U.S. manufacturing production unexpectedly declined in September, the first decrease in five months, pointing to a setback for factories as the pandemic drags on.

Manufacturing.net
CF Industries announced a $41.4 million investment at the world’s largest nitrogen fertilizer complex. The site is located on 1,400 acres in Donaldsonville, Louisiana, making it the largest production facility in the world. 

Join us for the next free webinar “Options and Approaches to Addressing the Continuing Problem of Counterfeit Imports: U.S. Government Initiatives and Next Steps for Industry to Consider,” Wednesday, October 21 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern. 

Axios
Manufacturing PMIs have surged over the past few months, showing a clear breakout V-shaped recovery that has put the indexes of sentiment at the highest levels since 2018, but the hard numbers continue to lag. 

Drone Delivery Canada press release
Drone Delivery Canada Corp. has been invited to participate in a research endeavor with the University of Toronto Institute of Aerospace Studies and Ford Motor Company. Under the terms of the agreement, the parties shall cooperate and work jointly towards testing an automated drone as it tracks and lands on a moving ground vehicle within the flight arena.

Manufacturing.net
Automation has been a mainstay in factories for decades. Until recently, it has been capital-intensive and time-consuming to implement, and prohibitively expensive compared to manual labor. With the introduction of intelligent software, automation can now work with adaptive hardware to provide a flexible, fast and affordable automation solution that is well worth the investment in 2021. 

Cleveland.com
Despite all the disruption, one thing has not changed: the need for more manufacturing workers. In fact, the pandemic has exacerbated the manufacturing workforce crisis, as efforts to recruit talent have suffered setbacks, while some older workers have chosen to retire earlier than originally planned.

Aerospace Manufacturing & Design
The power module for VoltAero’s Cassio production aircraft is now undergoing flight testing on the Cassio 1 testbed, marking another major step in the company’s development of a series production hybrid-electric airplane family for regional transportation that will accommodate four to 10 seats, with flight ranges of up to 1,200km. and cruise speeds of 200 kts.

S&P Global
China has reported an economic growth of 4.9% in the third quarter, paving the way for a recovery is fuel and commodities demand for Asia’s biggest energy consumer, but high oil stockpiles and bleak goods and services exports outlook will likely keep industrial fuel consumption and refinery run rates limited.

Gear Solutions
Like electric mobility, the technology of power skiving has been known for more than 100 years and, with the availability of 5-axis machining centers, has found its way into individual and series production due to its convincing process flexibility. With e-mobility, a market is now growing that demands high-precision and high-power transmission from the product and equally high-product flexibility in volume production.

Modern Machine Shop
The next generation of manufacturing employees have a solid work ethic and vast technical skills that provide value in the machine shop. 

Today’s Motor Vehicles
Nissan will stop producing commercial vans at its Canton, Mississippi plant starting next summer. And after it sells off the remaining stock of vehicles produced between now and then, it will exit that market. 

Today’s Motor Vehicles
Canadian Tier 1 automotive suppler Magna will begin building the Fisker Ocean electric vehicle in late 2022 in return for a 6% stake in the California company.

New Equipment Digest
Over the last decade, it comes as no surprise that businesses have been looking for ways to reduce the effects of climate change as well as the dependence on oil and gas. One of the major ways to achieve this is through electrification. Electrification is a broad-reaching trend that impacts everything from industrial vehicles like forklifts in warehouses, to scooters and bikes. While this trend undoubtedly drives sustainability, it has also created a demand for a certain segment of robotics.

Forbes
Industrial manufacturers are under pressure to interpret and act upon a variety of forces affecting their business, from cyberthreats to changes in the market. These disruptions often occur simultaneously and are typically exacerbated by the technological state of firms. 

New Atlas
With a keen eye on a cleaner future, Canada’s Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association (APMA) has revealed the designs for its very own electric vehicle. To be the first original Canadian-built zero-emissions car, the Project Arrow Concept is hoped to not just culminate in an environmentally-friendly, next-gen vehicle, but help fast-track the country’s capacity to produce electric cars.

Fast Company
A new video from Israeli startup Ree demonstrates, the EV of tomorrow is basically just a giant skateboard. With tiny motors placed inside the wheels, the car can assume any form imaginable; any sort of seating or storage arrangement can be built right on top of this flat base.

Industry Week
“The future of U.S. manufacturing requires that we democratize automation by empowering workers to learn the skills needed to design and deploy automation," says Kel Guerin CTO of READY Robotics. 

AGMA has enlisted the help of marketing subject matter experts who, with AGMA staff, will present six webinars for the power transmission industry. This series is an outcome of AGMA's strategic plan that includes providing industry the tools to succeed at marketing their goods and services. The goal of the webinars is to provide members and non-members with tangible resources that they can use immediately to grow their brand.