MODEX 2026: All AI, All the Time
At MODEX 2026, AI topped the MHI Annual Industry Report as the most disruptive technology for supply‑chain and logistics, with 70% of surveyed professionals expecting major impact within the next decade. Companies such as Carvana and Disney highlighted AI‑driven analytics and automation as core to their operations, while 28% still have no AI deployment. The survey also revealed that 56% plan to boost technology spending, yet unclear ROI and lack of concrete business cases remain the biggest adoption hurdles. A parallel trend shows the show’s growth prompting a second, west‑coast edition slated for 2028.
Global Fibers for Nonwovens Under Pressure as US-Israel-Iran Conflict Drives Costs, Affects Supply
The global market for fibers used in nonwovens faced sharp cost pressure in March as the US‑Israel‑Iran conflict disrupted feedstock supplies, especially through the Strait of Hormuz. Naphtha price spikes pushed polymer costs higher, leading to 4‑11% price gains for...
Veteran Ventures Capital Announces Investment in Hybron Technologies as Hybron Technologies Closes $25M Seed Round
Hybron Technologies announced the closing of an oversubscribed $25 million seed round on April 9, 2026, with Veteran Ventures Capital as a key investor. The U.S.-based firm develops lightweight composite materials for aerospace and defense, targeting components such as turbine blades, airframes, and...
Making Thermosets that Can Be Recycled 12 Times
Researchers at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology have created a modified epoxy thermoset that can be recycled up to 12 times using reversible Diels‑Alder bonds. By adding ethyl and methyl groups to the maleimide cross‑linker, they slowed...
New Tractor With 12-Valve Cummins and Zero Electronics Goes Back to the Basics
Ursa Ag, a Canadian startup, has launched a line of tractors powered by remanufactured 12‑valve Cummins engines that omit electronic controls. The 150‑hp, 180‑hp and 260‑hp models are priced at roughly $95,000, $110,000 and $146,000 USD, about half the cost...
5 Strategies for Accessing 70% of the Supply Chain Talent Market
Traditional recruiting for supply‑chain roles reaches only about 30% of the talent market, leaving roughly 70% of qualified professionals passive and invisible to job boards. Harvard Business School research identifies 27 million U.S. supply‑chain workers who are systematically overlooked. The article...
C&C Marine and Repair Celebrates Keel Laying for New Hybrid Escort Tug Quartet
C&C Marine and Repair held a keel‑laying ceremony in Belle Chasse, Louisiana, to launch a quartet of advanced hybrid escort tugs for Green Tug Towing, which will service Woodside Energy’s new LNG terminal. The new series joins an earlier four‑tug...
EASE Industry Group of MHI Announces Release of EASE 101 Document
The Ergonomics Assist Systems and Equipment (EASE) Council Industry Group of MHI has launched the free EASE 101 Document, a primer on industrial ergonomics. The guide explains core concepts, common risk factors such as force, posture and repetition, and links ergonomic...
Hexagon Helps Manufacturers Prepare and Verify CNC Programs Faster in the Latest EDGECAM Release
Hexagon’s Production Software Division unveiled a major update to its EDGECAM CAM platform, targeting faster CNC program verification and tighter shop‑floor collaboration. The release slashes simulation rewind times from roughly 30 seconds to about one second by storing tool‑change snapshots....
Handle with Care: Soft Robot Gripper Picks Ripe Fruit without Bruising
Cornell researchers led by Rob Shepherd have built a soft‑robot gripper that uses stretchable fiber‑optic strain gauges to gauge fruit stiffness and determine ripeness. The device gently twists strawberries off the plant with a planetary‑gear wrist, avoiding the bruising that...
Viatris Recalls Extended-Release Xanax over Dissolution Test Failure
Viatris has issued a Class II recall of a single batch of its extended‑release Xanax (Xanax XR) after dissolution testing showed the tablets did not meet release specifications. The affected bottles, each containing 60 3‑mg tablets, were manufactured in Ireland and are being...
India, South Korea Working to Double Bilateral Trade by 2030: Piyush Goyal
India’s commerce minister Piyush Goyal announced a dedicated South Korean industrial township and a $6 billion steel plant in Odisha as part of 16 new MoUs, aiming to double bilateral trade with South Korea to $54 billion by 2030. The two governments...
CuspAI Raising $200m at Unicorn Valuation, Reports Say
CuspAI, a 2024‑founded AI startup that speeds material design, is in talks to raise at least $200 million, which would lift its valuation above the $1 billion unicorn threshold. The platform functions as a search engine for materials, generating chemical compositions from...
Honeywell Introduces New Warehouse Software Platform and Innovative Sortation Solution
Honeywell announced two new logistics solutions: the Momentum Core software platform and the IntelliSort Irregulars Sorter. Momentum Core consolidates warehouse execution, control and reporting into a single, modular system built on Ignition SCADA, allowing rapid reconfiguration without costly re‑platforming. The IntelliSort...
India's Core Sector Contracts 0.4% in March, Hurt by West Asia Conflict
India’s core infrastructure sector slipped 0.4% year‑on‑year in March, its weakest performance in nearly two years, as the West Asia war disrupted supply chains. Output fell sharply in energy‑intensive industries, with crude oil down 5.7%, coal 4% and fertiliser plunging...
The Progress Paradox: Does Standardized Work Stifle Creativity in Continuous Improvement?
Standard work is presented as a baseline, not a prison, in the latest "Behind the Curtain" podcast hosted by Dr. Mohamed Saleh and John Dyer. The hosts argue that standardized processes enable repeatability, visibility of problems, and serve as a...
U.S. Trailer Orders Defy Seasonal Slowdown With March Gain
U.S. trailer manufacturers reported a surprising 42% month‑over‑month increase in March orders, defying the typical seasonal dip that begins in the spring. Despite the gain, net orders are still down 14% year‑over‑year to 18,800 units. ACT Research notes the order...
Self-Healing Concrete Redefines Durability and Sustainability in Modern Construction
Self‑healing concrete, highlighted by Drexel University’s BioFiber, uses bacteria‑laden hydrogel fibers to seal cracks autonomously. The technology precipitates calcium carbonate within hours, boosting tensile strength and extending structural lifespans. By reducing routine repairs, it promises lower maintenance budgets and a...
Global Supply Chains Face “Normalization” Of Overlapping Risks
A Q1 2026 report by Squire Patton Boggs warns that global supply chains now face a normalization of overlapping risks—geopolitical tension, enduring tariffs, and expanding ESG regulations. Instability in the Red Sea and threats to the Strait of Hormuz are lengthening routes...
Caracol Partners with CNC Robotics to Support U.K. Customers
Caracol of Italy has teamed with UK‑based CNC Robotics to locally assemble and service its large‑format Heron and Vipra additive‑manufacturing systems, creating a full‑cycle support network with reseller AM Futures. The partnership supports the UK’s reshoring agenda, faster delivery and...
AMA: Energy 2026: Additive Manufacturing in Energy Is Moving Beyond Pilots Here’s What’s Actually Being Deployed
Additive manufacturing (AM) is moving from pilot projects to repeatable production in the energy sector. Siemens Energy now prints titanium impellers for integrally geared compressors, while Equinor is deploying on‑demand spare‑part strategies to boost uptime. Certification bodies such as DNV...
AOI Adding Manufacturing Capacity in Houston Area
Applied Optoelectronics Inc (AOI) announced a 388,000 ft² manufacturing expansion in Pearland, Texas, adding two adjacent buildings to its Houston‑area footprint. The new space will enable production of up to 700,000 800G and 1.6T transceivers per month and boost laser‑fabrication capacity...
Sensient Invests $250M to Expand Natural Food Dye Production
Sensient Technologies announced up to $250 million in capital to expand its natural‑color production, adding 28,800 sq ft to its 500,000‑sq‑ft St. Louis plant. The company aims to capture a $1 billion sales opportunity in the fast‑growing natural‑color segment as food makers shift away from...
AGY, Saertex Collaborate on High-Performance Glass Fiber Noncrimp Fabrics
AGY and Saertex announced a joint development that integrates AGY’s high‑strength S‑2 glass fiber into Saertex’s engineered multiaxial noncrimp fabrics (NCFs). The partnership targets lightweight, high‑performance composite solutions for aerospace, defense, pressure vessels, industrial and advanced‑mobility applications. By combining precise...
Tandem PV Launches Commercial Perovskite-Silicon Manufacturing in California
Tandem PV has launched a 40 MW commercial demonstration factory in Fremont, California, converting perovskite‑silicon tandem technology from lab to repeatable manufacturing. The 65,000‑square‑foot plant produces panels roughly 60 times larger than its research devices, delivering 29.7% efficiency and less than...
Zoomlion Accelerates Global Deployment of Ultra-Large Hydraulic Excavators and Smart Mining Solutions
Zoomlion Heavy Industry unveiled an expanded ultra‑large hydraulic excavator line ranging from 60 to 1,000 tons, alongside new electric and hybrid mining equipment such as a 35 m³ electric shovel and a hybrid dump truck. The company highlighted its smart‑mining ecosystem—Smart...
RS and Festo Make Smart Electric Motion Accessible
RS, a global industrial‑service provider, is now offering Festo’s Simplified Motion Series electromechanical actuators to small and mid‑sized manufacturers. The series bundles motor, drive and servo functions into a plug‑and‑work unit that can replace traditional pneumatic cylinders. While upfront costs...
US Toymakers Absorbing Tariff Costs, Importing Less to Preserve Sales
U.S. toy manufacturers boosted 2025 retail sales by 6% while deliberately cutting import volumes, choosing to absorb higher tariff costs instead of raising consumer prices. Analysts say the shift reflects a strategic response to steep duties on Chinese‑origin toys, with...
ECI Software Solutions Expands AI Capabilities to Automate Manufacturing Workflows and Drive Efficiency Gains
ECI Software Solutions announced new Practical AI features—AI Assistant and AI Invoicing—integrated into its Deacom and JobBOSS² ERP platforms. The AI Assistant delivers real‑time answers within the application, while AI Invoicing captures vendor invoices, matches them to purchase orders and...
Kistler Presents New Software Features for Quality Assurance in Medical Injection Molding
Kistler unveiled AkvisIO 9.0 and ComoNeo 9.0, new software versions aimed at tightening quality assurance for medical‑device injection molding. The updates introduce customizable dashboards, centralized template management across sites, and enhanced visualizations for multi‑cavity processes. A more powerful CPU in the ComoNeo...
FMC Chief: Ocean Carriers Knew War Could Increase Fuel Prices
The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) rejected Maersk’s third request to waive the mandatory 30‑day waiting period for emergency fuel surcharges, citing insufficient justification. Maersk argued that the Iran‑Hormuz conflict drove VLSFO prices from $509 to $929 per metric ton between...
Infor and AWS Bring Agentic AI to Manufacturing at Enterprise Scale
Infor and Amazon Web Services have launched a suite of industry‑specific AI agents built natively on AWS, aimed at manufacturing and distribution firms. The agents combine AWS’s enterprise‑grade infrastructure with Infor’s deep manufacturing intelligence to automate planning, execution, and financial...
YunExpress Adds East Midlands Airport Cargo Facility
YunExpress has opened a 7,000‑sq‑m cargo hub at East Midlands Airport, now certified as a Regulated Agent and approved for temporary storage by the UK Border Force. The facility will handle its first flight on 30 April, supporting four weekly Boeing 777...
What Tesla Reveals About Vertical Integration in Supply Chains
Tesla’s supply‑chain strategy pivots from broad outsourcing to selective vertical integration, pulling in‑house battery cell production, software development, and a Texas lithium refinery while still partnering for some components. The 2025 annual report shows manufacturing across three continents, a global...
4 Tech Tools Food Brands Are Using to Enhance Inventory, Demand Planning
At the Food Manufacturing Summit, experts highlighted four tech tools reshaping inventory and demand planning for food brands: digital twins, RFID, cold‑chain solutions, and advanced planning systems. They stressed that data quality is the single biggest lever for supply‑chain performance,...
Newtimes Group Appoints Ranjan Mundhra as Vice President, Quality & Production
Newtimes Group, a Hong Kong‑based global apparel sourcing firm, has hired Ranjan Mundhra as Vice President, Quality & Production. Mundhra brings 26 years of experience across apparel, footwear and accessories, most recently as Senior Director of Quality for Asia at PVH where...
Enphase Scales Commercial Solar with GaN Microinverters
Enphase Energy announced expanded shipments of its commercial microinverter line, highlighted by the IQ9N-3P—the company’s first gallium‑nitride (GaN) device. The inverter delivers a CEC‑weighted efficiency of 97.5%, supports up to 600 W modules, and connects directly to three‑phase 480Y/277 V grids without...
I Went Inside Mattel and Saw How Toy Story 5 Toys Are Built — and Made Interactive
Toy Story 5 toys are set to launch ahead of the June 19, 2026 film, and Mattel gave a behind‑the‑scenes look at its development process. Designers start with hand sketches before moving to a 3D‑printing lab that houses 14 large‑scale printers capable of producing...
Terafab’s Tricky Targets
TSMC chief C.C. Wei cautioned investors that the Elon‑Intel‑Terafab venture faces realistic construction and ramp‑up timelines, pushing volume production to the end of the decade at a 2 nm node. Even then, the fab would lag TSMC’s own roadmap, which targets...
NGen Announces $62.7M in Funding for Canadian AI, Robotics & Tech Manufacturing Projects
Next Generation Manufacturing Canada (NGen) announced nearly C$25 million in new federal funding, matched by C$38 million from industry, to launch 14 advanced manufacturing projects centered on AI, robotics, digital twins and related technologies. The total C$62.7 million (~US$45.8 million) program was unveiled at...
Continuous Composites Expands Manufacturing Footprint to Support Production-Relevant CF3D Systems
Continuous Composites has moved into a new 17,000‑square‑foot facility in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, more than doubling its manufacturing footprint. The expansion is designed to support its CF3D continuous‑fiber 3D printing technology and to enable five‑times higher component output. The larger...
X-Humanoid's Embodied Tien Kung 3.0 Wins Beijing Robot Warrior Challenge with Fully Autonomous Run
The Beijing Yizhuang Robot Warrior Challenge on April 18 served as a proving ground for next‑generation disaster‑response robotics, where X‑Humanoid’s full‑size humanoid Embodied Tien Kung 3.0 completed every obstacle—pendulum traversal, barrier breaching, and obstacle clearance—without remote assistance. By securing the highest overall...
Accelerating Industrial Robotics with NVIDIA Jetson, EverFocus, and EyePick
Industrial robotics face a deployment gap, not an AI shortage, as most pilot projects stall before production. NVIDIA’s Jetson hardware, combined with EverFocus’s rugged EAC‑30N edge computer and EyePick’s Maestro OS, delivers a low‑latency, plug‑and‑play architecture that bridges vision models...
Milvus Robotics Introduces the SEIT F1500S Forklift-Type Autonomous Mobile Robot for Advanced Material Handling
Milvus Robotics unveiled the SEIT F1500S, a forklift‑type autonomous mobile robot designed for fast deployment in high‑mix manufacturing and warehousing. The AMR can lift up to 3,500 lb (1,500 kg) to a height of 8.86 ft (2.70 m) and claims to be the fastest...
Pandora Upgrades WMS as Part of Supply Chain Tech Overhaul
Pandora is upgrading its warehouse management system (WMS) with Hardis software across North America, Europe and Thailand as part of a broader supply‑chain overhaul. The new WMS will integrate with Pandora’s SAP S/4HANA Cloud ERP and a transportation management system,...
Neptune Robotics Invests $12M USD in New Singapore Factory to Expand Robotic Hull Cleaning Capabilities
Neptune Robotics is allocating $12 million to a new manufacturing and R&D facility in Singapore, aimed at scaling its AI‑powered robotic hull‑cleaning systems. The expansion is projected to boost cleaning capacity by 400% by the end of 2026 and support up...
Insight Works Empowers Manufacturers with MxAPS Amid Ongoing Labor Shortages and Supply Chain Pressures
Insight Works announced MxAPS, an advanced finite‑capacity scheduling add‑on for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, aimed at helping manufacturers cope with 2026’s labor shortages and supply‑chain volatility. The solution automates production planning, offering real‑time adjustments, alternate routing, and what‑if simulations to...
Eplus3D Breaks the 3 Meter Barrier with up to 256 Lasers: EP M3050 Redefines Large Format Metal Additive Manufacturing
Eplus3D unveiled the EP‑M3050, an ultra‑large powder‑bed fusion printer that exceeds three meters in both X and Y dimensions and can be extended to five meters in height. The system ships with 100 lasers as standard and can scale to...
A Model for Defect Identification in Materials
MIT researchers have created an AI model that classifies and quantifies up to six point defects in semiconductor materials using non‑invasive neutron‑scattering data. Trained on a database of 2,000 samples covering 56 elements, the model can detect defect concentrations as...
Lloyd’s Register Verifies GT Wings’ Performance Assessment Methodology for AirWing™ Jet Sail
GT Wings has received Lloyd’s Register verification of its performance assessment methodology for the AirWing™ Jet Sail, following ten months of commercial operation on the MV Vectis Progress. The verification confirms alignment with ISO 19030 and ITTC standards, proving the...