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Semitrailer and truck body manufacturer Wabash National Corporation announced plans to idle two facilities in Little Falls, Minnesota, and Goshen, Indiana. The company expects the actions to result in approximately 270 layoffs.

A Wabash SEC filing mentioned 56 job cuts in Minnesota and 214 in Indiana. WARN Notices revealed that impacted positions will include maintenance and production coordinators, machine operators, assemblers and welders — with the latter two accounting for 83 of the affected employees in Indiana. The Minnesota WARN Notice did not disclose the number of workers by role.

https://www.ien.com/operations/video/22957901/aerospace-firm-pays-15m-for-pushing-shoddy-ejection-seat-parts

Teledyne Electronic Safety Products (Teledyne ESP), an aerospace and defense electronics company based in Chatsworth, California, has agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle allegations it sold parts to the Department of Defense that were not up to contract specifications.

The firm’s False Claims Act violations can be traced back to the manufacture of Digital Recovery Sequencer (DRS) units used in ejection seat systems. The devices, which were developed to replace the Analog Recovery Sequencer used in similar systems on F-15, F-16, F-22, A10, B-1B and B...

U.S. Steel faces a lawsuit from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) after the company allegedly took unlawful action against a pregnant worker who suffered a miscarriage after months of work assignments inconsistent with her doctor’s restrictions. The complaint claims that U.S. Steel violated the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act by failing to provide the employee with “reasonable accommodations.” 

The commission noted that the individual began working for U.S. Steel in 2012 and, since about 2018, had worked as a mobile equipment operator at the company’s Minntac mine near Mountain Iron, Minnesota. The suit added that she...

On Christmas morning in 2023, the cargo vessel Genius Star XI was on its way from Vietnam to California, navigating through heavy weather in the North Pacific Ocean while carrying massive lithium-ion batteries, when a fire broke out in the cargo hold. 

The crew put out the fire, but then, three days later, as the ship sought refuge at the nearest port in Dutch Harbor, Alaska, another fire started in a second cargo hold. The crew was able to fight the fire, and it was put out the next day. No one was injured, but the incidents aboard t...

Low earth orbit is a vast place, but that doesn’t mean it’s empty.

And as countries across the globe are increasingly using this space for connectivity and research, satellite populations are skyrocketing – and we may witness some close calls.

It was recently revealed that a SpaceX satellite nearly collided with another, unexpected satellite, the source of which is still not fully understood.

According to SpaceX VP of engineering Michael Nicholls, a SpaceX satellite encountered another satellite that had been launched sometime in the previous 48 hours from China’s CAS Space.

Nichol...

Welcome to another episode of Gen Z in Manufacturing, a podcast where I talk to young people about their journeys in manufacturing, how they intend to influence the industry and what they are looking for from an employer.

For this episode, I welcome Gabe Schulze, a 25-year-old industrial engineer at Path Machining + Automation.

Schulze holds a bachelor’s and master’s in industrial engineering and has worked for Path Machining for just over one year. At the company, Schulze leads initiatives to optimize CNC machining operations, implement standardized processes and improve unattended shift performance. His role...

Another community filed a lawsuit against a group of fire truck manufacturers, alleging a price-fixing conspiracy that forced cities and fire departments to overpay for their vehicles. The latest legal action comes from the city of Ann Arbor, Michigan, and targets REV Group, Oshkosh Corporation, Pierce Manufacturing (owned by Oshkosh) and Rosenbauer America.

The city of La Crosse, Wisconsin, filed the first lawsuit in August, claiming that the aforementioned companies conspired to restrict supply and drive up fire truck prices and that inflation alone does not explain the increases. Other entities with cases include Onalaska, Wisconsin, and...

Earlier this week, Ford scrapped the fully-electric F-150 Lightning and pivoted away from aggressive EV plans after losing $13 billion on the category since 2023.

As consumer demand wanes and the company plans to take another $19.5 billion hit in Q4, Ford is shifting gears toward extended-range gas-powered vehicles and hybrids.

The ripple effects throughout the supply chain will be far-reaching, including its $6.5 billion deal with LG Energy Solutions to make some 500,000 batteries per year. According to recent regulatory filings, that deal has been scrapped.

About two weeks ago, I was on a plane in Minneapolis that touched down a bit later than scheduled. As soon as that seat belt light turned off, a line of anxious passengers with tight, some impossible, connections, smashed into the center aisle. Some would make it, some would not, and maybe if this odd Mazda concept from the 1990s made it to market, everyone would have made their flights. 

Volkswagen announced that it plans to establish a research hub at its Transparent Factory in Dresden, Germany. The company noted that this realignment will phase out vehicle production at the site by the end of the year — marking the automaker’s first plant closure in Germany, according to the New York Times.

Transparent Factory Dresden, famous for its glass walls, opened in 2001 and began producing Volkswagen’s ID.3 electric vehicles in 2021. The company plans to dismantle the ID.3 production line in January, with the first joint research projects with the Technical University of Dresden beginning in mid-20...

Anhueser-Busch’s U.S. brewing footprint will soon be reduced by three facilities in moves that will impact more than 400 workers, according to reports.

The brewer of Bud Light and Michelob Ultra has sold its plant in Newark, New Jersey, to property developer the Goodman Group, and will close down other breweries in Merrimack, New Hampshire, and Fairfield, California, early next year.

A company spokesman said that the production at those plants will be moved to its other U.S. breweries, and that the moves would allow it to “invest even more” in its remaining operat...

On Monday, OSHA announced more than $986,000 in safety violations for the largest transformer manufacturer in North America.​

According to the U.S. Labor Department, OSHA inspectors visited Virginia Transformer Corp.'s (VTC) plant in Pocatello, Idaho, in June 2025. The visit was a follow-up after a pair of inspections last year found cranes used to handle heavy loads with faulty brakes and switches.

A former plant worker received an eight-year prison sentence for committing wire fraud and cheating his employer out of nearly $500,000, the Department of Justice announced. 

The perpetrator, 57-year-old John Laakso — who also went by John Trebesch — reportedly worked as a contractor and later became an engineering manager at GAF Materials Corporation’s roofing factory in Savannah, Georgia. His responsibilities included securing equipment and services for the facility, which makes products for residential and commercial roofing applications.

Next month, Mecum Auctions hopes to cash in with a 1995 Corvette ZR1 Phase 5 engine still sealed in its original crate. The engine will go up for sale at Mecum's Kissimmee (kuh-si-mee) 2026 sale.

The factory‑sealed LT5 crate engine underscores a growing demand for standalone powerplants as collectibles. Mecum has seen a surge in “component collectibles” as enthusiasts are increasingly bidding on rare transmissions, engines, and even factory tools. The auction listing emphasizes the engine’s untouched condition, complete with original packaging and documentation.

Recent sales of LT5 engines have fetched up to $50,000.

Jaguar’s longtime design chief Gerry McGovern – and designer of the 00 – has reportedly been fired this past week.

Last Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that Taylor Farms New Jersey, a vegetable processing subsidiary of bagged salad maker Taylor Farms, faces more than $1 million in fines following an inspection triggered by a workplace fatality in Swedesboro, New Jersey. 

The investigation began in May 2025 after a worker was killed while cleaning a machine, and OSHA inspectors found 16 willful and repeated safety violations related to a lack of lockout/tagout procedures and training during sanitation activities. The safety agency proposed $1,125,484 in citations. 

OSHA also hit PL Solutions Group, which does business as People Lo...

Within the studio’s ‘Invent and Integrate’ design approach, Mask Architects has unveiled a fully self-chargeable solar motorcycle named Solaris. At its core, Solaris looks a little bit like any other bike, but upon charging, retractable photovoltaic wings unfold, collecting rich sunlight to supply energy to the bike’s lithium storage unit.

The project serves as an exploration of autonomous mobility, focusing on vehicles capable of generating their own power without relying on fuel, charging networks, or electrical grids. When parked, Solaris effectively becomes its own charging station, operating independently and supporting site-free energy use. This technical foundati...

Welcome to another episode of Gen Z in Manufacturing, a podcast where I talk to young people about their journeys in manufacturing, how they intend to influence the industry and what they are looking for from an employer.

For this episode, I welcome 23-year-old Roman Andrew, an applications engineer at Fristam Pumps USA.  

Andrew spent nearly two years interning at Fristam Pumps while in college, gaining experience in design engineering and quality assurance. During that time, he worked on pump assemblies and part design, collaborated with machinists on the shop floor and performed gauge calibrations a...

Last Friday, Able Groupe pleaded guilty to a pair of felony charges for smuggling illegal baby formula into the United States. 

According to the Justice Department, the company, which also did business as Little Bundle and Huggable, sold European infant formula to U.S. consumers beginning in the spring of 2019 on LittleBundle.com. 

https://www.ien.com/food-beverage/video/22955484/guilty-pleas-follow-scheme-to-smuggle-illegal-baby-formula-into-us

#InfantFormula, #BabyFormulaRecall, #FDA, #FoodSafety, #Smuggling, #JusticeDepartment, #DOJ, #FDCA, #PublicHealth, #InfantHealth, #FormulaShortage, #BotulismOutbreak, #ConsumerSafety, #ImportAlerts, #NewsUpdate

Aluminum manufacturer Novelis suffered a third fire in two months at its plant in Oswego, New York. The company announced on its website that the fire began around 8:45 a.m. on Nov. 20 and that multiple local fire departments extinguished it by 3:25 p.m. The company added that all workers safely evacuated.

The Wall Street Journal cited anonymous sources who said the incident appeared to occur in the same area as the first blaze in September. Novelis has not disclosed any details regarding damage.

In March 2024, a nearly 1,000-foot-long container ship lost power and crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, causing the structure to collapse. Six highway workers were killed in the accident and estimates for replacing the bridge are as high as $5.2 billion.

And now it looks like the whole tragic accident was caused by a single loose wire.

Ford has revealed a new sales strategy that’s incorporating the biggest e-commerce seller in America.

The automaker recently announced that, starting this week, buyers can purchase pre-owned Ford vehicles on Amazon.

California Governor Gavin Newsom yesterday announced nearly $100 million in tax credits spread across nine different companies to create new jobs and strengthen manufacturing in the Golden State. 

The Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development awarded $99.9 million in California Competes Tax Credits to support some 2,752 new jobs with an average weighted annual salary of $139,000. According to Governor Newsom, the investment will fetch more than $370 million in new private money.

Tesla is asking suppliers to remove all Chinese components used in the manufacturing of its cars for the U.S. market. 

According to a new report from the Wall Street Journal, the company had previously stopped using Chinese suppliers for automobiles destined for the U.S. market, and now it's asking suppliers to do the same. 

Tesla yesterday issued a recall for its Tesla Powerwall 2 AC Battery Power Systems. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the lithium-ion battery cells in about 10,500 Powerwall 2 systems can cause the unit to stop functioning during normal use. 

The systems are overheating. Tesla has already received 22 reports of malfunctioning devices, including six in which the unit started smoking and five fires that resulted in minor property damage. As of press time, no injuries have been reported. 

On the heels of securing an $89 million U.S. Army modernization contract and introducing a new family of multi-mission autonomous vehicles, Oshkosh Defense is making headlines again; this time for workforce reductions.

Following a $52.8 million decline in third-quarter sales, the company announced plans to lay off 160 employees at its Oregon Street plant in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, effective January. The decision was confirmed by both Alexandra Hittle, Oshkosh Corporation’s Director of Global Marketing and Communications, and Bob Lynk, President of Auto Workers Local 578. According to both, the layoffs come after all other options were considered.

Honda has issued a massive recall impacting hundreds of thousands of Civic models and the root cause is, you guessed it, a mixup with a fence in Italy.

The automaker warned that 18-inch aluminum alloy wheels that were sold as accessories could detach from the vehicle due to a manufacturing error. As the company points out, having the wheels fly off your car can result in “a loss of control, increasing the risk of a crash or injury.”

A fascinating feat of automotive engineering is set to be auctioned later this month. The 'Beast' is a 19-foot long, two-door station wagon made in 1972 by British engineer John Dodd, and combines an aircraft-derived engine in a custom chassis. Station wagons are typically 15 feet to 16 feet long. 

According to Historics Auctioneers, which will set the Beast free to the highest bidder on November 29, 2025, the unique car traces back to engineer Paul Jameson. In the late 1960s, Jameson made a custom chassis big enough to hold a Rolls-Royce Meteor, an engine initially developed to power tanks in the s...

The Boring Company, a tunneling firm founded by Elon Musk, received a fine of about $500,000 for dumping wastewater at two sites across its Las Vegas project, Fortune reported.

Musk’s company wants to build a network of tunnels beneath cities to decrease traffic congestion. The company’s website mentions that it has received approval for 68 miles of tunnel and 104 stations for its Vegas Loop.

However, Clark County Water Reclamation District (CCWRD) reportedly caught the company dumping fluids and spoils into two manholes and two on-site cleanouts. A notice of violation cited by Fortune stated that the...

Novelis announced in its latest quarterly report that it plans to restart a hot mill damaged by a fire at its Oswego, New York plant. The metal manufacturer expects operations to resume in December. 

A McAdenville, North Carolina carpet factory will be closing its doors, with layoffs set to begin just two days after Christmas.

Mannington Mills is a fifth generation family-owned business based in Salem, NJ that’s produced flooring products for 110 years. On its website, the company claims to have more than 3,500 associates and multiple locations globally.

But those figures will be shifting measurably near the end of the year, according to a WARN notice filed with two states.

One of those filings details 296 job cuts at the McAdenville facility – a plant the company purchased from...

Last month, Andersen Corporation, a leading manufacturer of windows and doors, sued automation company ATS Corporation, for allegedly failing to deliver equipment for a multi-million dollar factory project at its Iowa subsidiary, Eagle Window and Door Manufacturing, Inc.

Andersen claims it poured millions into the facility to increase production of its high-end E-Series windows for the custom homebuilding market.

Andersen claimed ATS missed deadlines, demanded millions in additional payments, and halted work on the project altogether, citing “poor project management” that made the equipment 860 days late. 

Well, late last week, ATS filed an answe...

It looks like an escape pod. 

The project went from prototype to fleet in less than three years.

Swedish engineering company Sandvik says the global transition to sustainability faces a major challenge: while technologies such as electric vehicles, wind turbines, and solar panels depend on “clean” minerals, the demand for materials like copper, nickel, and lithium is rapidly outpacing supply.

To draw attention to the source of these essential resources, Sandvik has introduced the eNimon, or Nomine car. More than 90 percent of an average EV’s components originate from mined materials, but the eNimon is built entirely without metal or minerals—if you didn’t catch it eNimon is “no mine” spelled backwards.

Welcome to another episode of Gen Z in Manufacturing, a podcast where I interview young people about their journeys in manufacturing, how they intend to influence the industry and what they are looking for from an employer.

For this episode, I welcome Kyle Walter, a 24-year-old analyst at Deloitte.

Walter graduated from Wichita State University, where he studied mechanical engineering and worked at Smart Factory by Deloitte @ Wichita, which is located on the university’s Innovation Campus. 

Walter became a student team lead at The Factory and was eventually hired by Deloitte full-time. His...

Automating most company operations could prevent more than 600,000 new hires.

Electric vehicle maker Rivian plans to lay off approximately 4% of its workforce, according to the Wall Street Journal. The report stated that the development would impact over 600 employees. However, the company has not provided further details.

The news comes after a WSJ report in September that Rivian would cut about 1.5% of its workforce. A company spokesperson said that the previous layoffs impacted the commercial team as the automaker worked to “improve operational efficiency” for its upcoming R2 model, planned for launch in 2026.

Some marketing efforts are just simple PR stunts, while others are truly revolutionary feats of engineering. But when a gamer and a hip-hop artist take to the skies to play a video game on a giant screen suspended from a helicopter while flying in a different helicopter, why can't both be true?

Even a fairly straightforward pizza delivery still requires at least 30 minutes to bake the pie, throw it in a car and drive it to your door. But Inversion, an aerospace and defense technology company, is raising the stakes by promising to deliver cargo from space to just about anywhere on Earth within one hour.

The goal of Project Artemis has been characterized as a journey to the Moon “for scientific discovery, technology advancement, and to learn how to live and work on another world as we prepare for human missions to Mars.”

Researchers from University College London and Moorfields Eye Hospital recently announced the results of a trial for a new device that helps the blind not just see again, but read again.

The Prima device is a novel wireless subretinal photovoltaic implant paired with specialized glasses that project near-infrared light to the implant, which acts like a miniature solar panel. The device is being developed by Science Corporation, which specializes in brain-computer interfaces and neural engineering. So, how does it work? 

The Austin American-Statesman reported that battery manufacturing startup Base Power moved into the newspaper’s former downtown Austin building. Founded in 2023, the startup makes residential batteries and plans to use the publication’s previous site temporarily.

In the heart of Chillicothe, Ohio, a 175-year-old paper mill, long considered an unofficial symbol of the community, was forced to end production in August. Once a cornerstone of the town of 22,000, demand for the specialty paper it produced steadily declined, leading to its closure. First announced in April, the shutdown affected roughly 750 employees, who were notified months in advance. As Pixelle Specialty Solutions, the plant’s owner, prepared to relocate operations, workers were left facing difficult choices about their futures.

An engineering brand synonymous with bots will divest its robotics division.

ABB has announced that it is selling this business to SoftBank – a Japanese financial holding company with a heavy emphasis in technology.

SoftBank owns significant stakes in major companies like Nvidia and T-Mobile, and recent reports have suggested that the firm is carving out a strategic growth plan specific to AI.

And that’s likely where ABB comes in.

The Ford F-150 has been a top-selling pickup truck in America for many years running, but a recent disaster at the plant of one of the automaker’s key suppliers speaks to the precarious nature of even the most valuable supply chains.

On September 16th, a fire took place at the Oswego, New York factory of metal manufacturer Novelis – an event that reportedly leveled the plant’s hot mill, which is the facility’s primary aluminum sheet production area.

The maker of windows and doors says that its equipment is more than two years overdue.

The owner, identified as Li Xiaoshuang, parked his SU7 outside of a store, and what happened next was captured on a surveillance camera: while Li and another person conducted some business in the store, the blue vehicle began to drive away. Aware within moments, Li rushed outside to chase down the vehicle, which was reportedly stopped before any damage was done to people or surroundings.

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has restarted manufacturing and is working with suppliers to keep them in business as the U.K. automaker works to recover from a cyberattack that crippled production for more than a month.

The company announced that its phased manufacturing restart will begin Wednesday, when a pair of plants in the West Midlands — the Electric Propulsion Manufacturing Center, where JLR builds engines, and the Battery Assembly Center — come back online.

Employees will also return to work at the company's stamping operations in Castle Bromwich, Halewood and Solihull. The company is also recalling work...

Another day, another update on fledgling electric carmaker, Faraday Future.

Recent reports point to an incident in a satellite building to the company’s Los Angeles headquarters, in which a vehicle prototype allegedly caught fire.

https://www.ien.com/safety/video/22951814/ev-prototype-explodes-damages-company-hq

A federal grand jury charged two Colorado companies and some of their executives with conspiring to avoid paying tariffs on forklifts imported from China into the U.S. 

Court documents accused the companies, Octane Forklifts, Inc. and Endless Sales, Inc., which does business as Discount Forklifts, of selling the machines to federal government agencies as “Made in America,” disguising their Chinese origin. Individuals mentioned in the indictment include current executives Brian Firkins and Jeffrey Blasdel, as well as former executive J.R. Antczak. 

A manufacturer of agricultural equipment is citing tariffs in its decisions about its operations in the U.S.
But rather than expanding its U.S. production, it will instead shift some work overseas.

A former production operator and production technician filed a lawsuit against electric vehicle battery maker BlueOval SK, a joint venture created by Ford and Korean manufacturer SK On. The lead plaintiffs, Sean O’Brien and Randall Moore, allege that the company violated the Fair Labor Standards Act and Kentucky Wage and Hour Laws, Western Kentucky University Public Radio reported.

Sandro Dias is a 50-year-old Brazilian skateboarding legend; he's a six-time vert world champion. Well, he recently made history once again when he dropped in from the curved facade of a 22-story building in Brazil. 

Until now, the Centro Administrativo Fernando Ferrari (CAFF) building in Porto Alegre, standing 88.91 meters high, has been a white whale in the skateboarding community, which has dubbed the unique structure the "ultimate skate ramp." — Dias himself says he has dreamed of riding CAFF for some 13 years. 

For this episode, I welcome Marco Ristano, a 28-year-old senior industrial engineering and planning specialist at machinery manufacturer Caracol.

Ristano joined Caracol after a contact in the investment sector recommended the company. After nearly four years with the company, his duties include collecting and analyzing data, interaction with a range of teams, troubleshooting analysis and digitalization and management of internal information flows.

Ristano hopes to grow into a strategic role where he not only analyzes data and suggests operational improvements, but also contributes to high-level strategic decision-making. 

In this episode, Ristano discusses:

Last Thursday, a former employee of a multinational DVD and Blu-ray manufacturer and distributor was sentenced to 57 months in prison, nearly five years, for stealing DVDs and Blu-rays of "blockbuster movies" and selling them before their release dates. 

According to the Justice Department, 38-year-old Steven R. Hale of Memphis, Tennessee, worked for the DVD manufacturer. From February 2021 to March 2022, Hale stole more than 1,000 discs that were being prepped for commercial distribution in the U.S. 

Boeing Defense and the machinists union have reached a tentative deal, ending a five-week-long strike in St. Louis.

An official vote on the new five-year contract is scheduled for Friday, September 12.

Neenah Foundry, a maker of manhole covers and other iron castings, announced that it plans to close its plant in Lincoln, Nebraska, by the end of the year. Nebraska Public Media reported that the company intends to reopen the closed manufacturing facility as a distribution center on January 1, 2026. 

Neenah Foundry notified the state labor department that 103 workers would lose their jobs as a result of the permanent shutdown and noted that the non-union facility would not offer bumping rights. It did not disclose how many people the distribution center will employ.

A fire at a Pennsylvania plant owned by hardwood lumber producer Weaber broke out on the night of September 8, reportedly requiring more than 1 million gallons of water to contain.

Fox43 reported that firefighters arrived at the 84-year-old company’s headquarters in Lebanon around 9:10 p.m. The station later noted that all first responders had left the scene by 8:45 a.m. the following morning, with the building still under a controlled burn.

Serta Simmons is saying goodnight to a 122,000-square-foot factory in Jamestown, New York – a move the company says will take place in the next few months and impact 84 employees.

According to Furniture Today, the plant closure is the second one that’s been initiated by Serta Simmons so far this year. The company announced in May that it would shutter a Moreno Valley, California plant that employed 180 workers – a site that was built during an expansion push and has only been operational since 2018.

Last Tuesday, Tyson Foods announced that Brady Stewart, group president of prepared foods, beef and pork and the company's chief supply chain officer, was leaving the food company immediately. Stewart took "certain actions" that violated the company's code of conduct, the company said in a statement, though it didn't provide further details. 

Last month, more than 3,200 union workers at three Boeing plants in the St. Louis area went on strike. The employees, who make U.S. fighter jets and advanced weapons systems, rejected a "landmark" contract. 

The deal reportedly gave workers a 40% bump over the next four years as well as better medical benefits, pensions, overtime and work-life balance. But the union's members rejected that proposal.

Well, it's been a month, and since Boeing's best aren't willing to budge, the company is looking for a Plan B. Yesterday, the New York Times reported that the new plan i...

This week, Ontario premier Doug Ford responded angrily to reports that the spirits company would be closing the Amherstburg Crown Royal bottling plant, killing 180 jobs in the process.

Ford recently declared that he had a message “to [the company’s] CEO in France: You hurt my people, I’m going to hurt you” adding that Diageo leaders were “dumb as a bag of hammers.”

Jaguar Land Rover announced Tuesday that the company has been targeted by a cyberattack that has "severely disrupted" its production activities. 

The British carmaker, which officially rebranded as JLR about two years ago, said it "took immediate action to mitigate its impact by proactively shutting down" its systems. The company says it is trying to restart its global applications in a "controlled manner."

John Deere announced its acquisition of autonomous orchard sprayer GUSS Automation. Founded in 2018 and standing for Global Unmanned Spray System, GUSS expects its machines to act as a solution to the agricultural labor shortage. 

According to a search warrant, the employee works at the company's new $30 million corporate office it announced in May 2021. The worker allegedly created and deleted some 115 orders from March 2024 to March 2025. Of those orders, 109 shipments, valued at $1,086,263.85, were delivered.

The employee may have flown under the radar for a year, but then he got greedy and sent about 9,000 pounds of tools to his nearby apartment. 

Although FedEx confirmed the layoffs are not related to the company’s ‘Network 2.0’ plan for streamlining its package network, this is the company’s second layoff this year. The state’s labor department filed notice that 217 employees were previously laid off in Middle Tennessee in March.

Welcome to another episode of Gen Z in Manufacturing, a podcast that asks young people about their journeys in manufacturing, how they intend to influence the industry and what they are looking for from an employer.

For this episode, I welcome Hannah Dannecker, a 26-year-old managing partner at Better Together Group, a collection of companies that focus on supplying support and tools to staffing companies. Additionally, Dannecker serves as a board member for the Women’s Trucking Federation of Canada.

In this episode, Dannecker discusses:

AirBorn, a designer and manufacturer of interconnect solutions for industrial, defense, aerospace and medical applications, announced plans to close its facility in Taunton, Massachusetts. 

The company filed its WARN report on August 20, which stated that the closure would affect 86 workers beginning at the end of 2025 and continuing through 2026.

Wistron’s project is part of a $500 billion AI manufacturing effort by Nvidia.

This morning, Toto USA opened a $224 million manufacturing facility in Morrow, Georgia, reshoring production of high-end, one-piece toilets from the Toto Group's plants in Asia. Toto USA is the Japanese manufacturer's Americas division based in Morrow, Georgia.

The company, one of the largest plumbing manufacturers in the world that does more than $5.34 billion in annual sales, says it made the move to increase U.S. luxury one-piece toilet production capacity by 150% to meet rising demand.

Bioengineers at Harvard have created a soft, wearable robot that looks more like a smart jacket, designed to help stroke patients and individuals with neurodegenerative diseases, such as ALS, regain a bit of normalcy.

The team has been working on the technology for years, and the most recent version deploys sensors, balloons, machine learning and a physics-based model to learn each patient's unique movements to help them accomplish daily activities, such as eating, drinking or grooming. The device provides personalized movement assistance—right now, just for the upper body. 

The future of warfare is autonomous. To compete with China, particularly in the Taiwan Straight, the U.S. Department of Defense has been ramping up development of autonomous boats, but, according to an exclusive Reuters report, things could be better. 

The U.S. Navy recently conducted a test of autonomous drone boats off the California coast—it was meant to promote the Pentagon's prowess.  

During the test, one of the vessels stalled. As the team worked to fix a software bug, another vessel T-boned the stalled vehicle. Reuters actually managed to get their hands on foot...

On Friday, GM unveiled a pair of futuristic Corvette concepts, the CX and the CX.R Vision Gran Turismo, and they have a canopy that opens like a fighter jet. 

A nearly century-old golf course in western Michigan could be turned into an industrial, commercial and residential complex under a proposal from its potential new owner.

Residents living near Riverside Golf Club & Banquet Center in Battle Creek were invited to an informational meeting Wednesday about the project, WWMT-TV reports. Interstate Capital Investments, which has a tentative agreement in place to buy the course after some two years on the market, would dedicate about half of the property for industrial space, with the other half split between residential areas and commercial and office space.

T1 Energy and Corning today announced a new partnership to boost the U.S. solar supply chain. T1 will source hyper-pure polysilicon and solar wafers made by Corning at its plant in Michigan. Starting later next year, Corning wafers will be delivered to T1's G2_Austin solar cell facility, which is currently under development. The cells will then be used to make solar modules at T1's operational G1_Dallas site.

T1's G2_Austin 5 GW Solar Cell Facility is an $850 million project. According to the company, the project is enabled by the Trump Administration's tariffs...

The Trump Administration’s moving-target import tariffs have had significant impacts on the U.S. supply chain and manufacturing industry. While the full impact is still unfolding, it’s beginning to look like the trade deal tactics could do the unthinkable: raise the price of AriZona Iced Tea.

AriZona Iced Tea has been a shining beacon in the cooler sections of gas stations and grocery stores across the country for decades. Since 1997, the company has sold its tallboys for 99 cents, a price point that’s so set it’s actually printed right on the can. But according to the N...

A “massive and unpredictable” swarm of jellyfish has caused one of the largest nuclear power plants in France to completely shut down.

According to the Guardian, the jellyfish swam into water intake systems at the Gravelines facility in Northern France. The resulting clog in the filters caused four of the plant's six pumping stations to cease operation. The other two were already shut down for maintenance, leaving the systems needed to cool the reactors completely offline.

Last August, Sana Biotechnology opened a new 80,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in an old AT&T call center in Bothell, Washington. The Seattle-based startup, which manufactures engineered cells used as medicines for cancer, diabetes, and autoimmune disease patients, had been working on the project for more than a year. The facility was expected to create hundreds of new jobs and bring manufacturing in-house.

Tesla’s Cybertruck has sparked some interesting debates around aesthetics and utility versus novelty, but the U.S. military just wants a few of them to blow up.

The Air Force Test Center submitted a procurement request for 33 towable target vehicles to be used as targets for live missile fire testing. The request mostly focuses on sedans of various colors, trucks, SUVs and “Bongos,” which appears to be the term they used for a Japanese Kei truck.

But the list mentions the Cybertruck specifically, noting that the vehicle could appeal to enemies since they don’t seem t...

The NHL’s newest team announced a lawsuit against a bag manufacturer over a trademark dispute. The controversy involves the Utah Mammoth hockey team and a hockey equipment bag maker named Mammoth Hockey, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.

Cosmic Building, a construction technology company, uses AI-driven end-to-end software to run mobile robotic microfactories. At the heart of its newest microfactory in Pacific Palisades are ABB’s IRB 6710 robots and RobotStudio digital twin software. Both of which are integrated into Cosmic’s Workstation Cell and AI-driven Building Information Model (BIM). 

#ai   #california  #wildfire  #losangeles  #robot #fire

When it comes to global logistics, it seems no news is good news. If a transoceanic journey of goods goes without a hitch, you never hear about it.

But when things go wrong, they can go very wrong – and we’ve seen that play out in several dramatic fires in the past few years that have resulted in high profile tales of doomed cargo ships.

Most recently, an incident involving the cargo carrier Morning Midas led to millions in losses after a fire broke out and the ship sank off the coast of Alaska with more...

Tesla's brand loyalty has suffered some notable setbacks.

According to an exclusive Reutersreport, Tesla did more repeat business with U.S. autobuyers than any other major car brand. But then, CEO Elon Musk backed Donald Trump’s reelection efforts and customer loyalty suffered as a result.

S&P Global Mobility reports that Tesla customer loyalty reached an all-time high in June 2024, when 73% of households that already owned a Tesla and were in the market for a new car purchased another Tesla.

The Oregon plant dates back more than 70 years.

About a week ago, a team of engineers and fishing enthusiasts debuted a new product on Kickstarter with modest expectations. It's understandable; a little more than 40% of projects launched on the crowdfunding platform reach their funding goals, and about 15% fail to raise a single dollar. 

In January of 2022, Intel unveiled plans to invest $28 billion in building two new chip factories in Licking County, Ohio, to boost production of its advanced semiconductors to serve both Intel projects and other end customers.

A lot has happened since – and for Intel, the past few years have brought sluggish sales, layoffs, and a new CEO.

With that, the last several updates on Intel’s Ohio project have pretty much centered on the same theme – delays.

Welcome to another episode of Gen Z in Manufacturing, a podcast that asks young people about their journeys in manufacturing, how they intend to influence the industry and what they are looking for from an employer.

For this episode, I welcome Maggie Blaney, a 26-year-old solutions engineer at Epicor.

In this episode, Blaney discusses:

Pl...

Hertha Metals, a clean steel production startup, says it has successfully demonstrated its single-step process for turning low-grade iron ore into molten steel or high-purity iron. The company built a pilot plant in Texas and it’s been churning out one ton of steel per day for months now. Next year, the company plans to build a new facility capable of 9,000 tons per year and soon after, it anticipates scaling to 500,000 tons per year, on par with what commercial U.S. steelmaking micro mills are producing today.

According to Reuters, toy makers are looking for ways to further cut costs to cushion the blow from a 30% blanket tariff on Chinese goods, and it has translated to product and packaging redesigns.

The first to go, which may rile the "back in my day" members of the crowd, are batteries.

In 2024, IBM identified the manufacturing sector as the industry most attacked by cyber criminals for the third straight year – which is why we see even the biggest brands being impacted by the work of hackers.

Bleach maker Clorox is coming clean about the details surrounding a recent ransomware attack but the fingerpointing extends past the gang of perpetrators and all the way to the company’s IT provider.

And Clorox believes that the IT firm's faults in this situation were so egregious that it has filed a lawsuit.

Big 3 pillar Stellantis issued a rather shocking warning this week when it reported preliminary financial figures that estimate a $2.7 billion first half loss.

And as the auto company gets focused on the poor financials – impacted largely by tariff costs and related production losses – it’s also unveiled some strategic changes relating to R&D.

Stellantis said it will suspend its   development program and - with it - will discontinue the hydrogen powered commercial vans that it had previously planned to begin making this year.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and multiple vendors announced a recall of nearly 5 million swimming pools that the agency believes are linked to nine child drownings. 

According to the CPSC, the 48-inch and taller above-ground pools were manufactured in China and have been sold by Bestway, Intex and Polygroup since 2002. Retail locations that sold the recalled pools include Walmart, Target, Lowe’s, Home Depot and Costco, as well as online at Amazon.

In celebration of Disneyland Resort’s 70th anniversary, the ‘Happiest Place on Earth’ has unveiled a new attraction; “Walt Disney - A Magical Life.” Debuting at the Main Street Opera House, a cinematic presentation takes you through Walt Disney’s journey, featuring a pre-show tribute video, as well as a visit to a rendition of his office.

The family of a man who died in a crash involving a Tesla Cybertruck filed a lawsuit against the automaker, alleging a defective design and other claims. 

The lawsuit, filed in Harris County district court in Texas, stated that in August 2024, 47-year-old Michael Sheehan’s Cybertruck veered off the road, hit a culvert and caught fire, trapping Sheehan inside a blaze that allegedly reached 5,000 degrees Fahrenhei

Italian Designer Andrea Marazzi recently chopped up a 1993 Fiat Panda to create the world's narrowest EV, a historic feat that yielded a fully-drivable car that's only 50 cm (less than 20 inches) wide. 

Marazzi started with the chassis of an old Fiat Panda, cutting it vertically, and sandwiching the parts together to make a single seat EV from recycled components. Marazzi used his family's auto recycling business and workshop to make about 99 percent of the car from original parts. 

Reports from Forbes and Bloomberg suggest that one of Tesla’s executive officers has left the company. 

Forbes reported Thursday morning that CEO Elon Musk fired Omead Afshar, the head of operations in Europe and North America. Bloomberg rep orted later that day that Afshar “left the company.”

Factory tours commonly come to mind for tourists looking to experience local landmarks. Boeing, Jelly Belly and Louisville Slugger all offer popular behind-the-scenes outings. But it’s doubtful any of those are as popular as what Xiaomi is offering in China.

The consumer electronics giant has recently broken into the automotive space. It currently offers the SU7 full-size sedan and it’s working on the YU7 mid-size. It sold just 135,000 vehicles in 2024, though it expects to more than double that this year. But its factory tours have already become so popular that Xiaomi had to introduce a lott...

Blue Diamond has announced plans to wind down operations at its plant in Sacramento, California, cutting some 600 jobs in the process. 

The company says it was founded in 1910 to "ensure the long-term success of small, multigenerational almond farmers and their families in California."

To keep that mission on track, the company must shutter its plant in midtown Sacramento, transferring most manufacturing operations from its 53-acre-site to facilities in Turlock and Salida, California. 

The company says a former employee took proprietary recipes and other information to his new job.