‑term data‑lake storage, an enhanced web client with role‑based dashboards, and a REST API for seamless machine...
CPG Supply Chain Digital Transformation: What’s Working in 2026 and What’s Still Theory
CPG food manufacturers are midway through digital transformation, with foundational projects delivering measurable gains while advanced AI and autonomous supply chains lag. Real‑time production and warehouse visibility, clean‑data AI demand forecasting, and digital traceability are showing up to 20% output...
New Technology Promises to Protect Farmers From the Next Fertilizer Shock
Geopolitical turmoil, especially the Iran war, has halted urea production in Qatar and disrupted key shipping routes, driving U.S. nitrogen prices up over 20 % as farmers brace for spring planting. The crisis has revived interest in decentralized fertilizer technologies that...
Travis Kalanick Debuts Plan for ‘Gainfully Employed Robots’
Travis Kalanick, Uber co‑founder, has unveiled Atoms, a rebranded version of his real‑estate firm City Storage Systems. Atoms will develop “gainfully employed robots” for the food, mining and transport sectors, leveraging CloudKitchens’ ghost‑kitchen platform. The venture expands beyond culinary automation...
AMC Robotics and HIVE Announce Collaboration to Advance AI-Driven Robotics Compute Infrastructure
AMC Robotics (NASDAQ: AMCI) announced a strategic collaboration with HIVE Digital Technologies (TSXV: HIVE) to use HIVE’s GPU‑accelerated AI compute infrastructure for its expanding robotics development. The partnership already powers the Kyro™ quadruped robot, demonstrated at the Tokyo Security Show...
Ocean Carriers Employ Effective Capacity Management Despite Market Volatility
Ocean carriers have demonstrated effective capacity management by maintaining stable vessel utilization despite sharply volatile demand. The practice dates back to the 2008‑09 financial crisis when carriers laid up roughly 10% of global tonnage to rebalance supply. A recent Maersk...
Ukraine Wants to Reinforce Its Cooperation with Europe in the Aerospace Industry
A delegation of 15 Ukrainian aerospace and unmanned‑systems leaders attended JEC World 2026 to pitch deeper European cooperation on composite materials. Ukraine, already skilled in aerospace and rocketry, now produces 4‑4.5 million drones a year and seeks dual‑use technology that serves...
Siemens Mitras Plant Cuts Energy Use 40%, Earns LEED Platinum
Siemens’ Mitras plant in Nuevo León, Mexico, earned LEED Platinum certification, the first industrial building in the country to achieve this level under LEED v4. The 201,285‑square‑foot facility, opened in 2024, produces low‑voltage electrical components and uses advanced automation and...
Editorial: Economic Headwinds Buffet Industrial Chemists
Shintech, a unit of Shin‑Etsu, announced a $3.4 billion expansion of PVC capacity in Louisiana, underscoring the U.S. chemical sector’s reliance on cheap energy. At the same time, two smaller specialty‑chemical plants—VanDeMark in New York and PMC Biogenix in Tennessee—filed WARN notices, eliminating...
The Hydrogen Stream: Atome Secures $420 Million Debt for Paraguay Plant
Atome secured a $420 million debt package to fund a $650 million low‑carbon fertilizer plant in Paraguay, targeting 260,000 tonnes of output per year and marking one of the first industrial‑scale green‑hydrogen fertilizer projects outside the EU. Meanwhile, Asahi Kasei began installing a 1 MW...
Chinese PV Industry Brief: Wafer Prices Fall on Weak Demand
The China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association reported that polysilicon and wafer prices fell sharply this week, with n‑type re‑feed and dense polysilicon down about 6.4% to CNY 45,200 per tonne. Wafer prices slipped as well, with G10L at CNY 1.03, G12R at...
ABB Robotics Survey Shows EV Confidence as Production Shifts From Disruption to Delivery
ABB Robotics' Automotive Manufacturing Outlook Survey shows manufacturers worldwide are gaining confidence in scaling electric vehicle production. Respondents report faster, more stable assembly, with 51% finding EVs easier to build and 41% seeing cost reductions. Investment in autonomous, versatile robotics...
Avianca Eyes Caracas, MSC Adds a 777F, SF Brings in a 747, Board Shuffle at One Air
Avianca Cargo inaugurated a weekly A330 freighter service between Bogotá and Caracas, adding 60 tonnes of capacity and supplementing it with passenger belly space. MSC Air Cargo took delivery of its seventh Boeing 777F, named Castor, to expand its Europe‑Asia...
Sigenergy Unveils 166 kW Inverter for C&I Solar
Chinese solar equipment maker Sigenergy has introduced a 166 kW IP66‑rated inverter aimed at commercial and industrial (C&I) solar projects. The unit features nine MPPT trackers, a peak efficiency of 98.7%, and flexible three‑phase AC outputs up to 480 V, while tolerating...
Why Physical AI Is Becoming Manufacturing’s Next Advantage
Manufacturers are moving beyond traditional automation toward physical AI—systems that can sense, reason, and act in real‑world factory settings. The shift emphasizes intelligence and trust rather than mere cost‑cutting, positioning AI as a collaborative teammate for human operators. Microsoft and...
Following Congressional Rebuke, Air Force Awards E-7 Contracts
The U.S. Air Force awarded Boeing two sole‑source contracts— a $2.3 billion option and a $99.3 million radar‑source modification— pushing the E‑7 Wedgetail program’s total value above $5 billion. The awards implement the FY 2026 Consolidated Appropriations Act, which directed the service to continue...
AFD Systems Explores AM Polymer Options for ORCA Subsea Cabin Fit-Outs
AFD Systems has teamed with marine specialist ORCA to design advanced subsea cabin fit‑outs using additive‑manufactured polymer components. The joint venture will conduct rigorous material‑processing tests, focusing on carbon‑fiber‑reinforced polymers, to prove durability in harsh underwater conditions. Successful validation will...
Mitsubishi Fuso Sets up Global Engineering Hub in India
Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation has inaugurated the Fuso Tech Centre India (FTCI) in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, creating a 2,847 m² global engineering hub. The centre consolidates product development, cost engineering, IT, digital solutions and procurement under one roof, and features...
JEC World 2026: Wacker Presented New High-Performance Additives for Composites
At JEC World 2026, Wacker unveiled two silicone‑based impact modifiers, Genioperl W37 and W38, designed to enhance the toughness of thermosetting resins such as epoxies and vinyl esters. The additives create nanoscale elastomeric domains that improve shock resistance, especially at low...
What Is Dictating Solar Module Price Increases?
Solar module price growth is now driven primarily by five cost pillars: silver paste, polysilicon, glass, aluminium, and energy‑water inputs. Silver paste remains the largest single expense, with record‑high silver prices in early 2026 inflating cell costs. Polysilicon, accounting for...
TNO and High Tech Campus Eindhoven Begin Construction of First 6-Inch Indium Phosphide Photonic Chip Foundry
TNO and High Tech Campus Eindhoven have broken ground on what will be the world’s first 6‑inch indium phosphide photonic chip foundry, a €150 million project funded under the European Chips Act and inaugurated by EU and Dutch ministers. The pilot...
Robotic Arms in Modern Industry: How Automated Gripping Systems Are Changing Production
Robotic gripping arms are becoming standard fixtures on modern production lines, delivering repeatable precision for tasks such as milling, drilling, and component placement. Sensors and encoders monitor every movement, eliminating the variability of manual handling. The technology now spans automotive...
Ongoing Tariffs, Iran War Weigh on Aluminum Prices
U.S. Section 232 tariffs on aluminum and tinplate steel remain at 50%, despite a Supreme Court ruling that struck down broader trade measures. The Midwest Premium for aluminum broke the $1‑per‑pound barrier in January 2026, pushing input costs for metal‑packaging producers...
Xinjiang Textile Production Surging, Official Claims
Xinjiang’s textile sector reported a sharp expansion in 2025, with yarn output climbing 20% and fabric production jumping 36%. The surge generated roughly 46,800 new jobs, according to senior regional official Wang Kuiran. The growth occurred despite ongoing U.S.-led sanctions...
CW Issues Call for Speakers for Carbon Fiber 2026
CompositesWorld and Gardner Business Media have opened abstract submissions for the Carbon Fiber 2026 conference, scheduled for November 10‑12 in Huntsville, Alabama. The call seeks presentations covering aerospace, defense, hypersonics, space, advanced air mobility, as well as industrial sectors such...
MODEX 2026: Q&A with MHI CEO John Paxton
MODEX 2026, the premier supply‑chain expo in Atlanta, will host over 1,060 exhibitors and more than 50,000 registered attendees, marking an 8% increase in physical footprint to 630,000 square feet. CEO John Paxton of MHI highlighted record growth as a...
Solidigm Strikes Out in New AI Computer Vision Direction
Solidigm, traditionally a NAND fabber and SSD supplier, has launched Luceta, a generative‑AI computer‑vision platform aimed at manufacturing inspection. The software lets customers create and train models in weeks, achieving over 90 percent precision and enabling rapid edge deployment. While Luceta...
Zuken Releases Harness Builder 2026 for Harness Manufacturing
Zuken USA launched Harness Builder 2026, its newest wire‑harness manufacturing suite, adding live cost estimation, enhanced BOM management, and shop‑floor documentation tools. The Cost Estimator now pulls real‑time pricing and availability from TrustedParts.com, while DS‑E3 integration centralises production BOM data...
Rise Baking Expands US Plant, Closes Another
Rise Baking announced a 115,000 sq ft expansion of its Pleasant View, Utah facility, boosting total space to over 257,000 sq ft and creating roughly 170 new jobs. The upgrade adds infrastructure improvements such as wastewater management and energy‑efficiency measures, supporting higher pie production...
Former Hearthside Business Maker’s Pride to Close Two US Plants
Maker’s Pride, the contract manufacturer spun out of Hearthside Food Solutions' Chapter 11, announced it will shut its Salt Lake City, Utah and Shakopee, Minnesota facilities in the third quarter. The closures follow a 2024 restructuring that erased roughly $2 bn of...
AI Chips Are Pushing Everything Else Off TSMC's Most Advanced Production Lines
AI accelerators are set to dominate TSMC's most advanced N3 production line, with 86% of capacity earmarked for AI chips by 2027. Utilization is projected to exceed 100% in the second half of 2026, highlighting a severe capacity shortfall. TSMC’s...
High-Density Thick Film Substrates
Remtec announced its high‑density thick‑film multilayer ceramic substrates, targeting military, avionics, space and industrial markets. The product line offers 6‑8 conductor layers on alumina, aluminum nitride or beryllia, with either gold or low‑cost silver interconnects delivering 1‑3 mΩ/sq conductivity. Features include...