Trucking Fleets Embrace Gen AI, but Data Problems Slow Growth
Trucking fleets are rapidly adopting generative AI, with 87.1% using large language models for back‑office functions, driver feedback and document extraction. AI tools for driver safety have reached 61.3% adoption, yet only 9.7% of fleets feed telematics or ELD data into real‑time AI models. Data‑integration problems have surged to 71%, and inaccurate data concerns now affect 64.5% of respondents, limiting deeper operational gains. The survey warns that without solid data foundations, AI will remain a convenience rather than a competitive advantage.
Creotech Plans $118 Million Capital Raise, Investment in New Satellite Factory
Polish space‑tech firm Creotech Instruments announced a $118 million capital raise to fund a new satellite factory slated for completion by 2029. The investment will enable the company to quadruple its output to roughly 40 satellites a year, addressing a current...
SOSV Deep Tech Live – The Atomic Architect: Rick Gottscho on Plasma’s Role in Semiconductor Fabrication & Physical AI Infrastructure
The SOSV Deep Tech Live event on June 2 will feature Rick Gottscho, former CTO of Lam Research, discussing how plasma technology is reshaping semiconductor fabrication as Moore's Law stalls. Gottscho will explore the physics behind plasma processing, its impact on...
Industrial Security, Thermal Management and Longevity for Edge Controllers
AutomationDirect’s C2‑NRed module brings Node‑Red edge functionality to Click Plus PLCs without requiring a separate gateway. It runs an embedded Linux environment alongside the deterministic PLC scan cycle, communicating over the backplane while keeping control logic isolated. The module offers native...
British Steel: More Questions than Answers on the Future | Nils Pratley
The UK government has taken control of British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant, inheriting an operating loss of £615 m (≈$780 m) and facing a projected taxpayer bill of over £1.5 bn (≈$1.9 bn) by 2028. Full nationalisation is now being considered to provide stability for...
Manufacturing Industry Lost 2,000 Jobs in April: BLS
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that manufacturing shed 2,000 jobs in April, a 50% year‑over‑year increase but a 113% drop from March’s 15,000‑job gain. The ISM employment index fell to 46.4%, confirming a contraction in hiring. Transportation equipment...
Century Aluminum Advances Oklahoma Smelter Project, CEO Says
Century Aluminum announced progress on its joint Oklahoma smelter with Emirates Global Aluminum, targeting a final investment decision and groundbreaking by year‑end, which would double U.S. aluminum output. The company is also ramping up production at its Mt. Holly, South...
Advancing Aseptic Precision: How Modern Filling Lines Elevate Sterility, Flexibility, and Throughput
Modern pharmaceutical filling lines are adopting isolator‑based, fully automated systems that integrate washing, sterilization, filling, sealing, and environmental control. Automation and AI‑driven analytics are boosting sterility assurance, reducing human intervention, and meeting stricter EU GMP Annex 1 and FDA requirements. These...
ABTC Claims Record Revenue, Positive Growth Margin in Third Quarter of FY26
American Battery Technology Co. (ABTC) reported a record $7.8 million in third‑quarter FY26 revenue, up 64 percent QoQ, and posted its first positive gross margin of $738 k. The Nevada recycling plant’s improved efficiency drove cost‑of‑goods‑sold growth to only 11 percent, while the company...
Fincantieri Raises 2026 Outlook as Backlog Hits Record
Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri announced a record €74.2 billion (~$80 billion) backlog, pushing order visibility out to 2039. The firm lifted its 2026 outlook, now targeting €9.3‑9.4 billion (~$10 billion) in revenue and €700‑710 million (~$756‑$767 million) EBITDA. While headline Q1 revenue fell 10% to €2.14 billion, cruise...
Why I Started Testing Automation Scripts Through Residential Networks
A warehouse‑automation engineer struggled with datacenter proxies that triggered CAPTCHAs and silent bans, limiting data‑collection reliability. By routing requests through residential and mobile proxies, the success rate jumped from 61% to over 95% and content accuracy improved. The new setup...
Nexans to Acquire Republic Wire
Nexans announced it will acquire 100% of Republic Wire for an enterprise value of about €680 million (≈$741 million), with a possible €43 million (≈$47 million) earn‑out. Republic Wire generated roughly €520 million (≈$567 million) in revenue over the year to February 2026 and operates a...
Going Industrial. Manic Metals Report 05/11/2026
The Manic Metals Report shows industrial metals such as copper and aluminum surged after a robust jobs report and strong manufacturing data signaled a resilient U.S. economy. Meanwhile, gold and silver gained as oil prices slipped, reaffirming the classic inverse...
DMG MORI Launches LASERTEC 65 DED Hybrid 2 for Additive and Subtractive Metal Manufacturing
DMG MORI UK has unveiled the LASERTEC 65 DED hybrid 2, a second‑generation production centre that merges directed energy deposition (DED) with 5‑axis machining, measurement and 3D scanning in a single setup. The machine delivers a 35% faster build rate and a 170%...
US Offers Lower Tariffs for Canada, Mexico Steel, Aluminum Producers
The U.S. Commerce Department unveiled a process that lets Canadian and Mexican steel and aluminum producers halve the Section 232 tariff from 50% to 25% if they pledge to build or expand primary production facilities in the United States. To qualify,...
MDA Space Officially Opens New Montreal Facility to Support Satellite Prime Contractor Strategy
MDA Space has opened a 185,000‑square‑foot satellite manufacturing plant in Montreal, doubling its production footprint. The facility is designed for high‑volume assembly of the AURORA software‑defined satellites, targeting up to 400 units per year. Automated equipment and a proprietary test...
Intel to Make Apple Chips: Report
Apple and Intel have reached a preliminary deal for Intel to manufacture certain Apple processors, including chips for the upcoming MacBook Neo and possibly entry‑level M‑series SoCs. Apple is looking to diversify its supply chain as TSMC faces capacity constraints...
Construction Sector: Kerakoll Partners with Fibre Net
Kerakoll, the Italian public‑interest construction group, has announced a partnership with Fibre Net, a B‑Corp‑certified leader in structural reinforcement systems. The two firms will integrate gradually, keeping Fibre Net’s founders as CEOs, to create a European platform targeting more than...
Kuehne+Nagel Adds New Hyderbad Airfreight Cross-Dock
Kuehne+Nagel has opened a 248 sq m air‑freight cross‑dock in Hyderabad to serve the city’s booming pharmaceutical sector. The facility features dedicated temperature zones of 2‑8 °C and 15‑25 °C and complies with the company’s HealthChain quality standard. Hyderabad accounts for more than 40%...
How to Teach the Same Skill to Different Robots
Researchers at EPFL’s LASA lab introduced a control framework called Kinematic Intelligence that translates a single human‑demonstrated task into a robot‑agnostic movement strategy. The system mathematically abstracts the motion and then tailors it to the joint limits of any robot,...
Behind the Scenes Tour: From Ingredients to the Shelf
Women in Nutraceuticals organized a behind‑the‑scenes tour of Adept Life Sciences, Arizona Custom Blends and 21st Century HealthCare, revealing the full supplement supply chain from raw ingredient testing to shelf‑ready bottles. Each company isolates incoming materials, conducts identity and microbiological...
Toyota to Build Vehicle Plant in Maharashtra, India
Toyota Motor announced a new vehicle plant in the Bidkin Industrial Area of Maharashtra, slated to begin production in the first half of 2029. The facility, run by Toyota Kirloskar Motor, will produce a new SUV with an annual capacity...
Rethinking Secondary Packaging in Modern Supply Chains
Secondary packaging, long treated as a logistical afterthought, is emerging as a critical cost driver in modern supply chains. Over 80% of e‑commerce returns are linked to damage caused by inadequate outer packaging, and oversized boxes can inflate shipping expenses...
US Government Spends Hundreds of Millions on Biotech Pilot Plants as National Security Priority
The U.S. government is pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into BioMADE, a public‑private consortium aimed at scaling bio‑manufacturing for food, defense and industrial applications. Since its 2021 launch, BioMADE has secured $87 million from the Department of Defense (DoD), $450 million...
UPS and FedEx up International Fuel Surcharge Rates, Add Surge Fees
UPS and FedEx announced temporary international surcharge hikes in May 2026, adding per‑pound surge fees and raising fuel surcharge rates. UPS imposed a 32‑cent‑per‑pound fee for inbound shipments and an 11‑cent fee for certain Asian origins, while FedEx added a...
From AI Momentum to Manufacturing Reality
AI’s rapid expansion is moving from hype to concrete pressure on manufacturing, especially in photonics and advanced packaging. Development cycles are tightening, forcing manufacturers to accelerate time‑to‑production while maintaining high precision, repeatability, and yield. Mycronic highlights its ability to partner...
Cerealto CEO Bosco Fonts Talks Contract Manufacturing Tailwinds
Cerealto’s chief executive Bosco Fonts highlighted accelerating demand for contract manufacturing in the food sector, citing stronger retailer partnerships and rising consumer preference for private‑label products. He noted that Cerealto’s flexible production capacity and recent technology upgrades position the company...
Interspectral to Lead Swedish Research Project Into AI-Powered Quality Assurance for Additive Manufacturing
Interspectral has been chosen as a key partner in a multi‑million‑SEK (≈ $1 million) research program funded by Sweden’s innovation agency Vinnova. Together with Saab, AMEXCI and Scaleout Systems, it will form the TRUSTAM consortium to create AI‑driven, federated‑learning quality‑assurance tools for...
U.S. Transformer Market Faces Severe Supply Constraints as Lead Times Extend to Four Years
The U.S. power‑transformer market is under severe strain, with lead times for high‑capacity units stretching to four years. Demand has surged, driven by AI data centers, electrified transport and industrial growth, pushing step‑up transformer orders up 274% since 2019. Prices...
The State of AMRs: From Early Adoption to Scaled Deployment
Autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) have transitioned from pilot projects to core warehouse assets, now handling picking, transport, and replenishment at scale. Industry leaders highlighted rapid market maturation, with fleets expanding across diverse distribution center layouts. Advances in navigation intelligence and...
New Emerson Industrial AI Platform Delivers Enterprise-Scale AI
Emerson introduced the AspenTech AVA AI platform for industrial enterprises, offering agentic, domain‑aware AI integrated with operational workflows. AVA combines large language models with Emerson’s first‑principles models and the AspenTech Inmation Data Platform to provide real‑time, data‑source‑agnostic decision support. The...
Trinasolar Module Factories Awarded Silver Supply Chain Traceability Certificates by SSI
Trinasolar’s Yiwu and Yancheng factories have been awarded Silver supply‑chain traceability certificates from the Solar Stewardship Initiative, the highest level granted to any solar manufacturing site to date. The certification, verified by TÜV SÜD, confirms end‑to‑end traceability from metallurgical‑grade silicon through...
Inside the $10m Freight Fraud that Rocked Chicago
A suburban Chicago man, Aivaras Zigmantas, was sentenced to five years in federal prison for orchestrating a freight fraud scheme that stole over $10 million in interstate shipments between 2020 and 2023. He used multiple aliases to impersonate legitimate carriers and...
Shipping Companies Leverage Arabian Peninsula Truck Routes to Bypass Hormuz
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has forced shippers to reroute cargo through the newly opened Route 95, linking Saudi Arabia’s Alkwifiriah to Oman via the Ramlet Khelah border crossing. Trade value at the crossing surged to $830 million in March, a...
At APEC 2026, Alpha and Omega Semiconductor to Showcase Advanced Solutions for AI Core Power, AI Factory, and Industrial Power
Alpha and Omega Semiconductor (AOS) will showcase a suite of new power‑management solutions at APEC 2026 in San Antonio, targeting AI core power, AI factory, and industrial power applications. The lineup includes a 16‑phase AI core controller, Type‑C protection switches...
PM Inaugurates US $178 Million PM MITRA Textile Park in Telangana
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 1,327‑acre PM MITRA Textile Park in Warangal, Telangana. The project, approved at Rs 1,695.54 crore (≈US $178 million), includes a zero‑liquid‑discharge CETP, a 10 MW solar plant and worker dormitories. The park targets over Rs 6,000 crore (≈US $630 million) in private investment,...
Aeva Adopts Cadence Tensilica Vision DSP to Advance Lidar Performance and Efficiency
Cadence announced that Aeva has licensed its Tensilica Vision DSP IP to boost processing in its 4D LiDAR systems. The programmable, low‑power DSP will enable flexible, scalable solutions for industrial robotics and automotive autonomy, reducing latency and power consumption. The...
Hyundai’s New Motor Is Smaller, Cheaper, And Ready To Go Into Any EV
Hyundai Mobis has unveiled a 160‑kilowatt (215‑horsepower) modular electric powertrain that combines the motor, inverter and reduction gear in a single housing. The integrated unit delivers 16 percent higher specific power while being 20 percent smaller than competing designs, and can be...
Diehl Aviation Reports Strong Progress at New Production Facility in Romania
Diehl Aviation announced that its new production facility in Craiova, Romania, will move in during summer 2026, with full aircraft‑component production slated for autumn 2026. The plant will start with about 75 employees and scale up to 500 as output...
Danone to Lay Off 114 Employees After Shutting Plant-Based Dairy Factory
Danone announced the closure of its 25‑year‑old plant‑based dairy factory in Bridgeton, New Jersey, eliminating 114 jobs. The shutdown follows a slowdown in the company’s Silk and So Delicious brands, which have lagged behind stronger performance in Europe. Production will...
Ionic Closes Recycled Rare Earth Loop
Ionic Rare Earths (IonicRE) announced the first fully circular supply chain for permanent‑magnet rare earths used in electric‑vehicle motors, delivering a Ford EV rotor made entirely from recycled material. The project demonstrates that rare‑earth magnets can be produced without any...
AgroDrone Europe Deploys Industrial-Scale Robotic Shading to Mitigate Structural Risks and Maximize Greenhouse ROI Across Germany and Poland
AgroDrone Europe is rolling out a Drone‑as‑a‑Service platform that uses DJI Agras T50 drones equipped with centimeter‑level RTK to apply shading agents inside commercial greenhouses in Germany and Poland. The autonomous system replaces hazardous manual labor, protects glass and aluminum...
‘Significant Migration’ of USWC Imports to Canadian Ports, Says Sea-Intelligence
North‑west Pacific container traffic is shifting north, with Canadian ports capturing market share as U.S. west‑coast gateways see volume declines. In Q1 2026, Prince Rupert and Vancouver posted 7.8% and 9% import growth respectively, while the Northwest Seaport Alliance plunged 18%....
APR Among Industry Organizations to Speak at USTR Hearing
The Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) testified before the USTR, warning that a flood of low‑priced PET imports has forced seven U.S. recyclers to shut down, eroding roughly 25% of domestic capacity in the past 15 months. APR highlighted dramatic...
India Accounts for over 60% of Upcoming Coal-Based Steelmaking Capacity Globally: Report
India is responsible for more than 60% of the world’s newly announced coal‑based blast‑furnace steelmaking capacity, according to Global Energy Monitor’s sixth annual report. Globally, 319 mtpa of coal‑based capacity is under construction or announced, a 5% rise year‑over‑year, while only...
EXCLUSIVE: ‘Politicians Don’t Appreciate the Value of Logistics to the UK’
Logistics UK’s newly appointed chief executive Ben Fletcher, after 100 days in post, warned that British politicians still treat logistics as a collection of niche, heavily regulated activities rather than a growth engine. He highlighted that the sector employs roughly 2.8 million...
Turkish Ammunition Production in Estonia
Turkey's ARCA Defence is set to open an ammunition‑production facility in Estonia’s Ida‑Viru County, targeting export markets rather than direct supply to the Estonian Defence Forces. The plant will initially manufacture mortar rounds, rockets and NATO‑standard 155 mm M107 artillery shells,...
British Steel Nationalisation Plans Announced by Starmer
The UK government announced plans to fully nationalise British Steel, taking over the loss‑making Scunthorpe plant. The plant is losing about £700,000 ($900,000) a day and the state is already spending roughly £1 million ($1.3 million) daily to keep it afloat. The...
Meltio Takes Metal Additive Manufacturing to the Next Level
Meltio’s Directed Energy Deposition (DED) engine kit transforms ordinary industrial robots into high‑precision metal additive‑manufacturing stations. The solution was deployed by Eurobearings in Italy, where a mobile KUKA robot now prints and repairs large‑scale bearing components on‑site, eliminating traditional casting...
Bob’s Discount Furniture Opens First Combo Store-Distribution Center
Bob’s Discount Furniture launched its first combined retail and distribution center in Solon, Ohio, in February 2026. The hybrid site places a showroom inside a warehouse near major highways, letting the company keep inventory closer to its eight Ohio stores....