Business Insider The latest preliminary reading on manufacturing activity from Markit Economics showed activity slowed in May, with the latest PMI coming in at 53.8. Thursday's report signaled the slowest overall business conditions since the start of last year.

Reuters The Markit/JMMA flash Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rose to a seasonally adjusted 50.9 in May from a final 49.9 in April. The index returned above the 50 threshold that separates contraction from expansion for the first time in two months.

Bloomberg Business German economic growth cooled to 0.3 percent in the first quarter, held back by a drag from trade, and Markit’s report showed that manufacturing export orders recorded only a "marginal" increase this month. At the same time, a rebound in oil prices and a weak euro pushed up input prices by the most in more than 2 1/2 years.

MarketWatch The preliminary HSBC China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index, a gauge of nationwide manufacturing activity, edged up to 49.1 in May, compared with a final reading of 48.9 in April, HSBC Holdings PLC said Thursday.

MarketWatch The blueprint, titled "Made in China 2025," comes as China's factories are struggling with sluggish demand, increasing competition from other developing economies and a slowing domestic economy.

Control Engineering Asia ABB will start production of robots in the United States, making it the first global industrial robotics company to fully commit to and invest in a North American robotics manufacturing footprint. The new plant is ABB's third robotics production facility, alongside Shanghai, China, and Vasteras, Sweden, and will manufacture ABB robots and related equipment for the North American market.

The Huffington Post Over the last few decades, the massive growth in the economies (and populations) in some Southern states has been termed "The New South," and the growth of large investments states are making in luring auto manufacturers has led to another moniker: Detroit South.

U.S. News & World Report Within the Metropolitan State University of Denver's campus is a hidden gem – a developing program that intends to marry advanced manufacturing with aerospace and engineering fields. The goal of the program, dubbed the Aerospace and Engineering Science initiative, is to draw in students from different disciplines to fill a need for homegrown talent in the local aerospace industry, a problem known within the state as the "Colorado Paradox."

Woodtv.com The report from "Manufacturers News Incorporated" shows manufacturers in Michigan added over 14,000 jobs from Feb. 2014 to Feb. 2015 — an increase of 2.1 percent. Michigan is outpacing the rest of the country when it comes to manufacturing jobs. The Labor Department reported a national average increase of 1.7 percent for the same time period.

Manufacturing.net A new analysis of trade data from early 2015 shows a sharp increase in the United States' trade deficit in technology-intensive manufacturing, which likely cost the country thousands of jobs.

Shanghai Metals Market US Representative for Illinois Mike Bost (IL-12) has introduced the bipartisan American Trade Enforcement Effectiveness Act, which streamlines the process for addressing unfair dumping of foreign products into U.S. markets. Bost worked closely with Rep. Rodney Davis (IL-1 3 ) in crafting the legislation.

Manufacturing.net The North American manufacturing sector is enjoying an overdue rebound. In the U.S. alone, manufacturing productivity rose nearly 3 percent, and output almost 5 percent, last year. The industry's willingness to adopt new technology has been a driving force of these gains.

Manufacturing.net Construction is scheduled to begin this summer and take about two years to complete. The new facility will feature new tooling and robots, and environmental enhancements, such as dry scrubbing technology designed to eliminate sludge water and waste and high-efficiency baking ovens to lower energy use.

Manufacturing.net The report, titled "Enabling Wind Power Nationwide," argues technological advancements that already greatly reduced the cost of wind power will soon substantially increase its production capacity. Analysts suggested that constructing taller turbines -- with blades exceeding 60 meters -- would enable the towers to reach higher elevations and, as a result, stronger sustained winds.

IndustryWeek Manufacturing generates the most value of any industry because of the many tentacles and connections to services, suppliers, customers and governments. It’s true that many low-knowledge jobs may have gone overseas, but the U.S. continues to generate innovation and innovative ways to do things. This is the future. U.S. manufacturing is still a very dominant world economic force.

IndustryWeek Chinese Premier Li Keqiang began a three-day visit to Brazil on Tuesday where he was to unveil a $50 billion investment package during talks in Brasilia with President Dilma Rousseff.

IndustryWeek Airbus on Tuesday warned of a technical bug potentially affecting the engines of its A400M that was discovered during an internal test after one of the military planes crashed in Spain.

Aerospace Manufacturing and Design The football-sized jet engine was built by a team of technicians, machinists, and engineers who work at GE Aviation’s Additive Development Center outside Cincinnati, a lab focused on developing additive manufacturing, a next-generation technique that can make complex 3D structures by melting metal powder layer upon layer. They built the engine over the course of several years to test the technology’s abilities and to work on a side project together.

The Wall Street Journal There’s been a lot of talk in recent years about small companies rushing to adopt 3-D printing, taking advantage of the ability to turn computer-generated designs into physical objects. Yet even though the technology can crank out items more cheaply than traditional manufacturing, for many small firms the investment is too big. Enter a new batch of cloud-based services—such as Shapeways, Cubify, i Materialize and Sculpteo—that offer to do the 3-D printing for small businesses.

IndustryWeek How to ensure a bright future for U.S. manufacturing? Commit to strengthening small manufacturers and pay high-skilled workers what they're worth, says Susan Helper of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Atlantic Public Media Hydroid is one of several companies on Upper Cape Cod that makes things for the oceanographic industry. It's what economic development people call an 'advanced manufacturer' -- they're producing complex products that overseas competitors are unlikely to build because of the quality needed, or even the timing. These are exactly the types of companies the region wants to attract.

Disrupt Africa Dr Kamau Gachigi, director at the Gearbox makerspace in Nairobi, has an ambitious plan to get Kenyan manufacturing going again, with his hub at the center of it. Disrupt Africa reported last week Gearbox, a non-profit that has sprung out of the iHub, is set to officially launch its hardware incubation program next month, incubating five companies for up to three years.

Business Standard Process automation services provider Emerson Process Management (EPM) today said it has acquired gear manufacturer Ameya Transmissions to provide end-to-end product line offering for its customers.