Corning, Meta Begin North Carolina Cable Manufacturing Facility Expansion
Corning and Meta have broken ground on a major expansion of Corning's optical‑fiber manufacturing in Hickory, North Carolina, under a multiyear agreement worth up to $6 billion. The new capacity is expected to lift Corning's North Carolina workforce by 15‑20 percent, creating dozens of well‑paid jobs. The plant will supply Meta as its anchor customer, helping to alleviate a nationwide fiber shortage driven by AI‑focused data‑center builds and federal broadband programs. Despite the expansion, lead times for key fiber types remain above 60 weeks, slowing project schedules.
Ingram Micro Scores Rugged Samsung Device Range for Local Distribution
Ingram Micro has incorporated Samsung’s full rugged mX device suite into its Australian distribution lineup, extending coverage of IP68‑rated phones and tablets that meet MIL‑STD‑810H durability standards. The partnership builds on an existing relationship and aims to make these devices...
AREX400 AF - EASY MULTI-LEVEL MARKING. FIT THE TIGHTEST SPACES. AUTOMATE WITHOUT LIMITS.
Datalogic unveiled the AREX400 AF, a fiber‑laser marking system that adds software‑controlled Adjustable Focus, covering a ±20 mm to ±60 mm range. The technology eliminates manual refocusing, allowing instant focus changes via LIGHTER™ 9 software and supporting multi‑level parts in a single cycle. Weighing...
US Removes Sanctions on Three Russian Vessels, Says Move Not Policy Shift
The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control removed three Russian‑flagged vessels—container ships Fesco Moneron and Fesco Magadan and cargo ship Sv Nikolay—from its Specially Designated Nationals list. The ships, sanctioned in 2022 for ties to state‑linked banks, were delisted...
Appeals Court Upholds FMC Rules on Carrier Refusal-to-Deal, Export Policies
The D.C. Court of Appeals upheld the Federal Maritime Commission's authority to investigate ocean carriers' export policies and freight rates under the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022. The court rejected the World Shipping Council's challenge to the law's refusal‑to‑deal...
MODEX 2026: Ocado Intelligent Automation Debuts AI-Powered Software Suite
Ocado Intelligent Automation will unveil Ocado IQ at MODEX 2026, a cloud‑based AI platform that directs every pick, path and priority from inbound to outbound. The software powers the Chuck autonomous mobile robot and the newly‑designed Porter pallet‑moving AMR, both...
Sarens Helps Atlantic Canada Bulk Terminal Undergo Adaptation as Hub for Offshore Wind
Sarens partnered with the Atlantic Canada Bulk Terminal (ACBT) in Sydney, Nova Scotia, to convert the steel‑focused port into a dedicated offshore‑wind hub. The engineering team performed a ground stability study and deployed a high‑capacity crawler crane with a Superlift...
Northeast US Diesel Exports Surge to Europe
New York Harbor briefly became a net diesel exporter as traders shifted ultra‑low sulfur diesel (ULSD) shipments to Europe. A sharp rise in northwest European jet fuel prices created a price arbitrage window, flipping the usual discount relationship between European...
Mobilint Seeks to Supply NPU Chips for Shinsegae AI Checkout Systems
South Korean AI chip startup Mobilint has completed silicon proof‑of‑concept validation for its second‑generation NPU, Regulus, developed for Shinsegae Group’s AI‑powered checkout kiosks. The chip, fabricated on TSMC’s 12‑nm process, is slated for mass production in the second quarter and...
Samsung Electronics Adopts Hybrid Bonding Inspection Equipment
Samsung Electronics is rolling out hybrid bonding inspection equipment, partnering with Onto Innovation’s picosecond laser ultrasound system that is already being validated on mass‑production lines. The joint development targets detection of microscopic voids and overlay errors in high‑bandwidth memory (HBM)...
Brain Corp Updates Floor-Cleaning Robots with Adaptive AI that Removes Route Training
Brain Corp unveiled BrainOS Clean 2.0, integrating SelfPath AI into Tennant’s X‑series floor‑cleaning robots. The update lets machines autonomously generate and adjust routes, removing the need for manual training. Early deployments show 22% higher coverage, 55% greater autonomy, and deployment speeds more than...
Reframe Systems Installs Robotic-Built Modular Unit as Sales Hub for Boston Innovation Center
Reframe Systems has installed a 554‑square‑foot robotic‑built modular unit at The Bolt, a 180,000‑sq‑ft innovation campus under construction in Woburn, Massachusetts. The unit serves as a high‑end sales and leasing hub for developer Cabot, Cabot & Forbes during the construction phase,...
Toyota Launches ‘Swarm’ Automated Transport System for Warehouse Logistics
Toyota Material Handling Europe unveiled Swarm Automation Transport, an automated guided vehicle system that pairs its SAI125CB counter‑balance stacker with the T‑ONE control platform. The solution can move, stack and replenish pallets of various formats, from euro to bottom‑deck, across...
Women in Supply Chain: Cyndi Brandt of Descartes Systems Group
Cyndi Brandt, VP of Fleet Solutions at Descartes Systems Group, leverages a diverse background in banking, technology and last‑mile logistics to shape go‑to‑market strategy and product innovation. She champions a culture of curiosity, resourcefulness and transparent leadership, even stepping away...
Wiliot Builds Its Physical AI Supply Chain Platform on Databricks to Operationalize Item-Level IoT Data
Wiliot announced a Built‑On partnership with Databricks, moving its Physical AI supply‑chain platform onto the Databricks lakehouse. The shift lets the company ingest and govern massive item‑level IoT Pixel data streams in a unified environment. By leveraging Databricks’ compute and...
Amazon Freight Increases Dry Van Trailer Count to 80,000
Amazon Freight announced its North American dry‑van fleet has reached 80,000 trailers, up from 70,000 less than a year ago. The expansion adds 10,000 units to its over‑the‑road capacity, complementing an existing inventory of more than 24,000 intermodal containers. Amazon...
Volvo Cars Set to Become Lynk & Co’s Sole Importer in Europe
Volvo Cars and Geely Auto have signed a memorandum of understanding that would make Volvo the exclusive importer of Lynk & Co vehicles in Europe. The deal would see Lynk & Co sold and serviced through Volvo’s existing dealer network,...
Saudi Sadara Petchem Site Shuts Down on US-Iran War
Sadara Chemical Company, the Dow‑Aramco joint venture in Jubail, has temporarily halted production after supply‑chain disruptions linked to the US‑Iran war. The shutdown affects its massive ethylene, propylene and polymer output, as well as ethanolamines sold by Sabic and Dow....
Vention Launches Rapid Operator AI
Vention has commercially launched Rapid Operator AI, a turnkey system that automates deep‑bin picking for mid‑market and enterprise manufacturers. Built on the company’s Generalized Robotic Industrial Intelligence Pipeline (GRIIP) and NVIDIA Isaac models, the solution detects random parts, estimates 6‑DoF poses,...
Emobility Application Development Services for Automated EV Ecosystems
Emobility application development services are emerging as the backbone for automated electric‑vehicle ecosystems, replacing fragmented point solutions with unified platforms. By treating the software layer as infrastructure, these services provide shared data models, real‑time session orchestration, and integrated smart‑charging, routing,...
Ukraine Expands E-Points Defence Procurement System
Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence announced that its e‑Points procurement platform will now cover communications, optics, navigation, power and payload‑release components, expanding the digital marketplace for frontline units. The system awards digital points for verified combat successes, which units can spend...
Why Linen Visibility Is Becoming a Strategic Priority for High-End Hotels
High‑end hotels are deploying RFID‑enabled, cloud‑based linen management platforms to achieve real‑time visibility of inventory and lifecycle. The technology delivers instant data on stock levels, location, shrinkage and wear, enabling precise par‑level control and faster housekeeping workflows. By cutting losses,...
Motion Expands Service Footprint in North America
Motion Industries announced the opening of two new sales branches in Mexico—Cuautlancingo, Puebla and Piedras Negras, Coahuila—officially launched in late 2025. The facilities add to Motion’s existing network, bringing the total to 16 locations across the country. Each branch provides industrial...
Salalah Disruptions Send Carriers on Indian Trades Back to Adding Pakistan Calls
Operations at Oman’s Salalah port were suspended after a drone strike on Saturday, forcing a gradual restart this week. The disruption compounds existing schedule pressures from the broader Middle East crisis, prompting major carriers such as Maersk and Hapag‑Lloyd to...
Mark 3 Targets Asia Business with New Appointment
Mark 3 International has hired Chris Stevens as its Asia business development executive to accelerate growth in the region. Stevens brings three decades of experience across postal, parcel, courier and logistics sectors, having led senior roles at Swiss Post International...
How Food Manufacturers Can Benefit From AI and Other Technologies
Food manufacturers are accelerating AI adoption, using computer‑vision, automation and anomaly‑detection tools to proactively manage safety and meet the FDA’s extended food‑traceability rule, now due July 2028. Deloitte’s Drew Gaputis highlighted that AI can give a cleaner, end‑to‑end view of supply...
Expert Links Private Nuclear Sector to U.S. Defense Resilience
U.S. private‑sector firms, led by LIS Technologies, are rebuilding domestic uranium enrichment capacity to bolster national security and defense energy resilience. The move aims to reduce dependence on Russian and Chinese enrichment services while accelerating fuel‑cycle innovation for advanced reactors,...
U.S. DOE Partners with Amazon to Recover Critical Materials From Clothing, Tech Waste
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames National Laboratory and the Critical Materials Innovation Hub have teamed up with Amazon to develop AI‑driven recycling of critical minerals from clothing and electronic waste. The DOE is allocating nearly $1 billion, with more than...
Canada Post Shift Away From Home Delivery Impacts Retail
Canada Post has launched a government‑mandated transformation that will replace door‑to‑door mail with community mailboxes and close many rural post offices. The plan, currently under union consultation, aims to curb a near‑$1 billion loss and modernize operations. Retailers that rely on...
Logile Launches Fresh Operations Management Suite to Help Grocers Turn Fresh Into a Scalable Growth Engine
Logile, Inc. unveiled its Fresh Operations Management suite, an AI‑driven platform that unifies demand forecasting, labor planning, inventory control, and food‑safety compliance for fresh‑food departments. By routing all decisions through a single real‑time demand signal, the system dynamically adjusts production...
Industry Faces Trickle Down Pivot as Largest Ocean Carriers Continue to Grow
Hapag‑Lloyd is pursuing a takeover of Zim Integrated Shipping Services, a move that would further cement the dominance of the world’s largest ocean carriers. The biggest players are not only expanding fleet size but also buying terminals and building feeder...
A Year Into Tariffs, US Businesses See Declining Sales, Plan Price Increases: KPMG Survey
A year after the Trump administration’s tariff wave, KPMG’s February 2026 survey shows U.S. firms facing shrinking margins, higher operational costs and a growing tendency to shift tariff burdens onto customers. Thirty‑four percent of companies now pass more than half of...
Smarter Ecommerce Delivery in Africa
Delivery failures remain the biggest obstacle to ecommerce growth in Africa, where landmark addresses and cash‑on‑delivery preferences drive high return rates. Venture‑backed fulfillment firms such as Gig Logistics, Loop and Faramove are now using AI‑powered address verification, risk‑scoring APIs and...
HP Pulls Multiple Levers to Battle Soaring Memory Chip Costs
HP Inc. is confronting a sharp rise in memory‑chip prices, which have doubled sequentially, pushing memory and storage to represent about 35% of its PC bill of materials—twice the share from the prior quarter. To mitigate the cost pressure, HP...
AMSIGHT UNVEILS NEW WEBSITE AS ITS PRODUCTION-LEVEL QMS FOR AM MATURES
amsight, the Fraunhofer spin‑out specializing in data‑driven quality management for additive manufacturing, launched a new website (www.amsight.de) to highlight its production‑level QMS offering. The site organizes content by concrete use cases—traceable data, powder management, production monitoring, audit‑ready reporting, analytics, and...
Cold Storage Goes High-Tech
Rising e‑grocery sales and aging U.S. cold‑storage facilities are driving a surge in demand for modern, temperature‑controlled warehouses. DHL Supply Chain teamed with real‑estate developer RLCold to build over 5 million square feet of new cold‑storage space across North America, emphasizing...
Mesabi Metallics Ties up $520 Million Credit Facility
Mesabi Metallics secured a $520 million senior secured credit facility from Valor Mining Credit Partners II, a mining‑focused fund backed by Breakwall Capital and Vitol. The financing supports the final phases of its $2.5 billion direct‑reduction iron ore mine and pellet plant in...
Fuel Costs Deliver Fresh Headaches to Fresh Food Companies
Rising diesel costs, up 44% since the Iran war began, are prompting fresh‑food distributors to tack fuel surcharges onto perishable items such as fruit and Chilean salmon. The added fees are inflating prices for supermarkets, restaurants, hospitals and schools just...
As War Unfolds, Sofra Is Turning Solidarity Into a System that Sustains Lebanon
Two weeks after Israel’s assault, over one million Lebanese are displaced, intensifying an already fragile economy. Sofra, a digital platform co‑created by the Ministry of Tourism, Siren, CME and Beirut Digital District, matches diaspora donors, local restaurants and shelters to...
China's Chipmakers Are Reportedly in Triage Mode Ahead of Expected Helium Supply Cliff
China’s semiconductor fabs are entering a triage phase as helium supplies threaten to dry up by late April. The shortage stems from Qatar, which provides roughly one‑third of the world’s helium, halting output after Iranian drone attacks on the Ras...
Entries Open for Supply Chain Excellence Awards APAC 2026
Entries are now open for the 2026 Supply Chain Excellence Awards APAC, with the ceremony scheduled for 1 December 2026 at Singapore’s Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel. The awards, entering their 30th year, feature 20 categories ranging from resilience and clean transport to...
The Broken System That Keeps Shipping Crews Stranded in the Strait of Hormuz
Conflict in the Gulf has left roughly 1,900 commercial vessels stranded in the Strait of Hormuz, exposing a systemic failure in maritime ownership and regulation. Seafarers like India’s PK Vijay remain on abandoned ships such as the Mahakal without pay,...
Canada’s Trade Deal With Mercosur Alliance Could Revamp Western Hemisphere Trade
Canada is close to sealing a free‑trade agreement with the Mercosur bloc, potentially by September 2026. The deal would connect Canada with five South American economies—Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay—representing 282 million people and about $3 trillion in GDP. In 2024,...
MPV Operators Face Worsening Bunker Fuel Supply Crisis as Stocks Tighten
Multipurpose vessel (MPV) operators are confronting a deepening bunker fuel shortage as the Middle East conflict disrupts supply chains across key hubs, including the Middle East, Asia and South Africa. Prices for low‑sulfur marine gas oil (LSMGO) and very low...
NORD DRIVESYSTEMS at Seafood Expo 2026 - Corrosion Under Control: Durable Drive Technology for Fish Processing
NORD DRIVESYSTEMS will showcase its NXD tupH® surface‑treatment at Seafood Expo 2026 in Barcelona, demonstrating how the technology gives aluminium drive components stainless‑steel‑level corrosion resistance and food‑safe hygiene. The exhibit includes fanless IE5+ synchronous motors, the plug‑and‑play DuoDrive gear‑unit/motor concept, and...
MIT Professional Education to Offer Enterprise Additive Manufacturing Program with Integrated RAPID + TCT Experience
MIT Professional Education launches a five‑day Enterprise Additive Manufacturing program, running April 13‑17, 2026, that blends MIT classroom instruction with hands‑on project work. Led by Professor John Hart, the course guides engineers, operations, and business leaders through the full adoption cycle—from...
Laos - Vietnam Railway Gets Green Light
The Lao National Assembly approved the first phase of a 562‑km standard‑gauge railway linking Vientiane with Vietnam’s Vung Ang deep‑water port. Phase 1A, a 147‑km stretch from the Thai border to the Laos‑Vietnam frontier, will be built under a 50‑year build‑operate‑transfer...
Cyngn Deploys 4 DriveMod Tuggers at Vann Family Orchards
Cyngn announced the deployment of four autonomous DriveMod Tuggers at Vann Family Orchards, a major California‑based agricultural processor. The tuggers now handle raw‑material transport between storage and processing zones, reducing reliance on manual forklifts while keeping humans for loading and...
Is Broker Liability About to Change?
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, a case that asks whether the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (FAAAA) preempts state negligent‑hiring claims against freight brokers such as C.H. Robinson. Lower courts dismissed the claim, but...
PANOPTIMIZATION TO EXHIBIT PANX ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING SIMULATION AND OPTIMIZATION PLATFORM AT RAPID + TCT 2026
PanOptimization will showcase its PanX simulation and optimization platform for metal additive manufacturing at the RAPID + TCT 2026 trade show in Boston from April 13‑16. The platform targets laser powder bed fusion and directed energy deposition processes, enabling high‑resolution simulation of...