Manufacturing.net
Electric vehicle startup RIvian says it has raised another $2.5 billion in funding from accounts advised by investment firm T. Rowe. Price. The company has a contract with Amazon to build 1,000 electric delivery vans starting next year at its factor, a former Mitsubishi plant Normal, Illinois. Rivian also is rolling out a pickup truck and an SUV for sale to consumers next year.

Reuters
Ford Motor Co. on Thursday said new staffing restrictions imposed on plants producing car parts in the Mexican state of Chihuahua were “not sustainable,” the latest sign U.S. automakers are still reeling from coronavirus lockdowns in Mexico.

In this seminar we will learn just what HCR gears are and under what circumstances they can be used to advantage. Similarly, we will learn when HCR gears are not appropriate and why. We will cover the detailed tooth geometry changes that are required to effectively achieve optimum performance and benefit. We will learn how the load distribution along the involute profile changes when the contact ratio increases above two.

Barrons
Like the rest of the economy, the U.S manufacturing sector seems to have hit bottom in April. But the aggregate numbers obscure the interesting story: After plunging 32% between February and April, new orders of durable goods jumped 16% in May. At the same time, inventories of unsold goods have been flat after jumping sharply in March, which means manufacturers may have to ramp up production soon to meet rising demands.

World Economic Forum
The WEF looks at how the pandemic has forced manufacturing to change at an unprecedented rate. We now have an opportunity to build a sustainable and resilient industry – but we must act now. From digital transformation to life-cycle assessments, here is how to do it.

Aerospace Manufacturing
Engineering teams are developing cleaner, faster and highly advanced electric aircraft using Ansys simulation solutions. Through a new sponsorship with Air Race E, Ansys technologies will help accelerate the design of innovative all-electric race planes competing in the 2021 Air Race E World Championship, a series of international air racing competitions that are spurring the future technology developments needed to drive more sustainable aviation.

EIN Presswire
Mullen Technologies Inc., a Southern California, based licensed electric vehicle manufacturer with international distribution that operates in various verticals of business focusing in the automotive industry has executed an LOI with Axiom Financial for $135 million in funding to acquire and build out an electric vehicle manufacturing plant.

TCT Magazine
BAE Systems has set a target for 30% of its Tempest fighter jet componentry to be manufactured with 3D printing as a new multi-million-pound smart factory opens in Warton, Lancashire. In addition to around one-third of parts being 3D printed, BAE Systems is also aiming for half of the Tempest to be put together by robots on the UK defense group’s assembly line. The company’s new Lancashire facility is said to be "first-of-its kind" and will house automated robots and virtual and augmented reality technology to support the production of next-generation combat aircraft systems like Tempest.

Engineering
The 2018 alliance between PLM developer PTC and automation company Rockwell is one of the more surprising events to occur in recent years. PTC and Rockwell are each in the top tier of their respective areas, product development and manufacturing automation. With their alliance, they quickly and suddenly redrew their game plans to create an interesting combination with the potential to seriously rattle the business.

IT Proportal
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced the launch of SiteWise, a new platform to track and monitor Internet of Things (IoT) platforms in data centers, factories and similar facilities. Two years after first announcing the tool during AWS re_Invent, the company has confirmed the tool has entered general availability.

Engineering
New updates for Tesla’s much anticipated Project Roadrunner revealed that the Fremont, Calif., facility has recently continued its expansion and production activities. Tesla Model Y units with vehicle identification numbers (VINs) in the 24,000 range were being prepared for customer turnover, suggesting that vehicle production has remained steady despite the slowdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Industrial Machinery Digest
The COVID-19 pandemic has made it clear that resilient businesses — those that can emerge with plans for growth — share common traits. These companies can react quickly and decisively to protect workers while keeping business running, adapting processes and product lines with many manufacturers now increasingly using collaborative robots to make those changes efficiently and cost-effectvely.

Modern Machine Shop
A focus on repeatability, geometric capabilities and speed led this manufacturer of fine-blanking machines and components to embrace hard milling as its go-to finishing process, eliminating hand grinding.

Trailer Body Builders
Power management company Eaton says its Vehicle Group is leveraging advanced Industry 4.0 technology to help its global operations safely navigate the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and continue to service customers. The Vehicle Group views Industry 4.0 as operational and informational technologies, enabling autonomous production systems that are connected, optimized, transparent, proactive and agile.

Today’s Motor Vehicles
Expensive metalworking fluids may no longer be needed to cool and lubricate workpieces and cutting tools. Instead, there is green and clean method, EcoCooling, which uses only ionized and cooled air and has none of the environmental hazards and costs related to oil-based fluids. EcoCooling is the result of long-term, interdisciplinary R&D from the same team that developed the technology behind Amazon’s ground-breaking family of front-lit Kindle devices. 

The Verge
EV startup Fisker Inc. wants to power its first SUV with Volkswagen’s mass-manufactured modular electric vehicle platform, or “MEB,” and it says it is in talks with German automaker to do just that. In fact, the prototype SUV that Fisker Inc. revealed at the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show was built on the MEB platform.

The Verge
House appropriators don’t intend to substantially increase NASA’s budget, potentially jeopardizing the agency’s plans of sending astronauts back to the Moon by 2024.

EurekAlert!
Researchers from ITMO University have improved on the technique of local processing of composites based on nanoporous glass with addition of silver and coper; now, it is possible to predict with high accuracy the optical properties of a plasmonic component.

Today’s Motor Vehicles
Hyundai Motor Co. shipped the first 10 units of the Hyundai XCIENT Fuel Cell mass-produced hydrogen fuel cell heavy-duty truck to Switzerland. The company plans to ship a total of 50 XCIENT Fuel Cells to Switzerland this year, with handover to commercial fleet customers starting in September. Hyundai plans to roll out a total of 1,600 XCIENT Fuel Cell trucks by 2025.

AGMA
AGMA’s monthly trade webinars continue with National Security Reviews of Foreign Investments in the United States: What U.S. companies and overseas investors in the bearing, gear, and related industries need to know.