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Established in 1938, Stoli Vodka has long been a fixture on the liquor market, though it appears it will need more than its legacy to carry it into the next generation. Stoli Group has revealed that its U.S. subsidiaries, Stoli Group USA and Kentucky Owl, have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and while the reasons behind the decision are diverse, one stands out: Stoli USA says a ransomware attack p...

It was just July of last year when Illinois governor JB Pritzker cut the ribbon at the Lion Electric EV bus plant in Joliet. At the time, the company touted plans to produce 20,000 electric buses annually – claims that hit noticeable snags almost immediately. Within little more than a year of opening Joliet, Lion had announced four rounds of layoffs company-wide. 

A longtime manufacturer of workwear and other apparel is relocating its headquarters from Texas to California — reversing a highly publicized trend of companies moving in the opposite direction in recent years. The parent company of Dickies and a series of other footwear and clothing brands announced a plan to consolidate its footprint in Southern California, which would see the brand — establishe...

In 2023, Coca-Cola was named the top plastic polluter in the world by environmental organization Break Free From Plastic. Unfortunately for Coke, this distinction wasn’t new; they’d earned the label for six years straight – one the group says is based on a study of the most commonly discarded plastic items found in public places like parks or beaches.

Cargill has revealed that it plans to cut 5% of its global workforce – most of which will take place in the coming year. It’s a move that will result in the elimination of some 8,000 jobs.

While driverless systems are often capable of reacting to scenarios more safely than a human driver would, sometimes the opposite is true – as evidenced by crashes over the years where a vehicle in autonomous mode has missed a seemingly obvious hazard. A new study may have pinpointed one of the reasons behind the gap in these results.

The Detroit Free Press reported that a tank used for storing an oil and brine solution exploded at General Motors’ Milford Proving Ground in Michigan. The incident reportedly damaged two nearby homes but did not cause any injuries. Brighton Fire Authority Chief Michael O’Brian stated that the explosion occurred in a leased section of the proving ground, which houses multiple wells and tanks for cr...

Although there appear to be few easy answers to the problem, researchers from the University of the West Indies believe one possible solution could be using sargassum to power cars. The BBC reports that UWI scientists recently unveiled one of the first vehicles powered by what is known as bio-compressed natural gas.  The project began as an effort to slash Barbados’ overall emissions, and initiall...

Welcome to another episode of Gen Z in Manufacturing , a podcast that asks young people about their journeys in manufacturing, how they intend to influence the industry and what they are looking for from an employer. For this episode, I welcome Chloe Doherty, a 22-year-old Industry 4.0 tech center engineer for machinery manufacturer Zoller Inc .  Doherty’s interest in manufacturing started as a st...

Tom’s of Maine is a personal care brand well known for its use of natural ingredients , though a recent FDA report has identified some very undesirable contents they say are in the company’s products. The FDA sent a warning letter dated November 5th, detailing data that suggests some of Tom’s toothpastes were contaminated with bacteria – a discovery that the FDA based on reported internal testing...

The four companies that produce the overwhelming majority of the U.S.’s frozen potato products conspired to fix prices in recent years, according to a series of newly filed lawsuits. Five antitrust suits, the Washington Post reports , were filed in an Illinois federal court in recent days against Lamb Weston, J.R. Simplot, McCain Foods and Cavendish Farms. Combined, those companies control more th...

In January, Ford announced that it would be cutting back on production of its EV pickup, the F-150 Lightning. But the automaker had a plan to make up some ground: a large group of workers from the Lightning plant would move to plants producing the Ranger and Bronco – two models for which Ford boosted manufacturing targets. Now that’s about to change. Crain’s Detroit Business is reporting that Ford...

About two weeks ago, thieves targeted a major Santo Spirits shipment as it crossed the border into the United States. The tequila company is co-owned by celebrity chef Guy Fieri and musician Sammy Hagar. First reported by People , thieves hijacked a pair of Santo trucks carrying an estimated $1 million in spirits in an incredible caper that continues to unfold as the investigation continues. The c...

Last month, Colorado Rockies third baseman Kris Bryant awaited the imminent delivery of a $300,000 Lamborghini Huracan to his home in Las Vegas … but it never came. Bryant, who was having the vehicle transported for the offseason from Denver , where he plays ball, enlisted a transport company to do the job. But what happens next sounds almost too strange to be true.

NIST reported that these fires can produce a jet of flame that reaches up to 2,012° Fahrenheit, nearly the heat of a blowtorch, in approximately one second. This hazard differs from traditional residential fires that start more slowly, which allows for smoke to reach a smoke alarm before the fire spreads. During the research, NIST mechanical engineer Andy Tam said he noticed that a battery’s safet...

Chalk this one up to either dumb luck or stupid-mistake resistance design, but a commercial jet just managed to fly the equivalent of almost two weeks with a tool stuck in one of its engines. A newly published report from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau details the adventures of the Airbus A380 that picked up the stowaway on December 7, 2023 after maintenance engineers forgot about the lost...

Stanley Black & Decker indicated in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that proposed increases in tariffs under the forthcoming Trump administration could affect its pre-tax operating income by some $200 million on an annual basis. That figure would equate to 12.5% of the company’s projected 2025 operating income of $1.6 billion, according to a compilation of estimates c...

One state’s highway patrol is perhaps the most famous nationwide – and that’s California’s, a unit that inspired the 1970’s cop drama CHiPS. And anyone who’s viewed it knows that CHiPS was associated with motorcycles – specifically classic Kawasakis that were common on police forces at the time.  Well, today’s California Highway Patrol might look a lot different. Carscoops is reporting that the Ca...

The FDA announced a recall for about 79,200 pounds of Costco butter. The reason: the product’s packaging failed to mention that it contains milk.  The recall covers 1,300 cases, or 46,800 pounds, of Kirkland Signature Unsalted Sweet Cream Butter and 900 cases, or 32,400 pounds, of the salted version. According to an FDA document, the butter lists the word “cream” but may have omitted the ever-so-i...

Based in San Diego, Natilus is an aerospace startup developing a portfolio of efficient blended-wing-body aircraft that could transport passengers and cargo more sustainably.  According to the company, compared to the traditional tube-and-wing aircraft we use today, these designs could reduce fuel consumption by 30% while increasing payload capability by 40%. Natilus recently unveiled Horizon, the...

On Monday, Boeing's union machinists voted to accept the company's contract offer and end a strike that stretched for more than seven weeks. As the troubled plane maker gets back to business, the deal couldn't have come at a more crucial time for suppliers—and it's possible it didn't come quickly enough for one key partner. On Tuesday, Spirit AeroSystems raised flags when...

In a statement obtained by WTMJ , Molson Coors Chief Supply Chain Officer Brian Erhardt said the decision to shutter the historic brewery comes at the end of a large contract brewing agreement and amid an ongoing canning line investment project at the company’s Milwaukee brewery. He said the company is closing two of its smaller brewing operations in Wisconsin. According to WTMJ, the other facilit...

Digital payment solutions have become so commonplace that some consumers now regularly leave the house without the one key item that was once indispensable – a wallet. And while it’s convenient to leverage apps like Apple Pay and flash your phone at the checkout, ideas are simmering as to which other form factors might serve as future ways to settle a tab. A recent survey explores Americans’ comfo...

Kade is a small German village about an hour west of Berlin. The area reportedly has quite the pest problem, but rather than tossing them in the trash, one entrepreneur found a more sustainable solution: eat'em.  Raccoons were brought to Germany in the 1920s and used on fur farms. The trash pandas were first released into the wild in 1934, and now the country is reportedly overrun by some 2 m...

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) announced that it received permission from a court to kill approximately 1.3 million broiler chickens previously owned by a Minnesota poultry processor. The department added that it concluded depopulation on October 25. The decision comes after the chickens’ previous owner, Pure Prairie Poultry, filed for bankruptcy at the end of Sept...