Infineon Partners with Zenergize on India Power Tech
Infineon Technologies has formed a strategic technology partnership with Indian power‑electronics firm Zenergize, announced at the Bharat Electricity Summit 2026. Infineon will supply its wide‑bandgap silicon‑carbide (SiC) semiconductors and engineering support to integrate them into solar inverters, EV chargers and energy‑storage systems. The collaboration focuses on product and technology integration rather than a joint venture, reinforcing Infineon’s 30‑year presence in India. It aims to boost domestic innovation and help India meet its renewable‑energy and self‑reliance targets.
GM: A Once Global Giant Is Retrenching to Its Domestic Core
General Motors has trimmed its global footprint, now concentrating production of roughly five million vehicles a year in North America and Asia. The company divested its European operations to PSA in 2017 and has shuttered plants in Australia, India and...
Mind Robotics Raises $500 Million to Build AI-Powered Industrial Robots for Real-World Deployment
Mind Robotics announced a $500 million Series A round, co‑led by Accel and Andreessen Horowitz, to accelerate its AI‑powered industrial robot platform. The financing follows a $115 million seed round and adds Accel partner Sameer Gandhi to the board. Leveraging Rivian’s manufacturing data...
True Protein Automates Manufacturing Processes with NetSuite
Sydney‑based wellness brand True Protein has upgraded its operations by implementing Oracle NetSuite’s AI‑powered cloud ERP. The new system replaces spreadsheets and siloed tools, automating finance, inventory, manufacturing, warehousing and sales functions. NetSuite’s deployment, managed by Fusion5, has cut the...
Hexxabotics to Unveil Honeycomb-Based AS/RS with Shuttle-Style AMRs at LogiMAT
Hexxabotics will debut a honeycomb‑based automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS) at LogiMAT 2026, merging autonomous mobile robots (Hexxabots) with a modular hexagonal grid. The design eliminates fixed rails and in‑rack electrification, promising higher cubic storage density and lower energy use....
The Price of Uncertainty: How Trade Volatility Is Breaking Chemical Supply Chains
Trade policy volatility is reshaping chemical supply chains, with U.S. chemical imports spiking to over $20 billion in March 2025 before plunging in April, leaving firms with excess inventory. The February 28 Iran‑Israel conflict triggered a 62% jump in Brent crude...
Albanese Highlights Manufacturing in Speech on Food and Beverage Sector
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told food and beverage leaders in Melbourne that Australian manufacturing is vital for the sector’s quality and resilience. He warned that higher fuel costs and global supply‑chain disruptions are straining producers. The government will boost domestic...
Workroom Automation Raises Seed Funding Led by Equirus InnovateX Fund
Workroom Automation, a Hyderabad‑based connected‑factory platform, secured ₹6.2 crore in seed funding led by the Equirus InnovateX Fund, with participation from Astir Ventures, Venture Catalysts Group, and several angels. The capital will accelerate product development, especially its AI‑powered planning engine, and...
Hexagon Boosts Shopfloor Productivity with Advanced TubeInspect and BendingStudio XT
Hexagon has upgraded its TubeInspect inspection cell and BendingStudio XT software, delivering near‑instant, non‑contact measurement of tubes and wires directly on the shopfloor. The new release adds simultaneous multi‑part inspection, integrated support for handheld 3D scanners such as ATLASCAN Pro and HYPERSCAN,...
‘METROLOGY BREW’ News Bulletin – 23rd March
The latest Metrology Brew bulletin highlights a surge in smart manufacturing technologies that combine advanced 3‑D measurement, AI‑driven analytics, and high‑speed computed tomography. Companies such as Measur3D, ActionPlas, Lumafield, and Wagon Automotive are deploying new CMMs, inline metrology cells, and...
Flexco System Prevents Costly Conveyor Failure at Cemex
Flexco installed its Elevate belt‑rip detection system at Cemex UK’s Dove Holes Quarry, where it automatically shut down a conveyor after detecting a fallen steel plate in April 2025. The rapid shutdown within 12 metres averted a catastrophic belt rupture and prevented weeks...
South Korea’s ‘Pali-Pali’ Spirit Keeps Killing Its Workers
A fire at Anjun Industrial, a Daejeon car‑parts supplier, killed 14 workers on Friday, exposing a deadly mix of illegal building extensions, grease buildup, and flammable sandwich panels. The blaze originated in a makeshift, unregistered rest area lacking ventilation and...
India Coca‑Cola Bottler SLMG Beverages May Hike Prices Amid Rising Packaging Costs From West Asia War
India’s largest Coca‑Cola bottler, SLMG Beverages, is weighing selective price hikes as the Middle‑East war drives up costs for plastic bottles, caps, labels and cartons. The company, which posted a 49% sales jump to ₹6,773 crore and a 76% profit surge...
European Car Makers Facing Black Hole in Electrifying Family SUVs
European manufacturers are grappling with the electrification of the C‑segment SUV, a segment that now accounts for roughly one‑fifth of all vehicle sales across Europe. These family‑oriented SUVs require long‑range batteries, typically nickel‑manganese‑cobalt chemistries, which are far more expensive than...
Purus Adds to Samsung Heavy LNG Series
Singapore‑based gas owner Purus has exercised an option for an additional LNG carrier with Samsung Heavy Industries, pricing the contract at KRW 377.9 bn (about $252 m) and targeting delivery in Q2 2029. The newbuild follows a prior $503 m order for two 174,000‑cu m vessels...
Trainer Hiring Is Structured. Why Does Supervisor Selection Seem So Random?
Manufacturers rigorously certify trainers but often fill supervisor openings through ad‑hoc promotions, typically choosing the strongest operator rather than the strongest leader. This shortcut can mask leadership gaps, leading to inconsistent onboarding, varied shift standards, and rising turnover. Billups cites...
Monash University Research Highlights Safer, Smarter Human-Robot Teamwork in Manufacturing
Monash University researchers published a review in the International Journal of Production Research showing that better prediction of human behaviour by robots can make manufacturing safer, more adaptive and efficient as Industry 5.0 evolves. The study compares mechanism‑based, data‑driven and hybrid...
Port of Oakland: Exports Continue to Outperform Imports
The Port of Oakland handled 163,254 TEUs in February 2026, a 14.5% year‑over‑year decline and 16.7% drop from January as vessel activity slowed for Lunar New Year. Vessel calls fell to 72, reflecting planned blank sailings, yet export volumes remained...
Cirrus360 Introduces New Automation System to Help Small Meat Processors
Cirrus360 unveiled Edgware, a 5G‑enabled automation platform for small and medium‑sized meat processors, at the 2026 International Livestock Congress in Houston. Developed with Rail19 and Texas A&M’s meat‑science faculty, the system fuses edge sensors, cloud analytics, and real‑time incident reporting...
Manufacturing Boost as Vorwerk Relocates Australasian HQ to Victoria
Global home‑technology firm Vorwerk announced the relocation of its Australasian headquarters from Perth to Melbourne, consolidating operations and positioning leadership closer to its largest customer base. The move is expected to generate 55 new jobs and leverages Victoria’s robust manufacturing,...
China Creates First National Standards for Humanoid Robots to Support Industry Scale-Up
China unveiled its first national standard system for humanoid robots, the Humanoid Robot and Embodied Intelligence Standard System (2026 Edition), at a Beijing technical committee meeting. The framework, built by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology with input from...
Dexterity Says Its Physical AI World Model ‘Unlocks Full Potential on Nvidia Hardware’
Dexterity.ai announced that its production‑proven world model, Foresight, now runs on Nvidia L4 GPUs with a 17× speedup, cutting perception cycles from 1,508 ms to 90 ms. The redesign also increased sensor data utilization from 3 percent to 100 percent, delivering 32× more information...
National Trucking Capacity Is About to Tighten Significantly
National dry‑van spot rates surged to $2.89 per mile, the highest level since 2022, after a $0.12 weekly jump. The rise reflects a 20‑25% year‑over‑year recovery on key lanes and volumes at multi‑year highs. Carrier attrition, driver regulations and tender...
Electric Propulsion Innovator Arc Raises $50M in New Funding
Arc, a Los Angeles‑based electric boat and powertrain firm, closed a $50 million Series C round led by investors such as a16z, Menlo Ventures, and Eclipse. The capital will be used to accelerate production of electric tugboat powertrains and to expand the...
VinFast Hasn’t Given Up On Its US Ambitions — Despite Delays, Betting On Long-Term Strategy
VinFast announced it will resume construction of its North Carolina EV factory in April 2026, shifting the project to a phased, lower‑cost model. The plant’s footprint and workforce have been cut to roughly 780,000 square feet and 1,400 employees, with...
Metrology-Driven Optical NDE for Screening ICT Probe-Induced Indentations on PCB Pads
In‑circuit testing (ICT) can leave micro‑indentations on PCB test pads, risking surface integrity and latent failures. Researchers introduced a non‑contact optical NDE method that combines high‑resolution microscopy with metrology‑driven feature extraction to quantify these indentations. Validation on a 2,000‑image dataset...
Why H&M’s Sustainability Report Is So Unusual
H&M’s latest sustainability report stands out by foregrounding ambitious emissions targets at a time when many fast‑fashion players are scaling back ESG disclosures. The document not only details a roadmap for supply‑chain decarbonisation but also teases a preview of its...
MODEX 2026 Preview: AI, Robotics & Supply Chain Innovation Take Center Stage
MODEX 2026, scheduled for April 13‑16 at Atlanta’s Georgia World Congress Center, will host over 1,000 exhibitors and more than 200 free educational sessions focused on AI, robotics, and supply‑chain digital transformation. The agenda features high‑profile keynote speakers such as...
Bio.3DGREEN Project: Creating a New Way to Produce Bio-Based Components Using Graphene Foam
The EU‑funded Bio.3DGREEN project, launched in May 2025, will run for 42 months and unites 14 partners from nine European nations. It aims to create bio‑based components using vegetable‑oil‑derived graphene foam that mimics natural sponge‑like structures. By combining biomimetic engineering...
Musk Says Tesla, SpaceX, xAI Chip Project to Kick Off in Texas
Elon Musk announced the Terafab project, a Texas‑based semiconductor venture that will initially operate an advanced technology fab in Austin capable of producing and testing any chip type. The facility will be jointly managed by Tesla and SpaceX and is...
Nissan Torture-Tested This Engine For 100 Hours And The Results Are Impressive
Nissan's Decherd Powertrain Assembly Plant subjected its production VQ38 3.8‑liter V6, paired with a 9‑speed transmission, to a 100‑hour full‑throttle endurance test on a dynamometer. The trial, equivalent to more than 130,000 miles of heavy‑load driving, included X‑ray scans that...
EPropelled Unveils Expansion at Global Innovation Centre in Coventry
ePropelled inaugurated its Global Innovation Centre in Coventry on March 20, marking a major expansion aimed at scaling production to over one million electric and hybrid propulsion systems annually by 2027. The facility consolidates propulsion design, software development, and testing,...
Low-Tension Piston Rings Provide Serious Benefits For Automakers
Low‑tension piston rings have become standard in most new cars since the early 2000s, delivering notable friction reductions and efficiency gains. Internal friction from rings can consume up to 15% of brake horsepower, and a Hot Rod test showed a 6.8 hp...
Shared Radar: Maritime Supply Chain Visibility in a Weaponized World
The article presents the Virtual Watch Tower (VWT) as a new, federated model for maritime and intermodal supply‑chain visibility, positioning it against proprietary control towers, state‑run platforms, and defence‑only networks. VWT treats situational awareness as a public good, using the...
Gokaldas Exports Bolsters Manufacturing Strategy with Senior Leadership Appointment
Gokaldas Exports has appointed Sreeja Balachandra as Associate Vice President to lead a manufacturing transformation agenda. Her mandate includes embedding lean systems, process optimisation, and capability building across the company's export‑focused factories. The move comes as Indian apparel exporters grapple with...
![[Webinar] From System of Record to System of Action: Rethinking ERP and AI in Food & Beverage and Consumer Products...](https://hixhlmpcokxhartfkpyi.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/images/thumbnails/2cc5d7b0b267499cdedb3314c93568ff.webp)
[Webinar] From System of Record to System of Action: Rethinking ERP and AI in Food & Beverage and Consumer Products...
The upcoming webinar spotlights a paradigm shift from traditional ERP as a passive system of record to an AI‑driven system of action for food‑and‑beverage and consumer‑products manufacturers. It showcases QAD Adaptive ERP and Champion AI’s ability to turn real‑time operational...
Kannauj’s Agarbatti (Incense Sticks) & Dhoopbatti (Incense Cones) Industry: Scaling Everyday Demand Through Efficient Production
Kannauj’s agarbatti and dhoopbatti sector, highlighted under India’s One District One Product (ODOP) initiative, has moved from largely manual workshops to machine‑assisted production lines. This transition has lifted output capacity, expanded the workforce from roughly 30 to 150 employees, and...
Perciva 5D Camera: Occlusion-Free 3D Vision for Industrial, Retail, and Robotic Imaging
Teledyne e2v introduced the Perciva 5D camera, a short‑range 3D vision system that combines 2D imaging and depth mapping in a single CMOS sensor. The device uses angular‑sensitive pixel technology and an on‑board neural‑processing unit to deliver real‑time, occlusion‑free depth maps...
InnovMetric Enables Data Acquisition From FARO CREAFORM 3D Scanners
InnovMetric and FARO CREAFORM have fully integrated data acquisition from FARO’s auto‑referencing multiline 3D scanners into PolyWorks | Inspector. The integration lets users capture and visualize scan data in real time within the same inspection software, preserving existing workflows and templates. It responds...
Choosing the Right Metal Shaping Method
Researchers at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology show that the choice of metal‑shaping method directly influences material integrity, yet many firms still rely on intuition. Mechanical processes such as stamping and CNC machining introduce residual stress, burrs, and micro‑structural changes. Thermal...
Inspection Equipment Trends Rebound as Machinery Orders Surge in 2025
U.S. metalworking machinery orders rebounded in 2025, reaching $5.74 billion—a 22.5% increase over 2024—and added roughly 1,700 units, up 8.5%. While overall machinery spending recovered, inspection equipment displayed a persistent value‑unit divergence, with prices climbing even as unit orders fell. 2025...
Warehouse Leasers Seek Cheaper Properties Away From Ports
Industrial tenants are moving large‑scale distribution from coastal port markets to cheaper inland logistics hubs, according to Cushman & Wakefield. Port‑proximate markets captured only 19% of U.S. industrial net absorption in 2025, the lowest share in 15 years, while overall...
US Resin Shippers Look to Tap New Customers Amid Iran War
U.S. resin exporters are seeing a surge in container bookings as the Iran‑Israel conflict disrupts the Middle East’s dominant plastics supply chain. On March 16, Vizion recorded 6,191 daily export bookings, nearly double the 3,500‑4,500 range typical for 2026. The first...
Indian Fertilizer, Specialty Chemical Industries Hit by US-Iran War
The United States‑Iran conflict has shut the Strait of Hormuz, choking the flow of liquefied natural gas that underpins India’s ammonia imports. Ammonia shortages forced Alkyl Amines Chemicals and Balaji Amines to suspend production of key amines, while fertilizer makers...
MISUMI, Oishii Farm Corporation Announce Strategic Partnership
MISUMI Group Inc. has signed a strategic partnership with U.S. vertical farming pioneer Oishii Farm Corporation. Through its recently acquired subsidiary Fictiv, MISUMI will provide mechanical components for Oishii’s Ametalas Farm, leveraging AI and robotics to fine‑tune temperature, humidity, lighting...
Ferrari Is Recalling the 12Cilindri Because the Window Tint Is Too Dark
Ferrari announced a recall of 80 12Cilindri models sold in the United States because the rear and side window tint is too dark to meet federal safety standards. NHTSA documents show the glass fails to provide the required 70 percent...
C&C Marine Expands 24 Acres, Builds Automated Spool Shop
C&C Marine & Repair announced a 24‑acre expansion of its Belle Chasse facility and the construction of a fully automated spool shop, touted as the most advanced in the United States. The shop will house CNC bending, plasma cutting, blasting,...
EV Notes: Uber Commits to Rivian Robotaxi Investments
Uber Technologies has pledged up to $1.25 billion to Rivian Automotive for a fleet of 10,000 autonomous R2 robotaxis, with an initial $300 million equity purchase contingent on regulatory clearance. The rollout targets San Francisco and Miami in 2028 and could expand to...
Echion Technologies and GUS Unveil Launch of XNO® Battery Products at Battery Japan
Echion Technologies and GUS Technology announced the commercial launch of XNO® fast‑charging, high‑power battery products at Battery Japan. The cells, produced at GUS’s Zhongli plant in Taiwan, can reach 80% state‑of‑charge in five minutes, operate at –30 °C, and retain over...
Advanced Shipbuilding 'Factory of the Future' Opens in Alabama
Hadrian opened a 2.2‑million‑square‑foot ‘Factory of the Future’ in Cherokee, Alabama, funded by $900 million Navy OBBBA money and $1.5 billion private capital. The facility will mass‑produce components for Virginia‑class attack and Columbia‑class ballistic‑missile submarines, creating up to 1,000 high‑paying jobs. By...