U.S. manufacturing activity rose for a second straight month in April but at a slightly slower pace, as new orders and production fell. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said on Monday that its index of national factory activity slipped to 50.8 last month from a reading of 51.8 in March. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the manufacturing sector. A gauge of orders received by factories fell 2.5 points to 55.8 percent.

This seminar provides the gear design engineer with a broad understanding of the methods used to manufacture and inspect gears and how the resultant information can be applied and interpreted in the design process. This course will also include a tour of Gear Tec’s manufacturing plant.

Treasuries fell, reversing earlier gains, after a report showed U.S. manufacturers are paying higher prices for raw materials, a sign of upward pressure on inflation.

U.S. factory activity expanded at a more moderate pace in April, due in part to a slowdown in new orders. However, a rise in export orders to a near 18-month high and signs that an inventory overhang drag was fading, offered hope for the manufacturing sector.

Two of Houston's three large oilfield services companies on Sunday called off their proposed merger amid low oil prices and opposition from federal regulators.

Today, advanced manufacturing accounts for 13 percent of jobs in the U.S. and contributes $3.1 trillion to the economy. As machines become smarter through adaptive sensor networks connected to the Industrial Internet, efficiencies will be created and the economic impact will only grow. Advanced manufacturing techniques combined with big data analytics will allow companies to make intelligent decisions based on real-time data. This actionable data will lead to faster turnaround times for manufacturing and lower costs.

Eaton Corp. reported its 2016 first quarter fiscal results on Friday, led by sizable year-over-year decreases in sales and profit.

The company posted Q1 total sales of $4.8 billion, down 8 percent year-over-year, while profit fell 13 percent to $404 million.

President Obama was in Germany last week to attend Hannover Messe, the world’s largest industrial technology fair. The president did not travel to Germany alone: More than 400 U.S. firms attended the giant trade fair with him. For decades, Germany has been known for its manufacturing strength, yet nowhere in the world has digital technology seen more innovation than in the United States. Now, with the U.S. as a strategic partner, these two powerhouses are coming together in Germany, and what a great combination for customers and the economy.

Geared toward helping manufacturers more rapidly deploy IIoT technologies, the digital transformation unit will allow firms to better manage and analyze data, making their operations safer, more reliable and more efficient. 

The key thing about composites is that they are stronger, lighter, more workable and can be produced in more complex forms than the material they are replacing, whether that is steel, wood or even concrete.

An automotive parts manufacturer has inked a new contract with diesel-engine giant Cummins Inc. that extends their North Charleston-based business partnership. Under the long-term deal, Wabco Holdings Inc. becomes the exclusive supplier to Cummins in North America for air compressors installed in trucks, buses and industrial equipment.

The use of 3D printing is taking off and set to disrupt a host of major industries, according to Bob McCutcheon, the U.S. industrials leader for PwC. Some $27 billion will be spent in 3D printers in 2019, compared to roughly $11 billion last year, per data from IDC. A report from PwC suggests over two-thirds of manufacturers are using 3D printing.

All technologies, systems and components that are involved in the industrial value creation process are connected to each other as well as to company networks and the internet. Smart factory is another trend that forms a part of the IIoT development, referring to a production environment in which machines, installations and logistics systems interact independently, without human input, and partially communicate through the IIoT. These automation trends are still fairly new and the relevant technologies and systems will be steadily developed further in the future.

A wave of venture investment into new manufacturing startups looks set to transform American manufacturing. While the foundations for these companies may have been laid in cities like Boston, New York and San Francisco, the startups that are driving this next industrial revolution hail from more unlikely hubs of technology innovation in the smaller urban centers of the Sun Belt and the Southeast.

Honeywell (IW500/34) and NASA are proud to support their science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education program with the award-winning, hip-hop educational experience FMA Live! Forces in Motion. The program made its return to the West Coast this month with plans to visit six states and perform at 40 public, private and military-connected middle schools.

Government and industry professionals from the U.S. and Germany took on the topic of Industrie 4.0 and the Industrial Internet in a panel discussion hosted by the Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC) and Hannover Messe.

A trio of Mazak, Memex and Cisco is beginning to sell SmartBox, a device meant to securely manage manufacturing data—information on axes, spindles, temperatures, cutting times, downtimes and part counts, for starters—culled from machines that have been laboring in a sort of silence for decades. At the same time, a pairing of Forcam and Wago plans to release a similar device it calls the PFC100 Industrial MTConnect device before July.

The industrial world is on the cusp of a profound and exciting transformation, driven by advances in software that are disrupting traditional business models, industries and production systems. Many of these advances were showcased at the Hannover Messe industrial summit in April 2016. This digital-industrial revolution will bring great benefits to sustainable energy, affordable healthcare and overall productivity.

There is one positive aspect of U.S. manufacturing’s recent performance. While uninspiring, the rate of growth is broadening to include almost all types of producers. The numbers of industries reporting gains in orders and production have more than doubled since the start of the year to include almost all areas, according to results of a survey by the Institute for Supply Management issued Monday. The Tempe, Arizona-based purchasers group’s factory index showed growth generally cooled in April from the prior month.