IEN Radio

On November 13, 2022, at about 3:30 pm, a fire broke out on the bridge of the S-Trust, an oil tanker that was docked in Baton Rouge. While no one was injured, the accident caused some $3 million in damage. According to the NTSB, the fire was traced to the thermal runaway of a cell in an ultra-high-frequency handheld radio's lithium-ion battery. The batteries and chargers for the radios were p...

Based in Willoughby, Ohio, Advanced RV isn't your typical small manufacturer. The company makes luxury custom motorhomes out of Mercedes cargo vans.  Last year, the company was one of some 200 companies that took part in a trial to see if a global four-day workweek was possible. Not only was it possible, but according to a recent NPR interview , the company has no intention of ever going back...

Residents of an Irvine, California neighborhood are breathing a sigh of relief after finally reaching a conclusion to years of contentious debate over a factory. All American Asphalt set up shop in 1993 in an area described by local news organization Voice of OC as having “nothing around it.” But as the years went by and more of the adjacent land was developed with housing, along with it came cont...

Gigacasting is changing the automotive industry. The technology was pioneered by Tesla and gave the EV maker a substantial lead in the EV market by cutting out several components and processes with a single press by a massive 9,000-ton machine. 

Last year, GE Appliances and Einride successfully completed a pair of pilots that employed a heavy-duty, autonomous, electric vehicle from Einride driven on public roads to move finished goods from a Monogram Refrigeration plant to a nearby warehouse in Selmer, TN. Monogram Refrigeration is a subsidiary of GE Appliances, which is owned by Chinese multinational Haier. 

After years of anticipation, Cybertruck delivery day is almost here. But anyone thinking about flipping their new electric truck for a profit better check the fine print on Tesla’s order agreement. The automaker added some Cybertruck-only provisions to the document and they’re designed to ensure owners can’t resell their vehicles right away. The new terms forbid Cybertruck owners from selling thei...

In April, supermarket company Southeastern Grocers (SEG) announced a collaboration with a Canadian startup called Relocalize . The collaboration focused on a pilot ice manufacturing project that would place one of the startup’s autonomous ice for micro-factories at SEG's Jacksonville Distribution Center.  Wayne McIntyre, co-founder and CEO of Relocalize, said the startup was formed to introdu...

An Indian factory stands accused of being the source of contaminated eye drops that have consumers on edge. The US Food and Drug Administration recently released an alert , claiming that more than two dozen over the counter eye drop products posed potential risk to consumers. The FDA pointed to 26 products being sold at major retailers including Target, Rite Aid and CVS, warning that it was possib...

Elon Musk’s brain implant startup Neuralink has attracted lots of criticism and skepticism but it also seems to have generated a lot of optimism for the thousands of potential patients interested in human trials. The company earlier this year got FDA approval to begin human trials and began recruiting shortly thereafter. According to a lengthy Bloomberg profile on Neuralink, the ambitions for huma...

In February 2022, a 63-year-old worker was killed at a 3M (NYSE: MMM) plant in Alexandria, Minnesota. The worker became entangled with a machine during the overnight shift.  A few months after the accident, the company assessed its equipment at U.S. and Canadian plants. According to OSHA Regional Administrator Bill Donovan, after 3M completed its investigation, it "determined powered rollers...

There was a time when the world was heavy with anticipation for COVID vaccines and boosters — to the point where desperate consumers were lining up for their chance for an inoculation that was tantamount, for many, to a “get out of quarantine free card.” But three years past the initial panic of the COVID-19 pandemic, and two years into mass vaccinations, things have stabilized. And while most of...

Welcome to another episode of Gen Z in Manufacturing, a podcast where I interview young workers about their jobs in the manufacturing industry and what they look for from an employer. For this episode, I welcome Max Fisher, a 25-year-old product manager at Infor , a company that provides business cloud software products specialized by industry. Fisher began working for Infor in 2021 after graduati...

Electric vehicles are still an emerging market and price is one of the major factors still tripping up wider spread adoption. But Tesla may have a plan in place to build a much more affordable EV. According to a report from Reuters , the U.S.-based automaker is planning production for a 25,000-euro electric vehicle at its factory near Berlin. That price would put it at just less than $27,000, cons...

FN Herstal’s new Smart ProtectoR 303-T is being positioned as a less-lethal option for use by law enforcement for crowd control, riots and day-to-day patrols when avoiding lethal force is crucial. It’s designed to be accurate enough to single out individuals and built to shoot projectiles that the company said break up on impact and deliver a “highly dissuasive impact similar to a baton strike.”

Workforce number took a hit last week when announced that it would be winding down its tire making operations in Ardmore, Oklahoma, eliminating 1,400 jobs with it.

Marines with the Tactical Training and Exercise Control Group (TTECG), along with the Marine Air Ground Task Force Training Command (MCAGCC) and the Office of Naval Research (ONR), recently tested a quadruped robotic platform referred to as the “robotic goat.” Though it bears a slight resemblance to a goat, particularly in terms of movement, it’s actually a remote-controlled device built for multi...

Olin Corp, is a Clayton, Missouri-based manufacturer of chemicals, epoxy and small arms and ammunition. The company, which was founded in 1892, acquired Winchester Repeating Arms in 1931 and has grown to become a top global producer and the leading U.S. manufacturer of ammunition.  Olin supplies the Air Force and other federal agencies with small arms ammunition and, in a recent routine compliance...

Editor's Note: This description has been updated to reflect the fact that Cleveland-Cliffs has already spent $100 million on a new electrostatic precipitator (ESP) for its facility in Dearborn, Michigan. Steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs faced costly modifications to an eight-year-old consent decree that was supposed to address air emissions at the company’s manufacturing plant in Dearborn, Michiga...

Tesla’s upcoming Cybertruck will likely go down in history as one of the more bizarre production vehicles ever to make it to market. From its angular body reminiscent of Nintendo 64 graphics, to its single, absurdly long windshield wiper blade. But before the first Cybertruck rolls off the line, Tesla CEO Elon Musk is making sure to temper investors’ excitement over his company’s latest EV. During...

There’s a saying in manufacturing: a solid business finds ways to work smarter, not harder. And with the advent of industrial automation – that’s taking place at many levels.  But a recent study published in the scientific journal, "Frontiers in Robotics and AI" suggests there may be some unique gaps in this theory: they say humans who work with robots may actually be more likely to slac...

In late September, Superior Die Set Corporation, a fourth-generation, family-owned manufacturer of steel and aluminum products, notified the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development of its intent to close the company's plant in Oak Creek, WI. According to Superior Die, the move comes as a result of decreased order volume, and the layoffs could happen soon. By November 20, 2023, 133 emplo...

Welcome to another episode of Gen Z in Manufacturing, a podcast series in which I interview young workers about their jobs in the manufacturing industry and what they look for from an employer. For this installment, I welcome Tomas Guillen, a 25-year-old controls engineer at Patti Engineering , a company that integrates automation, robotic and digitalization technologies in industrial facilities....

Though Modelo jumped into the top spot as America's best-selling beer, other brands are also seeing explosive growth. The beer rush has caused DG Yuengling & Son to continue selling out, and it's now America's fourth fastest-growing beer brand.  According to a new report from the New York Post , sales have spiked 22% for the company through early last month, and that's with...

Lordstown Motors is back in the headlines as some familiar faces have reentered the picture three months after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. According to an SEC filing , when Lordstown began voluntary proceedings under Chapter 11 in June, the company’s “selling entities” approved an auction to sell the company’s assets.  The bankruptcy court approved the bidding procedure...

A solar cell manufacturing facility in Georgia that closed its doors several years back has apparently been down this whole time, but not out. Solar manufacturing company Suniva has announced plans to reopen a facility in Norcross, Georgia it idled in 2017 prior to a bankruptcy filing. The company also closed a Michigan plant during the same period.