Manufacturing News and Headlines
Manufacturing News and Headlines
Fenix Composites unveiled a carbon‑fiber‑reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP) road‑bike frame that uses titanium lugs joined by induction heating, eliminating adhesives and fasteners. The reversible joint design allows defective components to be removed and replaced, extending the frame’s service life. Joint strength averages 53 MPa, enabling the frame to transfer 3 kN of tensile force over a 0.5‑meter strut while weighing only 26 grams for the load‑introduction elements. The joining process consumes less than a kilowatt‑hour, costing about €0.0022 and emitting 2.7 g CO₂ per connection.
AutomationDirect has expanded its catalog with Weidmuller stripping, cutting and crimping tools, including the all‑in‑one STRIPAX PLUS 2.5 that merges cutting, stripping and ferrule crimping. The tools feature automatic ferrule feeding, adjustable stops, replaceable blades and specialty screwdrivers for tight‑space...
Plastometrex has launched a MultiScale capability for its PLX‑Benchtop system, allowing high‑resolution mechanical property mapping on thin, welded and complex parts down to 0.75 mm thickness. The feature adds 250 µm and 500 µm indenters, delivering stress‑strain data at 1.5 mm spacing via Profilometry‑based...
Wabash introduced TrailerHawk, an AI‑driven trailer system that combines computer vision, facial recognition, and digital seals to create an end‑to‑end chain of custody for freight. The solution issues real‑time alerts, geofenced lock controls, and automatically documents loading activities, integrating directly...
Michael Roeth warns that new trucking technologies often suffer a nine‑to‑one expectation gap between vendor hype and fleet reality. He cites research indicating a product must be roughly three times better than existing solutions to achieve market adoption. Roeth advises...
SHD Composites, now part of Cambium after its December 2025 acquisition, has commissioned new wide‑format unidirectional prepreg and advanced film coating lines. The equipment, built on SHD’s own machine designs, expands material width and accelerates high‑volume production for sectors such...
British Steel has landed an eight‑figure contract to supply 36,000 tonnes of 60E2 rail for Turkey’s new 599‑km Ankara‑İzmir high‑speed line. The order, backed by UK Export Finance, triggers 24/7 production at the Scunthorpe plant for the first time in...
Mativ Holdings reported Q4 2025 net sales of $463 million, a 1% rise year‑over‑year and 1.9% organic growth, while adjusted EBITDA climbed 19% to $53.5 million with margins expanding by 180 basis points. Free cash flow surged to $94 million, more than doubling...
Camtek reported record Q4 2024 revenue of $117.3 million, a 32% year‑over‑year increase, and full‑year revenue of $429 million, up 36%. Operating income rose 42% in the quarter to $36.3 million and 56% for the year, pushing operating margin to 30.9%. The company...
LCI Industries reported a strong fiscal fourth‑quarter, posting $933 million in net sales, a 16% year‑over‑year increase, and a GAAP net income of $19 million, more than double the prior year. OEM sales surged 18% to $737 million, driven by double‑digit growth in...
Reliance Steel & Aluminum reported record 6.4 million tons shipped in FY 2025, raising U.S. market share to about 17 percent. Volume growth was offset by a $114 million LIFO expense that pushed the non‑GAAP gross profit margin to 28.8 percent, just below the 29‑31 percent...
Clearwater Paper reported $1.6 billion in net sales for 2025, a 12% year‑over‑year increase driven by the full‑year operation of the Augusta mill and higher shipments. Adjusted EBITDA rose to $107 million, up $71 million from the prior year, reflecting aggressive cost cuts...
Nutrien reported adjusted EBITDA of $6.05 billion for 2025, a 13% increase, driven by record fertilizer sales of 27.5 million tonnes and disciplined cost management. Potash automation reached 49%, keeping controllable cash costs at $58 per tonne, while nitrogen volumes rose to...
Solstice Advanced Materials, newly independent after its October 2025 spin‑off from Honeywell, posted full‑year 2025 net sales of $3.9 billion, up 3% YoY (6% excluding opportunistic nuclear sales). Fourth‑quarter revenue rose 8% to $987 million, but adjusted EBITDA fell 20% to $189 million...
The Advanced Robotics in Manufacturing (ARM) Institute has issued a member‑only project call to modernize the Department of Defense’s organic industrial base (OIB) supply chain. The call seeks proposals that combine digital operations, AI‑driven robotic process planning, real‑time sensors, in‑situ...
Anzu Robotics announced the discontinuation of its Raptor drone series after persistent component shortages halted production. The line, launched in 2024 as a U.S.-focused alternative to DJI, saw rapid demand driven by NDAA 2025 considerations, which depleted inventory faster than...
German retailer REWE has opened an automated fulfillment center in Oranienburg, deploying Cimcorp’s robotic handling and Warehouse Control System to manage fresh produce distribution. The facility serves over 370 supermarkets and 580 shops in the Berlin region, processing roughly 29,000...
Paris‑based AGS Therapeutics signed a strategic agreement with INITS SMO, a GMP‑qualified shared manufacturing organization, to transition its microalgae‑derived extracellular vesicle (MEV) platform to full GMP compliance. The partnership allows AGS to run its proprietary MEV manufacturing, loading, and analytics...
Warehouse automation promises easier picking and safer loading, yet it alone cannot solve the talent crunch. Industry leaders argue that career growth, cross‑training, and clear development pathways are essential to retain workers. Honeywell highlights training on new technology as a...
The FDA released its FY 2024 Report on the State of Pharmaceutical Quality, a comprehensive PDF detailing post‑market quality defects, recalls, import alerts, and warning letters across the U.S. drug supply chain. The report aggregates current and cumulative data on manufacturers,...
Phison CEO Khein‑Seng Pua warned that the ongoing DRAM and NAND flash shortage will disproportionately affect low‑cost consumer devices, where razor‑thin margins leave little room for price spikes. He highlighted an 8 GB eMMC component whose price surged from roughly $1.32...
The CAN in Automation (CiA) group warns that all CAN‑based products sold in the EU now fall under the European Union Cyber Resilience Act (EU CRA) unless covered by sector‑specific rules. Compliance hinges on achieving the appropriate IEC 62443 security level (SL),...
Six firms have lodged bids to design, supply, install, commission and service 92 passenger boarding bridges for Poland’s new Centralny Port Komunikacyjny (CPK) airport. The consortiums include Sezo Invest / ShinMaywa, FMT Sweden, Albert Ziegler, Adelte Airport Technologies / TK Airport Solutions, and Comsa Instalaciones....
Formlabs announced that Rob Willett, former CEO of Cognex, has joined its Board of Directors effective immediately. The move is aimed at leveraging Willett’s three decades of experience in industrial automation and global operations to accelerate Formlabs’ transition from a...
Nextpower has signed a multi‑year agreement to supply Jinko Solar (U.S.) with more than 1 GW of steel frames, scalable to 3 GW over three years, for the Jacksonville, Florida, module assembly line slated for mid‑2026. The deal adds 6 % domestic content...
Venture capital is moving into traditionally “hard” sectors—government, defence, energy, manufacturing—after years of avoidance. Rapid growth in public‑sector tech spending, which more than doubled between 2021 and 2025, and the rise of AI‑first solutions are reshaping procurement cycles and lowering...
General Dynamics Land Systems UK will keep manufacturing the Ajax medium‑weight armoured fighting vehicle despite ongoing investigations into noise and vibration defects reported in November 2025. To date, 185 of the 589‑vehicle order have been delivered, with each unit requiring...
PLP and FulcrumAir have launched a multi‑year strategic partnership to co‑develop next‑generation robotic installation systems for overhead power line construction. The collaboration builds on prior joint products such as the LineSpider™ and LineFly™ robots, aiming to boost efficiency, safety, and...
American Steel and Aluminum (ASA) has launched a domestically produced steel ground screw for solar project foundations, manufactured in New England with a fully traceable supply chain. The product is slated for the 2026 construction season and is compatible with...
Modbus remains the dominant industrial communication protocol, with the market expected to grow from $1.2 billion to $2.5 billion by 2033. Integrating legacy devices is cost‑effective using gateways, historians, or edge gateways, avoiding expensive rip‑and‑replace projects. Security must be addressed at the...
MasterMover will exhibit its heavy‑duty automated guided vehicles and electric tuggers at MODEX 2026 in Atlanta, highlighting the TOW300 AGV capable of moving up to 44,000 lb across indoor and outdoor environments. The TOW300 combines BlueBotics ANT navigation and SICK safety scanners to...
Knorr Bremse has entered a strategic partnership with Amazon Web Services to fast‑track its AI transformation, leveraging AWS cloud and AI services to modernise technology, processes and organisational structures. The collaboration introduces an AI operating model, autonomous industrial solutions and a...
A UK‑based flight test marked the first use of a 3D‑printed structural bracket made from recycled titanium on an A109S helicopter. The bracket, produced by Additive Manufacturing Solutions Ltd using laser powder‑bed fusion, was sourced from titanium recovered from a...
India, the world’s second‑largest crude‑steel producer, is pivoting toward the Middle East and Asian markets to cushion the impact of the European Union’s new carbon border adjustment tax. Roughly two‑thirds of its steel exports currently flow to Europe, where the...
MIT researchers unveiled an AI‑driven robotic assembly platform that turns natural‑language prompts into physical objects. A generative AI creates a 3‑D mesh, while a vision‑language model determines component placement, enabling a robot to assemble furniture from reusable parts. The system...
Diamond Power Infrastructure (DICABS) posted a net profit of ₹50 crore in the December quarter, an eight‑fold increase from the same period last year. Revenue surged 54 percent to ₹474 crore, driven by higher capacity utilization and premium EHV cable sales. The firm...
Dragos’ 2026 Year in Review OT/ICS report adds three new adversaries—Sylvanite, Azurite and Pyroxene—targeting industrial control systems in 2025. Sylvanite acts as a rapid‑exploitation broker, weaponising n‑day flaws within 48 hours and handing access to the Voltzite group across power, oil,...
Manufacturing is undergoing a digital overhaul where connectivity, data and automation dictate factory efficiency, product consistency, and uptime. Unplanned downtime now averages $260,000 per hour, contributing to roughly $1.5 trillion in global losses each year. Tata Communications frames the CIO agenda...
Yanmar Power Solutions, a Yanmar Holdings subsidiary, will construct an 8,000 m² factory on a 33,898 m² site in Amagasaki, Hyogo, to conduct test runs of marine hydrogen engines. Operations are slated to begin in March 2029, complementing the company’s recent ClassNK type‑approval...
RCV Engines has secured a £4 million supply agreement with a European partner to deliver its mission‑critical propulsion systems. The contract was awarded after a competitive evaluation, highlighting the company’s 4‑stroke rotary valve engines that can run on heavy fuels such...
Machine vision has transitioned from simple part detection to a measurement‑grade sensory core for industrial robots. Advances in high‑resolution cameras, 3D imaging, edge AI and deep‑learning enable sub‑millimeter positioning, real‑time defect recognition and adaptive path correction. This vision‑driven intelligence lets...
Emesent has launched the GX1, an all‑in‑one SLAM LiDAR, RTK and 360° imaging scanner that delivers 5‑10 mm global accuracy. The system can cut survey time by up to 95 %, turning weeks of work into a single day. It integrates LiDAR,...
Ajin Industrial, a long‑standing Tier‑1 supplier to Hyundai and Kia, replaced its manual fixture‑based inspection with Creaform’s CUBE‑R robotic 3D scanning cell and Metrology Suite. The automated system delivers higher dimensional accuracy, repeatable measurements, and real‑time feedback, cutting inspection time...
SemiQ Inc., a designer of silicon‑carbide (SiC) power semiconductors and 150 mm epitaxial wafers, has signed a distribution agreement with NAC Semi, a North‑American component distributor. The deal gives NAC Semi direct access to SemiQ’s high‑efficiency MOSFETs, power modules and Schottky diodes, targeting...
The Cannon Group, together with MAP S.p.A. and the University of Bergamo, has proved that rigid polyurethane (PU) foam and glass‑fiber‑reinforced PU (GFRP) can be mechanically recycled within existing high‑pressure mixing lines. Two complementary routes were demonstrated: micron‑sized PU powders...
Control system upgrades are back on plant executives' agendas as new capital budgets roll out for the year. The article highlights three primary risks of aging automation: hardware failure, cybersecurity vulnerabilities, and the erosion of tribal knowledge. It urges decision‑makers...
Plant managers face pressure to refresh aging control systems as new capital budgets roll out. Older PLCs and DCS platforms expose facilities to hardware failures, heightened cybersecurity vulnerabilities, and loss of tribal knowledge. Experts recommend a ten‑year upgrade cadence to...
Yaskawa America announced the North American launch of its robotic warehouse solutions, extending technologies proven in Europe and early U.S. pilots. The offering centers on the PackMaster palletizing cell, delivering 800‑1,200 cases per hour, and a layer picker capable of...
A new MIT Humanitarian Supply Chain Lab thesis analyzes fuel distribution vulnerabilities in the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ), identifying Memphis and nearby terminals as critical bottlenecks for emergency response. Using Operational Flow Capacity (OFC) modeling, the study quantifies baseline...
Norman Katz expands the classic Perfect Order framework by adding a ninth right—"with the right data"—to address growing regulatory and digital‑supply‑chain demands. The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) 204 rule now requires lot‑level traceability, manufacturing and expiration dates for...
