The root cause of so many unfilled American jobs? Hint: It wasn’t the COVID-19 pandemic. Manufacturing has actually fared comparatively well to other industries, with many factories remaining open as essential businesses and some even hiring additional members to their staff to help meet PPE needs. In fact, in a recent survey, 91% of respondents said they think North American manufacturing will recover, and those that continued running their apprenticeship programs were not impacted by skilled labor shortages.

Modern Machine Shop
Metalworking ended August at 48.6, signaling a fourth straight month of slowing contraction within the industry. With the exception of supplier deliveries, all components moved higher, led by production and followed by new orders.

Manufacturing Global
Factory of the future technology is growing so how can we meet the challenges of Industry 4.0 – data analytics & automation is the future of manufacturing.

American Gear Manufacturers Association
Don’t miss out on this year’s gear industry technical update! The AGMA 2020 FTM will provide the same great peer-reviewed technical presentations it does each year. We have just moved the event into the virtual environment. Registration is $350 for members and includes on-demand access to the presentations between October 5-19 and then on October 20 we will get together online with the presenters live for Q&A and networking. Sign up today!

Manufacturing.net
When the global shutdown began consumers experienced an unusual phenomenon for industrialized nations: bare shelves.

The Philadelphia Inquirer
Public transportation’s funding crisis amid the COVID-19 pandemic could cost jobs in Pennsylvania and New Jersey by impacting billions in spending on goods from rail cars to construction services. 

World Economic Forum
The COVID-19 outbreak disrupted supply chains and business continuity plans around the world, especially for factories. As the pandemic triggered travel restrictions, lockdowns and social distancing requirements, a number of important challenges emerged for businesses. 

The Additive Report
A 3D-printed part typically isn’t ready to ship right out of the printer. Often, as with most manufactured parts, it must undergo one or more postprocessing steps before shipping. These range from sanding and tumbling to machining and electropolishing.

3D Printing Media Network
ALTANA, a Germany-based specialty chemicals company, is expanding its stake in the additive manufacturing sector with the acquisition of two companies: Germany’s TLS Technik GmbH & Co. Spezialpulver KG, a manufacturer of metal powders for 3D printing; and Britain’s Aluminium Materials Technologies Ltd. (AMT). The acquisitions will expand ALTANA’s ECKART division, a manufacturer of effect pigments.

Machine Design
To kick off the third day of RIA’s Robotics Week, a panel of robotics executives discussed how the industry is poising itself for the implementation of complex household robots. What advancements does the industry need to achieve close human-robot interaction? What will that robot look like? Will it be treated like the beloved “Jetsons” character? 

IoT Agenda
The IoT robotics field unlocks new advances in cooperative learning among robots — or even among robots and humans — where robots learn from each other and evolve their behaviors through shared experiences and IoT data. Independently, IoT and robotics serve similar roles to achieve different ends. IoT sensors collect data and communicate information to a processing device that has a dedicated task, such as controlling the temperature in an office or monitoring motion for security applications.

Modern Machine Shop
An increasingly digitalized, lean manufacturing process begins with a common selection of cutting tools and five-axis machining fixtures. 

Machine Design
When Desktop Metal announced its intention to become a publicly listed company, the 3D printing industry perked up. Only time can fill in the blanks of how companies were able to whittle through challenges posed by the pandemic, but the announcement called attention to the metal 3D printing company’s ability to compete with other industrial production processes at scale.

New Atlas
As electric vehicles grow in popularity, automakers are paying more attention to what will become of the old batteries once they need replacing. We’ve seen the likes of Nissan and Renault make moves to give these a second life as energy storage devices, and now Volvo has revealed plans to do the same with the help of startup Batteryloop.

Gleason Press release
Gleason has announced its new “Gear Calculator App,” a free mobile app that bundles simple calculation tools to make gear manufacturers' daily tasks more efficient and productive.

Automation World
A crucial component of automation advancement, yet one that is lacking at most manufacturers, is the deployment of IIoT connectivity across an entire enterprise, including key areas such as receiving, warehousing, and shipping. 

AGMA
AGMA continues its trade series with “Options and Approaches to addressing the continuing problem of counterfeit imports: U.S. government initiatives and next steps for industry to consider on October 7th at 1:00 p.m. Eastern. This webinar is put on for AGMA by the DC-based law firm Faegre Drinker and is free to all. 

Forbes
For decades, driving lower costs has trumped everything in manufacturing. To be competitive, a manufacturer's cost profile had to be amazing. Speed and quality came in second — they had to be good, of course, but manufacturers had to be number one in cost above all else.

Green Car Congress
General Motors will be the first automaker to use an almost completely wireless battery management system (wBMS) for production electric vehicles. This wireless system, developed with Analog Devices, Inc., will be a primary driver of GM’s ability to ultimately power many different types of electric vehicles from a common set of battery components.