IEN Radio

Nearly two years after its workers voted to establish one of the first unions at an auto factory in the South, employees at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, have approved their first contract. The United Auto Workers union announced Thursday that 96% of workers at the Chattanooga plant voted in favor of the deal, which was hashed out over months of often slow-moving talks between th...

One of the nation’s largest brewers says it expects tariffs on the aluminum used in its cans to dent its profits this year. Molson Coors said in its latest financial results that an 8.1% jump in its average cost of goods sold in the quarter, in part, reflected increases in the U.S. Midwest aluminum premium, and noted that commodity inflation would continue to affect profitability this year. Compan...

The State of Texas filed a lawsuit against Darling Ingredients, accusing the company of illegally emitting odors and air contaminants from its rendering facility near Austin, Texas. The complaint noted that the smells can be detected up to 10 miles away, with some described as resembling “boiling blood and death.” Founded in 1882 and based in Irving, Texas, Darling Ingredients converts materials f...

Last month, Conn-Selmer – a manufacturer that’s said to be the last to produce brass musical instruments in the United States – announced that it would be closing its plant in Eastlake, Ohio. And while it’s not exactly an unfamiliar story, this situation has a bit of an interesting twist: the production is reportedly going to a Conn-Selmer plant in China, and the company’s owner, John Paulson, has...

The U.S. Army’s Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona is filled with all manner of things that can seriously hurt or kill a person. And the U.S. military would really appreciate it if people would stop trespassing there. The giant desert training facility, which was formed by General George S. Patton during World War II, is used as a test center for just about every piece of equipment used in ground comb...

The State of Texas filed a lawsuit against industrial waste recycler Global Fiberglass Solutions for illegally compiling approximately 3,000 wind turbine blades and parts at two disposal sites in Sweetwater, Texas. The lawsuit claims that Global and other entities violated the Texas Solid Waste Disposal Act and Texas Water Code. Court documents state that Global, a Texas corporation with a princip...

Cargill says it plans to shut down its beef plant in Milwaukee and lay off more than 200 workers amid turmoil in the U.S. beef industry. Reuters reports that the agribusiness giant notified Wisconsin officials that it intends to halt production at the facility in mid-April and close it entirely at the end of May. The move would affect 221 workers, although some could shift to a nearby plant in sub...

The world’s second-largest brewer says it plans to combat a sluggish beer market by using technology to make its operations more efficient — and, in turn, slash thousands of jobs. Heineken, which announced its latest financial results Wednesday, said that it expects to cut between 5,000 and 6,000 jobs over the next two years — amounting to up to 7% of the Dutch brewer’s global workforce. Company o...

The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) has opened an investigation into a fatal chemical release at Woodland Pulp in Baileyville, Maine. On January 27, 2026, 20-year old intern Kasie Malcolm, a chemical engineering student at the University of Maine, was killed and nine other workers were injured when a highly toxic gas was released into the facility. Two employees were also...

The race for the first viable driverless taxi fleet is still moving forward at a rapid pace, with players like Tesla and Waymo generating regular headlines highlighting the good and the bad. And though the vision is there, the technology that’s being tested now in a handful of American cities is not perfect just yet. Recent reports point to comments made by Waymo’s chief safety officer, Mauricio P...

A proposed merger between two of the largest packaged ice companies in the U.S. has been met with a list of divestiture requirements from the U.S. Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-requires-reddy-ice-divest-assets-proceed-proposed-acquisition-arctic Reddy Ice, the biggest bagged ice manufacturer in the U.S., is looking to acquire Arctic Glac...

It’s hard out there for any automaker dealing with tariffs, development costs, consumer sentiment and a muted shift to electric vehicles – and luxury carmakers are not exempt. A new report suggests that Porsche’s cost cutting efforts may be so aggressive that the luxury automaker could kill two brand new models before they’ve even left the building. At issue are the all-electric Cayman and 718 Box...

Forty-nine workers are set to lose their jobs when The Campbell’s Company closes a plant in the Massachusetts town of Hyannis this spring. And with it, the region will lose production of the snack staple that bears its name – the   Cape Cod chips have been made at the Hyannis plant since 1985 though, over time, the factory volume of this location has declined to just 4% of the overall output of th...

Many have tried, but no one has quite perfected the solar car. The average vehicle spends most – or all – of its time outside, either in use or parked, and with more than 6 million electric vehicles now present on American roads, many auto companies have been captivated by the prospect of capturing the energy of the sun to provide a boost in range. One of those is Nissan, which recently unveiled a...

John Deere announced that it would recall 99 laid-off employees to its facilities in eastern Iowa. The workers will report to the machinery manufacturer’s Davenport and Dubuque Works sites starting in mid-February. The decision came one day after President Donald Trump announced in Clive, Iowa, that John Deere planned to establish a parts distribution center near Hebron, Indiana, and add an excava...

https://www.ien.com/video/video/22959460/honda-gm-to-end-us-manufacturing-joint-venture-this-year Honda said earlier this month that it reached a decision with General Motors to discontinue their Fuel Cell System Manufacturing (FCSM) joint venture by the end of 2026, bringing nearly a decade of collaboration to a close. The Japanese company’s announcement comes a few months after GM said the joint...

https://www.ien.com/video/video/22959340/volkswagen-chief-puts-plans-for-us-audi-factory-on-ice In spring of 2025, after a flurry of tariffs were announced, foreign automakers were in crisis mode. Among them was Volkswagen, a German company with a substantial US footprint for some brands, such as VW, but a non-existent one for others, like Audi. Specifically, Audi vehicles have thus far been produ...

Welcome to another episode of Gen Z in Manufacturing , a podcast where I talk to 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 Bailey Olmschenk, a 27-year-old director of solutions engineering at Prometheus Group, a company that develops AI-powered EAM software for plants and...

Last October, Polaris announced the sale of its Indian Motorcycle business to a California-based private equity firm. The Minnesota-based company has owned the nearly 125-year-old motorcycle maker since 2011 and has given it a new lease on life. When Polaris struck a deal with Carolwood LP, CEO Mike Speetzen said both Polaris, which will hold onto a small stake in the company, and Indian stood to...

Gathr Outdoors announced plans to permanently close its Pride Manufacturing production and support facilities in Maine, according to a release sent to IEN by attorney Peter Bennett. A WARN Notice showed the shutdown at the factory, which makes Lincoln Logs, cigar tips and golf tees, will eliminate 115 jobs. The release stated that the closure results from a “significant shift in customer demand” t...

The next time you board a flight, it will be with the knowledge that a humanoid robot may have helped build the airplane. Airbus, Boeing’s primary rival in producing passenger aircraft, has reached a deal with China-based robotics company UBTech. According to Bloomberg , the aerospace company wants to have UBTech’s Walker S2 bots, which stand about 5’ 9” tall, integrated into production lines. UBT...

A salsa and hot sauce company in Iowa has sued a contract manufacturer over a series of alleged quality control issues in recent years — including hot sauce bottles that reportedly exploded. Lola’s Fine Sauces, which began at farmer’s markets and now sells in many of the nation’s top grocery chains, partnered with Canadian manufacturer EcoIdeas Innovation in 2023 for production of "mini bottl...

A pair of drivers filed a class action lawsuit against Nissan, alleging that its Rogue vehicle’s rear windshields can spontaneously explode while parked and in motion, causing shards of glass to fly through the cars. The complaint claimed that Nissan knew about the defect in 2021 to 2025 Rogue vehicles but failed to notify owners or initiate a recall. The lawsuit states that the rear windshields c...

A Massachusetts-based concrete company has agreed to pay a large fine after multiple safety standard violations resulted in a worker being crushed to death. According to the U.S. Justice Department, John Oliveira & Sons Stamp Concrete was using a large soil screener with a tail conveyer that could be placed in a vertical closed position or opened to an approximate 45-degree angle. The complain...

A year ago, the deadly Eaton wildfire spread through Southern California, destroying more than 9,000 buildings in its path. Among them was the family home of Grammy-nominated artist Aloe Blacc and about 6,000 others just in Altadena.  When it came time to rebuild, Blacc worked with LiveLarge Home, a California-based company that makes factory-built, single-family homes designed to survive wildfire...