Bambu Lab Discontinues the X1 Series After Four Years on the Market
Bambu Lab announced that production of its X1, X1 Carbon, and X1E 3D printers will cease on March 31, 2026, with after‑sales support guaranteed until March 2031. The X1 series, launched in 2022 via a $7 million Kickstarter, reshaped desktop printing by popularizing CoreXY architecture, enclosed chambers, and AI‑driven calibration. Simultaneously, the company unveiled the X2D, a $649 dual‑nozzle printer that promises easier post‑processing. The move mirrors a broader industry pattern of retiring proven lines to fast‑track newer technology.
AMT and GreatAmerica Turn Vapor Smoothing Into a Monthly Subscription
AMT and GreatAmerica have launched a bundled subscription for the PostPro SFX vapor‑smoothing system, charging North American manufacturers $999 per month. The all‑inclusive fee covers hardware, shipping, consumables, warranty and import duties, eliminating upfront capital outlay. The service is fulfilled from...
Scrap Labs Debuts Scrap 1 Metal 3D Printer at RMRRF 2026
Scrap Labs unveiled the Scrap 1, a low‑cost Laser Powder Bed Fusion metal 3D printer, at the Rocky Mountain RepRap Festival 2026. The kit is priced at $9,600 for a limited launch period, increasing to $14,200 after April 30, 2026, with fully assembled units...
SLICED: Latest News From the 3D Printing Industry
The additive‑manufacturing ecosystem saw several strategic moves in April. AMGTA promoted Michigan’s MTDG to Principal Member and added its CEO Dean Bartles to the board, while Materialise spun off its RapidFit division to sharpen its focus on software and medical...
Fincantieri to Upgrade PPA Vessels with Combat Systems
Italy’s shipbuilder Fincantieri has secured a contract with European procurement agency OCCAR to upgrade the PPA‑class multipurpose combat ships to a full combat system configuration. The deal, part of a temporary consortium with Leonardo, allocates roughly $73 million (about €62 million) to...
A Steady First Quarter, but Port of Rotterdam Waits for Hormuz Ripples
Rotterdam handled 103 million tonnes in Q1 2026, a modest 0.7% dip from the same period last year, reflecting stable container volumes but weaker dry‑bulk traffic. Container throughput rose 0.3% in TEU terms while tonnage fell 3.2% due to a surge...
Komatsu Hits Autonomous Milestone
Komatsu announced it has commissioned its 1,000th autonomous ultra‑class haul truck, cementing its role as a pioneer in driverless mining equipment. The milestone centers on the company’s 930E‑5 electric haul truck, which can transport a 290‑metric‑ton payload. By reaching this...
Seasoned Broker ACS Steps in on Urgent Condiment Shipment
Air Charter Service (ACS) stepped in to prevent a Nicaraguan meat‑product plant shutdown by chartering an Airbus A330‑200F to move 18 tons of seasoning from Mexico. The client initially sought a next‑flight‑out (NFO) service, but ACS proposed a single 51‑ton charter...
What Does Trump’s Wartime Powers Flex Mean for Transformers and Other Grid Equipment Shortages?
President Donald Trump issued five Defense Production Act (DPA) determinations aimed at expanding domestic production of power‑grid equipment and fossil‑fuel infrastructure. The memo highlights severe shortages of transformers, high‑voltage components and other critical hardware, with backlogs now exceeding a year....
Ajinomoto Creates New Tech to Replace One of Cultivated Meat’s Most Expensive Components
Japanese food conglomerate Ajinomoto has engineered a plant‑derived hinokitiol compound to replace transferrin, the most expensive ingredient in cultivated‑meat culture media. Transferrin accounts for roughly 95% of media costs, so the new iron‑binding molecule could slash production expenses dramatically. Hinokitiol...
Accenture, Vodafone and SAP Pilot Humanoid Robotics in Warehouse Operations
Accenture, SAP and Vodafone Procure & Connect launched a pilot in Duisburg, Germany, deploying humanoid robots powered by Accenture’s “Robot Brain.” The bots were first trained in a digital twin of the warehouse using Nvidia‑backed simulation tools, then tasked with...
Storm Warning? Rivian's Real Test Is Not a Tornado
An EF‑1 tornado struck Rivian’s Normal, Illinois plant on April 19, damaging a parts‑storage building but leaving the main assembly lines for the R1T and R1S untouched. The disruption was confined to logistics for the upcoming R2 SUV, and the...
The Japanese Composites Research Centre Joins the European Rebar Council
The Innovative Composite Materials Research and Development Center (ICC) in Japan has joined the European Rebar Council (ERC) as a partner organization, extending the council’s network into the Asia‑Pacific region. The partnership underscores the growing global acceptance of glass‑fibre‑reinforced polymer...
C-Infinity Raises $16M to Close the Gap Between Product Design and Production
C-Infinity, an AI-driven manufacturing process‑planning startup, closed a $16 million Series A led by Canaan Partners, with participation from Inventus Capital, Bee Partners and Radius Capital. Its AutoAssembler platform automates the translation of CAD models into factory‑ready assembly plans, cutting weeks‑long manual...
Dassault Systèmes and OMRON Partner on IT/OT
Dassault Systèmes and OMRON have teamed up to merge information technology with operational technology, creating a unified platform that links 3D design, simulation and real‑world automation. The partnership combines Dassault’s 3DEXPERIENCE suite with OMRON’s Sysmac industrial automation system to deliver...
AMD Taps GlobalFoundries for MI500 Photonics as It Advances CPO Design
AMD is developing a co‑packaged optics (CPO) version of its Instinct MI500 accelerator, using photonic integrated circuits fabricated by GlobalFoundries and multi‑chip‑module packaging from ASE. The CPO approach aims to boost bandwidth and cut power consumption by placing optical links directly...
Texas Instruments Interview: The Hidden Engineering Challenges Behind Humanoid Robots
Texas Instruments is positioning itself as a critical enabler for humanoid robots, leveraging its analog and embedded‑processing portfolio to deliver deterministic real‑time control, sensor‑fusion, power efficiency, and functional safety. German Aguirre identified three core gaps—robust perception, low‑latency control, and system‑level...
Indonesia Turns to Paper, Glass Packaging as Plastic Prices Climb
Indonesia’s Industry Ministry is urging food‑and‑beverage firms to replace costly plastic with paper, glass, metal and recycled PET as global plastic prices surge. The push is framed as both a cost‑saving measure and a sustainability drive, leveraging the country’s robust...
MSC Air Cargo Targets APAC Growth with Shanghai Station
MSC Air Cargo officially opened a dedicated station at Shanghai Pudong International Airport, cementing its push into the Asia‑Pacific market. The move follows a 2025 partnership with China‑based parcel leader SF Express and Shanghai Airport Authority Logistics Development Co. (AVINEX) to...
The Eames Pavilion System for Prefab Housing Launches in Milan, and Other News.
The Eames Office and Kettal unveiled the Eames Pavilion System at Milan Design Week, a modular prefabricated housing kit that blends aluminum frames with interchangeable glass, wood and composite panels for scalable, customizable homes. Taschen released a new monograph on...
Voronoi Diagram-Based Volume Decomposition and Overhang Control in Topology Optimization for Multi-Axis Additive Manufacturing
The study introduces a Voronoi diagram‑based partitioning method for topology optimization tailored to multi‑axis additive manufacturing. By using a Softmax‑Heaviside projection, the approach guarantees full domain coverage and stable partitions controlled by a few seed points. Overhang constraints are integrated...
Bosch Sampling Third-Generation SiC Chips to Global Automakers
Bosch has begun sampling its third‑generation silicon carbide (SiC) power chips to automakers worldwide. The new chips deliver about 20% higher performance while being significantly smaller, enabling more chips per wafer and lower costs. Bosch has invested roughly $3.3 billion in...
Shahi Scales Fibre52 Cotton Pretreatment
Shahi Exports, India’s largest apparel exporter, has teamed with US‑based Innovo Fiber to install the Fibre52 cotton pretreatment system across its integrated knit facilities. The rollout will cover roughly 3,000 tonnes of annual knit capacity, making it the biggest industrial‑scale deployment...
Volkswagen to Expand China-Made EV Exports to Emerging Markets
Volkswagen announced it will increase exports of electric vehicles built in China to emerging markets, leveraging lower production costs and locally developed technology. The plan follows a partnership with Xpeng and SAIC Motor to accelerate model development and comes as...
Aurrigo to Relocate Global Headquarters in Coventry
Aurrigo, the autonomous‑vehicle and mobile‑robotics firm, will move its global headquarters and core design and manufacturing centre to a new 130,000‑square‑foot campus at Power Park in Coventry. The site is more than three times larger than its current UK facility and...
US Steel Industry in Critical Window of Opportunity for Decarbonization Amid Upcoming Relines: RMI
The U.S. steel sector faces a pivotal decarbonization window as several blast furnaces approach costly reline deadlines before 2030, forcing capital choices that will lock in production pathways for decades. Direct‑reduced‑iron combined with electric‑arc furnace (DRI‑EAF) remains the preferred low‑carbon...
Polyester Recycling Trial Validated in Japan
Axens, France’s IFPEN and Japan’s JEPLAN have successfully validated a textile‑to‑textile polyester recycling process at a semi‑industrial demonstration unit in Japan. The pilot handled several tens of tonnes of post‑consumer, polyester‑rich European textile waste, proving the technology can depolymerize and...
South32 Pumps Aluminium Output to Seize High Prices
South32 is ramping up aluminium production to profit from a four‑year high LME price of $3,557 per tonne, driven by Middle East‑related supply disruptions. Its Hillside smelter in South Africa is operating near technical limits but still posted a 3%...
Norco and Xocean Produce an Uncrewed Surface Survey Vessel
Norco partnered with Xocean to fabricate the composite hull of a next‑generation uncrewed surface survey vessel, which has now been delivered. The vessel’s lightweight resin‑infused structure enhances performance and range, and a second unit is already completed with a third...
Airbus’ A350F Cargo Door Arrives with Test Flights Set for H2
Airbus received the 4.3‑metre main‑deck cargo door for its A350F freighter prototype in Toulouse on 21 April, and integration begins the next day. The door completes the last major hardware piece, clearing the path for first flight trials slated for September‑October...
Industrial Disruption and the New Energy Reality - Where AI Makes a Difference
Industrial leaders are confronting persistent geopolitical tension, energy price spikes, and supply‑chain volatility, prompting a shift from reactive tools to agentic AI that can anticipate and act on disruptions. The article argues that traditional record‑keeping systems are insufficient; instead, vertical...
Jeff Bezos’ Project Prometheus Nears $38 Billion Valuation, Targets Industrial AI and ERP-Linked Execution
Jeff Bezos’ Project Prometheus, a "physical AI" lab co‑led with former Google X scientist Vik Bajaj, is nearing a $10 billion funding round that values the venture at roughly $38 billion. Launched in November 2025 with $6.2 billion of initial capital, the startup...
Jatco Seeks New Work as Nissan Powertrain Plan Dropped
Jatco's Sunderland plant, opened in early 2025 with a £50 million (≈$63 m) investment and a £12 million (≈$15 m) government grant, was built to supply up to 340,000 electric powertrains a year for Nissan. Nissan has now scrapped its three‑in‑one electrified powertrain localisation...
Blueprint for a Robotic Workforce: Can the UK Close Its Automation Gap?
A panel of industry leaders in London highlighted the UK’s stark automation gap, noting robot density of just 104 units per 10,000 manufacturing workers—well below the G7 average. While the country boasts world‑class research, 74% of manufacturing SMEs still operate...
Vietnam Cement Production Rose 22% YoY in 1Q26
Vietnam’s cement sector posted a robust 22% year‑over‑year increase in the first quarter of 2026, delivering 18.29 Mt domestically and 28.32 Mt in total production. Exports surged 21% to 10.09 Mt, driven by strong demand from the United States, Singapore and the Philippines....
PSN Manufacturing Earns ISO 9001 and 13485 Certifications
PSN Manufacturing announced it has earned ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 13485:2016 certifications, confirming a robust quality management system for both general manufacturing and regulated medical‑device components. The company’s 100% climate‑controlled plant features a Class 8 cleanroom, a flexible molding floor for 50‑500 ton machines,...
Fresh From €10.3 Million Raise, Epoch Biodesign Unveils London Nylon 6,6 Biorecycling Facility
Epoch Biodesign, fresh from a €10.3 million (~$11.1 million) raise, announced the launch of Europe’s first and world’s largest nylon 6,6 biorecycling demonstration plant at Imperial College London’s Grapht Works. The low‑temperature, enzyme‑driven process can treat hundreds of tonnes of post‑consumer nylon waste...
Yaobai Cement Uganda Set for Grand Opening in Moroto
Yaobai Cement Uganda is set to inaugurate a $300 million, state‑of‑the‑art cement plant in Moroto, marking a major industrial investment in northern Uganda. The facility’s phase‑one will produce over 600,000 tonnes of clinker per day, positioning the region as a new...
Hong Kong Productivity Council Partners with Malaysian Manufacturers
Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) and the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturing (FMM) signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Kuala Lumpur on April 20, 2026, establishing a deep strategic partnership. The alliance will blend HKPC’s R&D strength with FMM’s network of...
Doors Open at Diageo’s US$415m Alabama Site
Diageo has opened a $415 million, 360,000‑square‑foot manufacturing and warehousing complex in Montgomery, Alabama, adding roughly 100 full‑time positions and supporting 750 construction jobs during build‑out. The plant, dubbed Diageo Montgomery, features high‑speed bottling lines, automated guided vehicles and electric boilers...
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Honor Expands Egyptian Factory to Produce 3M Smartphones
Honor announced the expansion of its Egyptian factory in the 10th Ramadan industrial city, boosting capacity to 3 million smartphones per year. The 8,000 m² site, Honor's first manufacturing footprint outside China, will host five production lines and two SMT lines and is...
TSV Complexity Leads To Manufacturing Bottleneck
Through‑silicon vias (TSVs) are essential for 3D stacking and high‑bandwidth memory, but shrinking dimensions are driving up fabrication cost and defect rates. The surge in AI demand has strained HBM and advanced‑assembly capacity, creating a bottleneck in the limited pool...
Epoch to Open World’s Largest Nylon Biorecycling Plant
Epoch Biodesign, a UK biotech specializing in enzymatic recycling, will launch the world’s largest nylon 6,6 biorecycling demonstration plant at Imperial College London’s Grapht Works hub. The facility, slated for the third quarter of 2026, aims to process hundreds of tonnes of...
Belzona Appoints Bosna Petroleum Company as Exclusive Distributor for Libya
Belzona, a global supplier of repair composites and protective coatings, has appointed Bosna Petroleum Company (BPC) as its exclusive distributor in Libya. BPC, which began using Belzona systems in 2023, now holds stock of the products, enabling faster delivery to...
Nordex Supply Chain More Resilient to Iran Conflict than Past Disruptions, Says CEO
Nordex, the German wind‑turbine manufacturer, says its supply chain is now more resilient to the Iran conflict than to earlier geopolitical shocks. CEO José Luis Blanco explained that lessons from past disruptions prompted a redesign of sourcing, logistics and inventory buffers. So...
Hyperion Lands Manufacturing Contract for Modular 3D-Printed Tiny Home
Hyperion Systems secured a contract with Little Castles Small Homes to produce a modular tiny home using recycled polymer feedstock and advanced additive manufacturing. The company will 3D‑print the core structure in about 48 hours at its Henderson facility, after...
South Korea Patents Method to Turn Wood Fibre Into Plastic Bottles
South Korea’s National Institute of Forest Science (NIFoS) has patented a ketone‑based solvent that extracts more than 90% of 5‑hydroxymethylfurfural (5‑HMF) from wood fibers. The continuous‑flow method replaces traditional batch extraction, cutting both cost and waste while preserving the compound...
SUSE Launches Industrial IoT Platform Based on Losant Acquisition
SUSE announced the launch of its Industrial Edge platform, built on the Losant acquisition, to provide protocol‑agnostic data collection for edge devices. The solution includes no‑code/low‑code workflow tools, dashboards and templates, simplifying implementation. SUSE also committed to open‑sourcing Losant’s core...
Linexa Closes €2M Pre-Seed to Advance AI-Driven Manufacturing
Munich‑based Linexa announced a €2 million (≈$2.2 million) pre‑seed round led by Project A, with several angel investors joining. The startup is building an AI‑driven platform that decodes legacy industrial automation across multiple vendors, turning opaque machine‑control logic into a unified data...
3D Vision Meets the Digital Thread in Next-Gen Aircraft Assembly
The German Aerospace Centre (DLR) unveiled a fully digital cabin‑assembly line that links CAD design directly to production via a continuous digital thread. An autonomous mobile robot carries a lightweight arm equipped with an IDS Ensenso N36 3D camera, which...