IEN Radio

Tensions are rising between the United Auto Workers and Stellantis after the union accused the automaker of violating last year’s collective bargaining agreement. As a result, multiple UAW locals have begun a grievance process that could lead to a strike across multiple facilities. In 2023, a standoff between the UAW and Ford, General Motors and Stellantis resulted in about 46,000 workers walking...

Harley-Davidson announced revisions to its diversity and progressive policies following criticism from conservative activists. The company issued a statement on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, saying the changes are a result of an internal stakeholder review that sought to “better align company activities to the needs of both [its] business and community.”

For a $3 million hypercar prototype with an experimental aerodynamics package, it’s not enough to test on a regular road. So when performance vehicle maker Hennessey set out to prove its latest development, it went with the king of all practice strips: the 15,000 foot space shuttle runway at the Kennedy Space Center.

A giant black smoke ring floating in the sky over your city never feels great. If you’ve seen movies like Independence Day or Nope, the sight could be downright terrifying. But a recent example of the phenomenon may come with a fairly run-of-the-mill explanation. WAVY TV 10 news in Virginia this week reported on a smoke ring hovering above the Hampton Roads area. The report features several user s...

While many automakers have been aggressively developing all-electric vehicle models, Toyota has been taking it slow. Despite being the pioneer of the model first synonymous with hybrid-electrics – the Prius – Toyota has barely dipped a toe in the EV market, releasing just one model in North America, the bZ4X. Instead the Japanese automaker has focused on what it refers to on its website as “the po...

Jaguar  – who had previously announced a plan to phase out ICE vehicles in favor of a full line of EVs – is doing just that. It’s the timing that doesn’t quite nest. While its gas cars will be discontinued in its native UK in 2025, the company’s electrics won’t be ready to replace them. And with Jaguar expecting to not have its new EVs until 2026, that means almost a year without new cars in deale...

Figure has unveiled the Figure 02 , a second-generation humanoid that the AI robotics company hopes to complete jobs in commercial applications and, perhaps someday, households.  The 5-foot-6, 154-pound robot can move at approximately 2.6 miles per hour and includes various technologies, including actuators, sensors, batteries, electronics, artificial intelligence and computer vision. 

M&H Crates is an employee-owned pallet manufacturer based in Jacksonville, Texas. The company has been in business since 1968. While the company makes a wide range of pallets, it also has a history of workplace safety violations.  A U.S. Department of Labor follow-up inspection recently found that, despite receiving warnings and citations for more than 10 years, M&H continues exposing work...

On January 5, 2024, a door plug blew out of an Alaska Airlines flight some 16,000 feet above Oregon, causing chaos among the crew and incredible fear for the passengers. The problem was traced back to quality issues after the plane departed Boeing's factory in Renton, Washington, missing the four bolts that hold the door plug in place.  The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has rele...

Saudi Arabia wants to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup, and the country is looking to catch eyes with a bid that mentions building a stadium more than 1,000 feet above the ground in a desert city that does not exist yet.  According to the official bid , Saudi Arabia plans to construct the stadium in a linear city called THE LINE , which is projected to measure 1,640 feet high, 656 feet wide and 105 mi...

About two years ago, DigiKey, a distributor of electronic, automation and control components, unveiled the company's new 1 million square foot facility in Thief River Falls, Minnesota. The warehouse has 2.2 million usable square feet, making it one of the largest warehouses in North America. The warehouse is so big you could lay down the Empire State Building inside of it, and it's so te...

Is Dodge preparing to create a pickup truck that does everything?

Welcome to another episode of Gen Z in Manufacturing , a podcast where I interview young people about their journeys in manufacturing, how they intend to influence the industry and what they are looking for from an employer. Thank you to our sponsor QAD Redzone. Empower your frontline while growing your bottom line. QAD Redzone is the #1 Connected Workforce Solution for plants of all sizes. It&apo...

Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares has never been one to shy away from candid and sometimes uncomfortable statements about the company’s market position. And his response to the company’s latest earnings report – in which it saw a net profit plunge of 48% – is no exception. The automaker’s chief executive indicates there may be some tough decisions ahead as he looks to right the ship, among them reduci...

A recent quarterly earnings report from Tesla resulted in a lot -of media coverage surrounding the company's financials and, frankly, its role in the future of the electric vehicle industry. But Tesla has a lot of irons in the fire and CEO Elon Musk has been stressing the importance of the company’s ambitions when it comes to autonomous vehicles and other technologies – including AI.

When General Motors paid nearly $1 billion for autonomous driving startup Cruise in 2017, it had grand plans for self-driving taxis. The automaker has made a lot of progress since then but things are still not coming together like it had surely hoped they would. The latest setback from Cruise came this week when GM CEO Mary Barra told shareholders in a letter that the company’s autonomous driving...

The Racer is optimized for a cruise speed of more than 400 km/h (250 mph), which is impressive when you consider that a civilian helicopter's cruising speed typically ranges from 110 to 160 mph—military choppers can average around 200 mph. However, the Racer wants speed but with cost-efficiency and mission performance. For example, Airbus says the Racer's unique engine and aerodynamic op...

The company is also working on the Mk-II Aurora spaceplane, a demonstrator aircraft that combines the performance of a rocket with the quick turnaround of an aircraft. While Mk-II is a tech demonstrator, it will also be used as a suborbital vehicle for climate and scientific payloads. In the long term, Mk-II will inform the design of Dawn's Mk-III, the company's orbital vehicle for launc...

According to the DOJ release, 52-year-old Maxim Marchenko and two unnamed Russian co-conspirators operated an international smuggling network that fraudulently procured dual-use, military-grade OLED micro-displays. This network supplied Russian entities with the microelectronics, which can be used in weapons systems, including night vision goggles, thermal optics and rifle scopes. 

A tugboat and barge, operating together as an articulated tug and barge (ATB), last year ran aground near Marmot Bay off the coast of Alaska. More specifically, the ATB hit a submerged rock while approaching the entrance to a cove, causing about $1.4 million in damages to the barge. The tugboat was fine, none of the six crewmembers aboard were hurt, and there was no pollution as a result of the ac...

Last January, the Qualifier 105, a small passenger boat, was stored at the Northern Enterprises Boat Yard in Homer, Alaska. The vessel was ashore and on blocks for the winter, but when it was in the water, it was used for everything from marine survey and oceanographic research to environmental clean-up.  Welders were aboard the 100-foot-long vessel performing some aluminum hot work, cleaning up t...

A Department of Labor investigation revealed that flooring and surfaces manufacturer Ecore International Inc. had committed over a dozen health and safety violations at its plant in Mexia, Texas.  The department told IEN that the investigation was triggered by a complaint that mentioned, "hazards associated with fire, electrical, egress and powered industrial vehicles."

Canada is officially looking for defense manufacturing partners to help it significantly expand its submarine fleet as the country looks to secure future shipping routes. Canada’s Department of National Defence said it’s in the market for up to 12 submarines, an order that would potentially quadruple the country’s current fleet of four. The ministry said that the current fleet of submersibles is g...

A 2021 report by the Wall Street Journal revealed that multiple power plants were being repurposed for mining. But not for coal, gold or iron. Instead, these facilities were gearing up for mining Bitcoin.  The article mentioned idled and struggling coal plants in New York and Montana that were scaling up to mine for cryptocurrency. After all, fossil fuel plants have been shutting down as renewable...

American Rounds, an automated ammunition dispenser company, has installed what is being described as “ammo vending machines” at multiple grocery store locations in Alabama and Oklahoma. The machines reportedly sell a variety of shotgun, rifle and handgun rounds, according to KOCO 5 News in Oklahoma City .