Seeking Alpha There is a commonly held belief that U.S. manufacturing leads the rest of the economy, so it is surely a worry that factory output has been flat since late 2014. And yet the broad economy kept growing, with GDP up 2 percent YoY in 4Q15, consumption up 2.7 percent YoY, and home construction up by almost 10 percent.
Visit http://seekingalpha.com/article/3965687-leading-indicators-manufacturing-vs-housing to view the full article online.
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Baltimore Sun After the dust settled in Annapolis this week, Gov. Larry Hogan revealed that his greatest disappointment of the General Assembly session was the failure of lawmakers to approve his proposal to create a Manufacturing Empowerment Zone Program to encourage companies from outside Maryland to locate manufacturing facilities in the state's most economically disadvantaged areas, including Baltimore.
Visit http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/editorial/bs-ed-manufacturing-20160414-story.html to view the full article online.
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Manufacturing.net The Internet of Things is a hot topic right now, with connected devices proliferating with more or less success across the consumer device market. Some have eked their way into public perception, like smart home heating/cooling systems that are essentially more talkative versions of putting the thermostat on a timer, while others veer into the realm of the silly, with the number of Internet-connected things predicted to grow to 50 billion by 2020.
Visit http://www.manufacturing.net/news/2016/04/have-iot-skills-you-might-be-demand to view the full article online.
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SingularityHUB In the past 100 or more years, it’s been all about economies of scale. This means you should make a lot of a things because the more you make, the more your fixed expenses get spread out. This reduces the cost of each unit, from light bulbs to iPhones. Here’s the problem: It’s expensive to do a big manufacturing run. So, how do you know what to make in the first place?
Visit http://singularityhub.com/2016/04/13/how-microfactories-can-bring-iterative-manufacturing-to-the-masses/ to view the full article online.
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Huffington Post – blog It’s no secret that robotics help manufacturers drive efficiency, productivity and quality, particularly for large volume operations. In fact, according to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), in the past year "robot installations in the United State — the third largest robot market — continued to increase by 11 percent to the peak of 26,200 units."
Visit http://www.huffingtonpost.com/vicki-holt/while-automation-continue_1_b_9661294.html to view the full article online.
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Plant.ca Much has been made of the global Internet of Things (IoT) phenomenon, which promises to connect people and machines through the power of the internet and change the way businesses boost productivity, enhance efficiencies and how jobs are done. It’s a particularly beneficial development for manufacturers, including the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).
Visit http://www.plant.ca/features/iiot-is-coming/ to view the full article online.
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Readwrite Munich-based industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) startup KONUX raised $7.5 million in Series A funding to start developing smart sensors for industry. German industrial VC investor MIG lead the funding round, alongside New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Silicon Valley’s Andy Bechtolsheim. UnternehmerTUM, Warren Weiss and Founder.org were also named as investors according to the IIoT firm.
Visit http://readwrite.com/2016/04/16/konux-series-a-funding-iiot-sensors-df4/ to view the full article online.
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Mining.com Gold supply is getting tighter, deposits of quality are getting rarer and the project development timeline is getting longer. Enter Canada. The Canadian Shield still offers the possibility of break-out discoveries, says PearTree Securities analyst Eric Lemieux. The recent spate of M&A activity points to the potential of the region and Lemieux discusses several companies that are well-positioned to add value.
Visit http://www.mining.com/web/the-canadian-shield-could-host-the-next-bonanza-discovery-eric-lemieux/ to view the full article online.
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Manufacturing.net (video) The people at the German aircraft company e-volo have successfully completed the maiden flight of the world’s first "multicopter." Called Volocopter VC200, the machine is a drone-like helicopter powered by 18 electrical propellers that can carry two people. The company says the machine’s applications range from human transportation to "precision" agriculture, search-and-rescue and freight.
Visit http://www.manufacturing.net/news/2016/04/five-coolest-things-earth-week to view the full article online.
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Manufacturing.net Wind energy generated a record 191 megawatt-hours of electricity last year, enough for 17.5 million homes, an industry group said recently. The American Wind Energy Association said wind produced 4.7 percent of the nation's electricity in 2015. Coal generated 33 percent and natural gas slightly less than that, the association said.
Visit http://www.manufacturing.net/news/2016/04/us-wind-energy-production-hit-record-high-2015 to view the full article online.
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