Get Into Gears is a campaign by the AGMA Foundation to address the growing concerns over the lack of skilled employees in the gear industry. The campaign includes free employment recruitment toolkit with printed, electronic and web materials for companies to use to recruit new employees.

Knowledge.Wharton
The decision last week by General Motors to close five plants in North America, lay off some 14,000 workers and retire six of its 15 car models is a timely move, and one that will likely benefit the company as it looks to secure its future in the rapidly changing auto sector, experts from Wharton and elsewhere say.

Manufacturing.net
U.S. manufacturers expanded at a faster pace in November as new orders surged, a positive sign for domestic economic growth heading into 2019. The Institute for Supply Management, an association of purchasing managers, said that its manufacturing index rose to 59.3 last month from 57.7 in October. 

The Fabricator
Participants at FABTECH 2016 panel discussion on additive manufacturing discuss what is happening today to propel the technology toward greater acceptance.

The Business Journal
With internet-connected devices becoming more and more common, the time is soon approaching that companies will be able to take advantage of the Internet of Things in a way that has a major impact on their business.

Manufacturing Global
The global smart manufacturing market is booming, expected to grow over 15 percent annually for the next five years, reaching almost $480 billion by 2023. But while smart manufacturing is an overwhelmingly positive trend, allowing production lines to respond to real-time developments and keeping the sector relevant and efficient, there is one key obstacle. As volume of smart tools on the factory floor increases, so does the chance of being a victim of cyber crime.

Design Engineering
Microsoft has made several additions to its industry-agnostic Azure IoT suite that it says will help companies approach the Internet of Things (IoT) more holistically, including a dashboard for security deployment, security protection for connected microcontroller devices, and a platform to create virtual models of physical environments.

January 29-31 | Fort Worth, TX
Discover key factors in the inspection process that lead to better design of gears. Develop a broad understanding of the methods used to manufacture and inspect gears. Interpret how the resultant information can be applied and interpreted in the design process. This course also includes a tour of Integrated Machinery Solutions.

ETF Trends
The advancement of robotics is something that’s affecting almost every industry, with manufacturing at the fore. When we incorporate robotics into manufacturing processes and factory operation, we could see an improvement in output. This is the result of better efficiency and leads to an increase in revenue.

Design Engineering
Recently, Amazon announced Robomaker, a service that allows developers to create, test and deploy robotic applications through their Amazon Web Service (AWS). Acting as a toolkit of sorts, Amazon touts Robomaker as a one-stop shop, providing machine learning and monitoring/analytics services integrated into AWS via the widely used open-source robotics software framework, Robotic Operating System (ROS).

Machine Design
This collection of reports, books and new items will get you up to speed on the 3D industry’s latest developments.

IoT for All
It’s not machines but people that are vital to developing and executing the right manufacturing strategy. IIoT is nonetheless an invaluable toolset.

Manufacturing.net
Today’s global economic volatility has put increased pressure on the manufacturing supply chain. It is more important than ever to be able to respond quickly to changing market conditions. This becomes especially important as the U.S.-China trade relationship erodes over imposed tariffs, and politically charged NAFTA discussions test relationships with neighboring North American countries.

Nasdaq
Strong demand pushed manufacturing activity in Brazil higher at the fastest rate in eight months in November, a private survey showed, painting a bright picture for the sector going forward.

The Globe and Mail
Since news broke that GM is shuttering its Oshawa factory, a narrative has taken hold: Ontario’s manufacturing sector is uncompetitive and in decline. In fact, the truth is the exact opposite. Manufacturing is entering a new, innovative-driven era that will play to our strengths.

Industrial Laser Solutions
Metal additive manufacturing company Renishaw has initiated a collaboration with Sandvik Additive Manufacturing, in which Renishaw will supply Sandvik with RenAM multilaser systems, with the goal of substantially increasing Sandvik’s printing capacity.

The Washington Post
The Nov. 26 editorial “How to win on taxes” called for a “reordering” of the tax code that would include “revenue increases.” Manufacturers in America wonder: Why would we want to stall the successful progress of the tax reform legislation that is almost one year old when it is empowering our companies to invest in our people and our communities?

World Highways
Drive specialist Dana is now offering its advanced Spicer Electrified with TM4 e-Hub Drive, a sophisticated and efficient system for heavy duty off-highway applications. Built to be robust, this new system will be suited to difficult machine applications for mining, quarrying, construction and reach stacker applications.

3D print.com
In ‘Computational Modeling of Droplet Deposition and Coalescence for Dropwise Additive Manufacturing,’ master’s student Proyanshu Vishnoi submits a thesis to the Graduate School of the University at Buffalo (School of Chemical and Biological Engineering) centered around the study of 3D printing with metal.

ZD Net
It’s not all glitz and glam. In fact, some of the most promising robotics use cases involve dirty jobs. Walmart is set to put a bunch of floor scrubbing robots to work in its stores by the end of Jan 2019. It's another foray into automation for the brick-and-mortar megastore, which has been deploying cutting edge automation and AI solutions in a bid to lean its operations and cut into Amazon's efficiency edge.