After years of industrial decline in the world’s advanced economies, manufacturing is now experiencing a solid revival. The global manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI), a measurement of the sector’s health, rose to 54 in November, up from 53.5 the previous month, and the highest reading since March 2011. 

A $554,000 grant from the National Science Foundation will establish a manufacturing and automation research center at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, where instructors will develop STEM-based manufacturing curriculum models for high schools and community colleges in three states.

With the recent and rapid uptick in the need for gearing components, companies are turning to their suppliers demanding faster turnaround and better quality ... all at a reduced cost in order to give them the leg up over their competition and make their businesses more productive and profitable.

Economic reports released last week continued to reflect health in the manufacturing sector. Even with some easing in the headline number, the underlying data remained promising, with respondents citing strong growth in demand and an optimistic outlook for next year. Indeed, production accelerated at its fastest pace since March 2011. 

We are now living in the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI), generative tools and smart products capable of creating feedback loops to inform future product design iterations. Combined, they are enabling engineers and designers alike to approach design problems in more innovative and efficient ways. 

The need for modernization of the apprenticeship system is heightened by American industry’s need to address a national talent gap crisis that threatens the country’s competitive edge. And, it is an epidemic that is felt significantly by the manufacturing industry.

Explore the supporting elements of a gearbox that allows gears and bearings to do their jobs most efficiently. Learn about seals, lubrication, lubricants, housings, breathers and other details that go into designing gearbox systems. 

(video) Business Insider features some of editors' favorite concept cars that have been featured throughout the year. 

The next generation of Boeing aircraft could be made of metal from the Ozarks. Boeing Horizon X, recently invested millions of dollars into Gamma Alloys; it’s a company based in California, but most of their manufacturing will take place in Ash Grove, Missouri.

"Marine grade" stainless steel is valued for its ability to stave off corrosion and its high ductility, making it a preferred choice for oil pipelines, welding, ships, kitchen utensils, chemical equipment, medical implants, engine parts and nuclear waste storage.

General Motors Co. expects to carry passengers and deliver goods with self-driving vehicles in big cities sometime in 2019, telling investors it's moving quickly and plans to be ahead of other automakers and tech companies.

Learn what is required for the design of an optimum gear set and the importance of the coordinated effort of the gear design engineer, the gear metallurgist, and the bearing system engineer. Investigate gear‐related problems, failures and improved processing procedures.

Employee empowerment is all about trusting personnel to make the right decisions, and new, "smart" technologies support just that. Intelligent devices, sophisticated software, and the broader industrial internet of things (IIoT) are empowering today’s workforce in ways not previously seen.

The top steelmaker in both the U.S. and Europe has been well placed to ride the recovery. Its stock more than doubled in 2016 and is up 20 percent this year, and the firm is forecast to report its biggest annual profit in half a decade. It also cut debt almost in half in the last five years.

Most manufacturing executives agree that 2018 will bring forward quantum leaps in efficiencies as the IIoT base cases are better defined, economically justified and delivered through collaborative teams. Admittedly, the IIoT is as transformative to manufacturing as was the Industrial Revolution itself. And, proving in the "base case" opens opportunities to deploy technical and business solutions.