Manufacturing & Industrial Technology

Woodinville, Wash. – October 29, 2026 -- Group14 Technologies closed a €150 million (about $169 million) Series D equity extension from a new, undisclosed investor, lifting the round to more than $665 million and unlocking a third large-scale battery active materials site in Sagunto, Spain.

BAM-4 in Spain adds 10 GWh and lifts near-term capacity to 40 GWh

The Sagunto plant, designated BAM-4, will produce Group14's SCC55 silicon-carbon material and is the company's first industrial-scale module in Europe. It brings Group14's near-term manufacturing footprint to 40 GWh.

That total comprises three sites:

Parsippany-Troy Hills – October 29, 2026 -- OLI has released Version 12.7 of its chemistry simulation software with Microsoft Excel import and export, removing the manual data entry that engineers previously needed to move spreadsheet data into OLI Studio.

Excel link lets engineers build and update analyses from spreadsheets

Users can create new analyses in OLI Studio directly from Excel, or update existing projects as new sample data arrives. Calculated results can be returned to Excel, where teams compare cases and feed findings into existing reporting workflows. OLI says the change cuts manual data handling and the risk of transcription errors.

The functionality initially covers selected objects in OLI Studio: Stream Analyzer and OLI Studio: ScaleChem. Supported analysis types are water, brine, gas and oil.

Iowa City – October 29, 2026 -- Sixty-three percent of industrial professionals surveyed say fewer than 5% of frontline workers file a hazard, near-miss or safety report each month, or that their site doesn't track the figure, according to the Frontline Risk Study 2026 from Teamforce AI.

Participation is low and static at 38% of sites

Thirty-eight percent of respondents report under 5% monthly participation, and another 25% don't track it. Of the 23 respondents in the under-5% group, 19 say the rate hasn't moved in a year.

Digital reporting tools lift participation at only some sites

Among sites that track reporting, 15 of 30 with EHS software or an app exceed 15% participation. No site without such tools reached that level. Still, 20 of the 39 sites with these tools are under 5% or don't track the rate.

Louisville – – October 29, 2026 -- Equip Exposition sold out its 1.3 million square feet of exhibit space for a fifth consecutive year and drew approximately 30,000 attendees to Louisville, Kentucky, on October 21-23. Registered attendance grew across key demographic categories, according to organizer Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI).

Show draws landscape and equipment buyers despite rising fuel prices and interest rates

OPEI President and CEO Kris Kiser said attendees came despite rising fuel prices, higher interest rates and other pressures. He said that when times are tough, "Equip is the place to be to talk to others who are going through the same things." The audience included landscapers, designers, tree care and irrigation professionals, and outdoor power equipment manufacturers and dealers.

Trade Show Executive magazine ranked Equip the third largest trade show in the U.S. for 2025.

Reutlingen – October 29, 2026 -- A total of 186 of 228 eligible Stoll employees entered the MYPEGASUS transfer company after the Reutlingen knitting-machine maker shut down, and a large share have since found new jobs, according to the provider.

Stoll closed after more than 152 years, affecting 250 employees

Stoll, once a world market leader in knitting machines, ceased operations on October 31, 2025. Cheap textile production from the Far East first squeezed its customers and then the machine builder itself. The closure hit 250 employees and the wider region. The transfer company ran from November 1, 2025; the overall project continues until March 2028.

MILWAUKEE – October 29, 2026 -- A. O. Smith (NYSE: AOS) reported third-quarter 2026 sales of $941 million, net earnings of $126 million and diluted EPS of $0.93, while moving to sell 81% of its China business to alternative asset manager CPE and cutting China from its full-year outlook.

China sale values the unit at about $400 million before royalties

The definitive agreements, announced October 27, value the China business at approximately $400 million on a cash-free, debt-free basis, excluding the long-term brand licensing royalty stream. Including the net present value of licensing payments over a multi-decade period, total value is expected to exceed $500 million.

MILWAUKEE – October 29, 2026 -- Food and beverage manufacturers effectively use only about 45% of the data they collect, even though nearly 90% already use AI and machine learning or plan to do so soon, according to Rockwell Automation's 2026 State of Smart Manufacturing Report.

Data gaps stall AI projects at the pilot stage

Rockwell (NYSE: ROK) says the 45% data-utilization rate is a significant barrier to scaling AI beyond isolated pilots. Many manufacturers lack connected data, standardized processes and integrated systems, which limits enterprise-wide results.

Greg Schmidt, Vice President, CPG Global Industry at Rockwell, said the question is no longer whether AI delivers value but "how to scale successful pilots across the enterprise."

DOWNERS GROVE – October 29, 2026 -- Federal Signal Corporation (NYSE: FSS) has completed the acquisition of substantially all assets and operations of Global Vacuum Systems, Inc. (GVS) for approximately $29 million, adding a custom liquid vacuum tank truck manufacturer to its vacuum truck lineup.

Manufacturing facility accounts for about $15 million of the price

The purchase price includes GVS's manufacturing facility, valued at approximately $15 million. That leaves roughly $14 million for the operating business, which generated net sales of approximately $12 million for the year ended December 31, 2025.

GVS adds code and non-code LVT trucks in three materials

Founded in 1985 and based in Navasota, Texas, the family-owned company designs and manufactures custom code and non-code liquid vacuum tank (LVT) trucks. Its units are built in carbon steel, stainless steel, and aluminum.

CHICAGO – October 29, 2026 -- Ryerson Holding Corporation (NYSE: RYZ) posted third-quarter Adjusted EBITDA, excluding LIFO, of $115.0 million, well above its guidance of $88 million to $92 million, as merger synergies reached a $52 million annualized run-rate against a $40 million first-year target.

Revenue totaled $2.18 billion, up 8.6% from the second quarter. Total tons shipped rose 1.2% and average selling prices rose 7.2% sequentially. Net income was $32.0 million, or $0.61 per diluted share, compared with $15.5 million in the prior quarter and a net loss of $14.8 million a year earlier.

CLEVELAND – October 29, 2026 -- Preformed Line Products (NASDAQ: PLPC) lifted third-quarter 2026 net sales 18% to $209.5 million, from $178.1 million a year earlier, while gross margin widened 370 basis points to 33.4%.

Net income reached $18.0 million, or $3.56 per diluted share, against $2.6 million, or $0.53 per share, in Q3 2025. Adjusted for charges tied to the U.S. Pension Plan termination in Q3 2025, diluted EPS rose 70%. Currency translation added $3.1 million to quarterly sales and $0.4 million to net income.

PLP-USA drives growth on transmission and distribution demand

PLP-USA delivered more than $100 million in net sales for the second consecutive quarter, driven mainly by transmission and distribution markets. For the first nine months, PLP-USA net sales grew 28%.