Industrial Maintenance & Plant Operation

Caterpillar Inc. announced that will invest up to $3 million in Arkansas to prepare the state's workers for jobs in modern manufacturing and industry technician roles. The development aligns with the company's five-year, $100 million Building the Future Workforce Initiative. Caterpillar identified Arkansas as a growth opportunity, noting that it employs more than 530 people and works with 60 suppliers across the state.

Digital network infrastructure provider Zayo announced an expanded strategic supply agreement with fiber optic cable manufacturer Corning Incorporated. The agreement will secure a significant portion Zayo's projected fiber needs through the end of the decade as the company executes one of the largest network expansions in its history.

Cutting tool shipments in the U.S. were up by 31.7% in June and 19.3% in the first half of 2026 compared to those timeframes last year, according to the latest monthly report from the Association For Manufacturing Technology and the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute. June shipments were valued at $270.5 million, bringing the total to $1.47 billion over the first six months of the year.

Ribbon-cutting ceremony at Fuchs Lubricants' Americas Technology Center, Taunton, Mass. Fuchs Lubricants Co. has officially opened a new R&D and technical support hub for its operations in the Americas, company officials announced Wednesday. The German lubricants supplier said that the 55,000-square-foot Americas Technology Center in Taunton, Massachusetts, would focus on advanced lubrication and tribology solutions across the region.

Automotive parts manufacturer Solero Technologies plans to expand its operations in Water Valley, Mississippi. The company expects the $14 million project to create 86 jobs. Solero Technologies provides actuator and solenoid valve solutions for the automotive industry and other industrial sectors.

About 1 in 15 people in the U.S. live in manufactured homes, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. And many of these communities lack access to shelter during extreme weather events. Researchers at Kansas State University have turned to 3D-printed concrete shelters to see if the emerging technology can help these people stay safe. Reese Greenlee is an assistant professor of architecture at KSU’s College of Architecture, Planning & Design.

Pareto Mobility LLC announced the opening of its 50,000-square-foot manufacturing and assembly facility at the Burroughs campus in Plymouth, Michigan. Led by first-generation immigrant and inventor AJ Kumar, the facility brings commercial bus manufacturing back to Michigan five years after Champion Bus closed its factory and moved operations to Indiana.

Advanced battery technology firm Sila announced that it earned the ISO 9001:2015 certification for its Moses Lake, Washington, manufacturing facility. The achievement comes as the California-based company scales domestic production of its silicon-carbon anode technology (Si/C) to power critical applications across AI, autonomous vehicles, drones, satellites, robotics and other technologies.

SAO PAULO (AP) — In the global race to secure rare earths that are key for everything from mobile phones to green technologies, Brazil is emerging as an alternative to China's dominance, particularly for the United States and Australia, according to an analysis of mining permits by The Associated Press and Reporter Brasil. That could boost the economy of Latin America's largest and most populous nation, which is second only to China in rare earth reserves. Foreign capital is rushing in.

On Tuesday, The Crest Group announced the acquisition of Dukane, a global manufacturer of advanced ultrasonic solutions and plastic joining technologies based in St. Charles, Illinois. Stellex Capital Management, a New York-based private equity firm, backed the deal. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.