Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in January, and the overall economy grew for the 92nd consecutive month, say the nation’s supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM Report On Business.

The Institute for Supply Management’s Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index continued to grow rather strongly, accelerating to its fastest pace since November 2014. The composite index rose from 54.5 in December to 56.0 in January, marking the fifth straight monthly expansion in the headline number. New orders and production grew strongly in January.

Manufacturers have long embraced the concept of continuous improvement and innovation. In that spirit, what better way to kick off 2017 than with resolutions about new ways to improve? Here are five suggestions for manufacturers working to reach the next level in quality, throughput and overall excellence in 2017.

Gain a better understanding of various types of gears and bearings. Learn about the limitation and capabilities of rolling element bearings and the gears that they support.  Grasp an understanding of how to properly apply the best gear-bearing combination to any gearbox from simple to complex.

In 2010, an advanced aircraft engineer at NASA’s Langley Research Center named Mark Moore published a white paper outlining the feasibility of electric aircrafts that could take off and land like helicopters but were smaller and quieter. The vehicles would be capable of providing a speedy alternative to the dreary morning commute.

Boeing Co. has hired a small company to make about 600 3D-printed parts for its Starliner space taxis, meaning key components in the United States manned space program are being built with additive manufacturing.

NOVA devoted a full episode to developments in super batteries. Join host David Pogue as he explores the hidden world of energy storage, from the power — and danger — of the lithium-ion batteries we use today, to the bold innovations that could one day charge our world. 

The U.S. automotive market has somewhat unexpectedly shown an overall increase in sales for 2016. With 17.54 million new vehicle sales it was a good year for the manufacturers. Even though General Motors for its part had a slight year-on-year dip, the Detroit based producer of Buicks, Cadillacs and Chevrolets is still the biggest single seller in the U.S., according to data compiled by Good Car Bad Car.

The promise of IoT’s impact on manufacturing is profound, but extracting real, applicable and relevant value from your IoT-enabled engineering and supply chains is a considerable challenge.

Manufacturing managers of the 1950s grappled with some of the same challenges and prejudices their modern-day counterparts face: the need for productive, reliable workers coupled with a reluctance to hire people with disabilities.

Honeywell CEO David Cote discusses Donald Trump with CNNMoney's Maggie Lake. "Right now it's just words. We'll see what actually happens," he says, along with laying out a broad approach to growing the economy through "the interaction between the digital space and the physical space."

Imports permeate the United States manufacturing sector, a point that should be kept in mind by business leaders as well as by politicians. Even if manufacturers are assembling products in the United States, with American labor and many American-made parts, they also use some foreign components. Disruption of the supply chain due to political change could be disastrous for some companies and harmful to the economy, at least until alternative purchasing arrangements have been made.

Marcantonio now has 40 open requests — for welders, shipping and receiving workers, machinists, industrial painters, machine operators, and people expert in computer-controlled cutting machines (CNC) and computer-assisted design (CAD). To him, that suggests there are 300 to 400 openings in the city of Philadelphia.

It’s been a month now that investors and analysts have been closely watching two main drivers for oil prices: How OPEC is doing with the supply-cut deal, and how U.S. shale is responding to fifty-plus-dollar oil with rebounding drilling activity. Those two main factors are largely neutralizing each other, and are putting a floor and a cap to a price range of between $50 and $60.

Ford just revealed updates for one of America’s most famous cars. The 2018 Mustang is going to get a more powerful engine and a 10-speed transmission.

In this transcript, Rachel Martin talks to Scott Paul, the president of Alliance for American Manufacturing, one of 28 business and union leaders appointed to President Trump’s new manufacturing jobs initiative.

3D printing has the chance to improve the auto industry's manufacturing efforts, and as BMW's latest investment shows, it's not just about plastic. BMW i Ventures, the automaker's venture capital arm, announced an investment in Desktop Metal, a startup devoted to 3D printing metal objects. BMW wants to help accelerate the rollout of this technology in both its design and manufacturing departments.

Chicago-based additive manufacturing company, Sciaky have been contracted to produce a metal 3D printed component for International Submarine Engineering’s (ISE) AUV submarine. The production of this component has elevated Sciaky’s status to become the only metal 3D printing company to have parts approved for application in land, sea, air and space.