U.S. Army Selects Windchill for Product Data Management
PTC’s Windchill platform has been selected as the U.S. Army’s official product data management and PLM solution. The ePDM system will serve as the Army’s system of record for lifecycle data, workflows, and configuration management under the Department of the Army Approved Data Platform designation. Led by DEVCOM, the initiative aims to modernize the Army’s PLM environment, improve data governance, reduce redundancy, and strengthen cybersecurity across weapon‑system development and sustainment. Windchill’s tools will extend engineering data use throughout the enterprise, supporting compliance and complexity management.
Vallarpadam Loses Transhipment Cargo Share to Newcomer Vizhinjam
DP World‑operated Vallarpadam terminal at Cochin saw transhipment volumes plunge 49% year‑on‑year to 85,911 TEU in FY 2025‑26, cutting total throughput to 767,948 TEU. In contrast, Adani‑run Vizhinjam, which opened in December 2024, handled 1.3 million TEU, surpassing its 1 million TEU design capacity....
Reborn Chinese Shipyard Secures Debut Order From Domestic Start-Up
China’s revitalised shipbuilder Tianjin Haiyu has secured its first contract, delivering two 353,147‑cubic‑foot refrigerated vessels for domestic start‑up Chishan Group’s Shandong Fuerdon plant. The order, reported by Clarksons, marks the yard’s debut in commercial production after a recent restructuring. The...
How a Robot (Sort of) Made Me Lunch
London startup Kaikaku AI is piloting a food‑assembly robot called Fusion at a poke‑bowl shop, backed by $1.8 million in funding. The machine automatically dispenses vegetables, sauces and raw salmon into a bowl, while a human adds rice and final seasoning....
AEM Report: Canada’s Equipment Manufacturing Industry Proving Resilient Amid Economic Headwinds
The Association of Equipment Manufacturers’ triennial report shows Canada’s off‑highway equipment sector generated roughly $40 billion USD in sales in 2025, an 11% increase over 2022, and supported 147,000 jobs. Employment grew 3.3% year‑over‑year, with direct wages averaging about $75,000 USD—30%...
DesignX: OS and AI Layer for Factory Decisions
DesignX introduced Df-OS, a no‑code Digital Factory Operating System, and Vish.ai, an AI reasoning layer that turn raw factory data into actionable decisions. The platform sits above existing ERP, MES and IoT tools, structuring process information and applying real‑time insights...
Hunan Yuneng Plans Cathode Material Factory in Spain
Chinese battery material maker Hunan Yuneng announced a €800 million ($872 million) investment to build a lithium‑iron‑phosphate (LFP) cathode plant in Mérida, Spain. The first phase will cost €125 million ($136 million) and deliver 50,000 tonnes of cathode material annually, with a later expansion to...
Keysight Adds PCIe 7.0 Receiver Test Application
Keysight Technologies announced a new PCIe 7.0 receiver (RX) test application that extends its PCIe 7.0 portfolio to cover end‑to‑end transmitter and receiver validation. The solution pairs the M8050A BERT system with the M8042A pattern generator, M8043A error analyzer, and N5991PB7A automation...
Winchester Ammo Q1 Profits Slide on Pricing Pressures
Olin Corp.'s Winchester ammunition segment saw Q1 earnings drop 33.3% to $15.2 million, driven by higher commodity metal and operating costs. Despite the profit decline, segment sales rose 21.3% to $470.5 million, helped by stronger commercial ammunition pricing and military project revenue....
ROBOTERA Raises USD 200 Million To Scale Global Robotics Expansion
ROBOTERA announced a $200 million funding round led by SF Group, exceeding its original target and following a prior RMB 1 billion (~$140 million) strategic raise. The capital will fund production scaling, engineering for next‑gen models, and global market expansion. The company now has...
Toyota Takes US$4.3bn Iran Hit as Disruptions Batter Industry
Toyota warned that the Iran‑Israel conflict will cost it about $4.3 billion in the current fiscal year, driven by higher aluminium, resin and rubber prices and logistics delays. The automaker is absorbing these cost spikes across its supplier network, further squeezing...
P&G Shifts Supply Chain 3.0, Other Platforms Into Large-Scale Rollout
Procter & Gamble has moved its Supply Chain 3.0 program from pilot to company‑wide rollout, deploying automation across warehouses and manufacturing sites. The initiative, launched in 2023, targets up to $1.5 billion in cost‑of‑goods‑sold savings and 98% product availability by 2030. Technologies...
Nikon AM Synergy Secures New DLA Supply Chain Contract
The U.S. Defense Logistics Agency awarded Nikon AM Synergy a contract under the JAMA IV IDIQ Pilot Parts Program, making the firm a direct additive‑manufacturing supplier for defense components. The pilot will test whether 3‑D printed parts can replace traditional production...
Asia-Europe Shippers Eye Multimodal Routes as Airfreight Costs Soar
Rising air‑freight rates—up 41% year‑over‑year to $5.14 per kilogram—and prolonged ocean delays from Red Sea disruptions have prompted Asia‑Pacific shippers to test sea‑air routes via the U.S. West Coast for Europe. Forwarders such as Dimerco and DHL Global Forwarding now...
Construction Equipment Sales Dip 2% in FY26 Despite 32% Export Surge: ICEMA
India's construction equipment sector saw a modest 2% decline in total dispatches in FY2025‑26, falling to 136,995 units from 140,191 the year before. Domestic sales slipped 7% to 113,229 units, reflecting slower infrastructure execution, land‑acquisition bottlenecks, and tighter contractor liquidity....
Middle East: More Air Freight Activity as Fuel Surcharges Ease, Says DHL
DHL Global Forwarding reports that Middle East air‑freight activity is stabilising as airline fuel surcharges begin to ease. Capacity is expanding and rates are softening, though they remain above pre‑crisis levels. DHL has restored intercontinental flights to Bahrain, Dubai, Qatar...
Transport Costs Jump 20% in Cambodia Clothing, Textile Sector Due to Oil Crisis
Transport costs in Cambodia’s clothing and textile sector have surged by roughly 20% as diesel prices spike amid an oil crisis that has tightened Gulf fuel supplies. The increase threatens profit margins for manufacturers and could push garment prices higher...
More Federal Funding for Oregon Container Port — and It’s Not in Portland
The U.S. Maritime Administration has awarded an $11.25 million grant to the Oregon International Port of Coos Bay for its Pacific Coast Intermodal Port (PCIP) project, a proposed ship‑to‑rail container hub 200 miles south of Portland. The state has already committed $100 million...
New Toolkit Addresses AI Adoption in Manufacturing for UK SMEs
Made Smarter has released a new AI adoption toolkit for UK manufacturing SMEs. The guide promotes a task‑first, “Scan, Pilot, Scale” approach to help firms identify low‑value tasks, test AI solutions, and expand only when proven. It includes real‑world case...
INTRATOMICS, TAQA Water Solutions and MAGMA Sign MoU for Pilot Study Converting Abu Dhabi’s Biosolids Into Graphene
INTRATOMICS Advanced Material Technologies has signed an MoU with TAQA Water Solutions and MAGMA to pilot the conversion of wastewater biosolids into graphene using its STRAT WX Reactor and Instant Volumetric Conversion technology. The pilot, based at INTRATOMICS’ 2DWORKS facility in...
Sony, TSMC Agree to Cooperate on Next-Generation Image Sensor Development
Sony Semiconductor Solutions and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. announced a joint venture to develop and produce next‑generation image sensors at Sony's new plant in Kumamoto, Japan. Sony will hold a majority stake, leveraging its sensor design expertise while TSMC contributes...
Brain Corp Reports Strong Results From AI-Powered Shelf-Scanning Robots at Czech Retailer Albert
Brain Corp announced that its AI‑powered shelf‑scanning robots delivered high‑90% accuracy for Albert, the Czech Ahold Delhaize retailer operating 350 stores. The robots outperformed the 90% accuracy benchmark and continued to improve as they learned from each scan. By automatically identifying...
Rocsys Launches ‘Next-Generation’ Hands-Free Charging System for Heavy-Duty Electric Fleets
Rocsys has introduced the S2, its next‑generation hands‑free charging system for heavy‑duty electric fleets, now available for ports, distribution hubs and logistics facilities. The first unit has been delivered to a large‑scale port customer, and the solution comes in a...
Tariffs and Geopolitical Disruption Reshape Global Pharma Supply Chains
The U.S. administration has introduced tariffs on imported pharmaceuticals and their ingredients, reshaping trade rules and encouraging on‑shoring of drug manufacturing. The policy couples incentives with pricing agreements, prompting companies to invest tens of billions in expanding domestic production. Simultaneously,...
JEC Composites Magazine N°168: An Overview of the Latest Trends in the Composites Market
JEC Composites Magazine issue 168 spotlights the latest global trends in the composites market, covering Europe, the United States, China and India across aerospace, automotive, defence, energy and construction sectors. The edition highlights two dominant themes: sustainability—ranging from natural fibres to...
EU Pulp Mills Face Multi-Billion Carbon Shift as Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Emerges
EU pulp mills that have decarbonised by switching to biomass have built up a €4.5 billion (≈$4.9 billion) surplus of free EU ETS allowances, turning the carbon market into a revenue stream. A new EU rule effective Jan 1 2026 removes plants with more...
Inside Torc Robotics: How Autonomous Trucking Is Moving Toward Commercial Reality
Torc Robotics, a veteran autonomous‑driving firm founded in 2005, is advancing Level 4 self‑driving trucks on the Freightliner Cascadia platform in partnership with Daimler. The company has broadened public‑road testing to Texas, Virginia and Michigan, gathering data across diverse weather and...
Danone to Close US Dairy-Alternatives Factory
Danone announced it will shut its Bridgeton, New Jersey dairy‑alternatives factory on August 4, eliminating about 114 jobs. Production of Silk and So Delicious Dairy Free drinks will be moved to three existing plants in Virginia, Texas and Florida. The closure...
Hyundai Mobis Unveils New 160-kW Electric Drive System for BEVs
Hyundai Mobis unveiled a new 160‑kW (215 hp) Power Electric drive system for battery‑electric vehicles, marking its first fully in‑house developed drivetrain. The system combines a motor, inverter and reduction gear in a modular architecture that can be shared with its...
Rolls-Royce Wants to Cut Mining's Biggest Fuel Bill by 30%
Rolls‑Royce Power Systems is developing a hybrid drive system for open‑pit mining haul trucks that could cut fuel consumption by roughly 30%. The company plans to start field testing the technology at an active mine site in autumn 2026. If...
To Circumvent Trade Barriers, China’s WAM Opens a Factory in Hungary
China’s leading epoxy resin maker Wells Advanced Materials (WAM) has launched its Hungarian subsidiary after acquiring 85% of a local firm in December 2025. The new plant serves as a European production hub, offering localized manufacturing, technology transfer, and a...
Europe’s Second Chance: The Rise of a New Battery Ecosystem
Europe’s battery strategy is rebounding after Northvolt’s collapse, pivoting to a modular ecosystem of specialised scale‑ups. Companies such as Cylib, tozero and R3 Robotics are tackling recycling and end‑of‑life dismantling, collectively raising over $220 million to close material loops. Manufacturing innovators...
Aixtron Supplies Planetary G5+C MOCVD Systems to Renesas
Aixtron SE has delivered multiple Planetary G5+C metal‑organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) systems to Renesas Electronics, expanding the Japanese firm’s gallium nitride (GaN) production capacity for high‑volume manufacturing. The equipment, already operational, supports Renesas’ push into power‑dense applications such as...
Mitsubishi Reins in 2026/27 Guidance Due to Middle East War
Mitsubishi Motors announced it is lowering its 2026/27 earnings guidance as the ongoing Middle East conflict threatens material and logistics costs. The company posted a net profit of ¥21.2 bn (about $152 m) for 2025/26, a 58.2% drop from the prior year....
ABB to Power Novada Cements New Florida Facility
Novada Cement, part of the Medcem Group, is building its first U.S. plant in Tampa Bay, Florida, with a capacity of over 600,000 t of cement per year. The company has partnered with ABB to install electrification, automation and drive technologies,...
EU Commissioner Visits Ecocem Dunkirk Plant
EU Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra toured Ecocem’s flagship low‑carbon cement plant in Dunkirk, underscoring the sector’s role in Europe’s climate agenda. Ecocem is injecting €50 million (≈$55 million) to expand its ACT technology, which can cut CO₂ emissions by up to 70 percent. The...
ECO Material Technologies to Launch New Pilot Plant and Test Lab
ECO Material Technologies is opening a 16,400‑sq‑ft pilot plant and testing laboratory in Georgia. The facility integrates pilot‑scale production with advanced material characterization to develop high‑performance cementitious products, including supplementary cementitious materials such as harvested ash and natural pozzolans. By...
Loesche to Supply Slag Grinding Plant for Ferro Duo SCM Project in Germany
Loesche has won a contract from Ferro Duo GmbH to supply a slag‑grinding plant for a new supplementary cementitious material (SCM) production hub in Duisburg, Germany. The plant will feature a Loesche vertical roller mill with an LSKS dynamic classifier,...
Loadquip Salt Harvester for Mardie
Loadquip, an Australian OEM, has delivered a 1,500‑tonne‑per‑hour salt harvester to BCI Mineral for its Mardie operation on the Pilbara coast. The machine moves across salt ponds, scoops bulk salt and directly loads it onto trailers, automating a task traditionally...
Loadquip Salt Harvester for Mardie
Loadquip, a Queensland OEM, has engineered a 1,500‑tonne‑per‑hour salt harvester for BCI Mineral’s Mardie operation on the Pilbara coast. The mobile system traverses evaporation ponds, scoops salt, and directly loads it onto trailers, streamlining the logistics chain. Designed for continuous...
Chip Industry Week In Review
The chip industry is seeing massive new investments, from ASE and WUS’s $1.1 billion advanced‑packaging hub in Taiwan to SpaceX’s proposed "Terafab" semiconductor complex in Texas that could total up to $119 billion. Apple is quietly discussing U.S. production of its main...
Türkiye Will Use Solar Energy to Manufacture Freight Railcars
Turkey’s state‑owned TÜRASAŞ will power its new freight‑car factory in Sivas with a 4.5 million kWh solar plant, enabling the production of strategic railcars such as tank transporters and fuel‑supply units. The solar facility will meet the entire campus electricity demand, mirroring...
German Industry Worsens as Middle East War Takes Its Toll
German industrial production contracted 0.7% month‑on‑month in March, extending a four‑month slump and pulling first‑quarter output more than 1% below the previous quarter. The decline was driven by weaker manufacturing, while construction showed a modest rebound. Export growth slowed to...
CMAN Drives Regional Expansion Plan Amid Global Supply Chain Disruption
Chememan Public Co. (CMAN), a top‑10 global lime producer, posted a record 2025 net profit of about $9.8 million and approved a $3.9 million dividend. To offset soaring energy and logistics costs, the firm will have electric trucks comprise 50% of its...
Du and Al Gharbia Pipe Company Partner to Advance Industrial AI Vision Technology
du, the UAE’s leading telecom and digital services provider, has partnered with Al Gharbia Pipe Company (AGPC) to roll out a co‑developed Industrial AI Vision Platform across AGPC’s steel‑pipe manufacturing sites. The solution leverages AI‑driven quality inspection, real‑time dashboards, visual...
Vauxhall to Launch New SUV Developed with Leapmotor
Vauxhall (Opel) will co‑develop and launch a new electric C‑segment SUV with Chinese EV start‑up Leapmotor, targeting an early 2028 debut. The model will combine Leapmotor’s core electric architecture with Vauxhall‑engineered design, chassis and interior experience, and will be assembled...
Meat Processing Robots Have a People Problem: This Program Is Addressing It
Australia’s red‑meat processing sector is pouring millions of dollars into robotics and artificial intelligence, yet operators worry about who will install, service, and repair the sophisticated equipment. To pre‑empt a looming skills shortage, the Australian Meat Processor Corporation (AMPC) has...
Hexagon’s APOLLO Saves Time and Money With Predictive Metrology
Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence unveiled APOLLO, a predictive metrology platform that monitors coordinate‑measuring machines in real time. The system flags collisions, scores their criticality, and predicts when devices will drift out of spec, enabling pre‑emptive calibrations. By breaking down overall equipment...
When Metrology Meets Its Next Generation
The Coordinate Metrology Society Conference (CMSC) will run July 20‑24, 2026 at the Fairmont Dallas, marking the next gathering of the world’s leading 3D measurement professionals. At the 41st CMSC in Reno, the CMS Foundation invited more than 20 local teenagers to...
Delta Electronics Showcases Advance Semiconductor Packaging Solutions at SEMICON SEA 2026
Delta Electronics used SEMICON Southeast Asia 2026 to unveil a suite of AI‑enabled smart manufacturing solutions aimed at accelerating advanced semiconductor packaging. The showcase highlighted precision motion hardware such as the ASDA‑W3 multi‑axis servo and sub‑micron Linear Positioning Link, as...