Manufacturing & Industrial Technology

Zhuhai – October 29, 2026 -- Golden Bake, the baking equipment division of Evergrowing Machinery Company Limited, says its automatic flour dosing system weighs a two-flour recipe in about 3 minutes with a tested tolerance of ±200 grams. The company presented the system at the 140th Canton Fair as part of an automated ingredient-handling line for biscuit plants.

A 3D model at the fair showed intelligent silos, dosing and conveying units working with mixing, forming and baking as one production line. Golden Bake's pitch is that delays in flour or sugar supply stall everything downstream.

Feeding station handles 50 kg of flour per minute with dust extraction

Manual tipping increases workers' exposure to airborne dust and contamination. The source cites the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration as classifying flour as a flammable dust that can, in some circumstances, explode.

DAYTON, Minn. – October 29, 2026 -- Gradian Thermal Solutions has opened a 500,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Dayton, Minnesota, a roughly $60 million investment that lifts its total manufacturing footprint to approximately 780,000 square feet.

Dayton plant has been producing since June and is still ramping up

Production began at the site in June, and Gradian continues to add capacity. The company expects the facility to support what it describes as strong and growing demand from data center, industrial and commercial customers.

The plant joins Gradian's 180,000-square-foot facility in Maple Grove, Minnesota, and its 100,000-square-foot site in Guadalajara, Mexico.

WASHINGTON – October 29, 2026 -- The U.S. Department of Commerce has issued antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) orders on imports of van-type trailers and subassemblies from China. The orders will remain in effect for at least five years, according to the American Trailer Manufacturers Coalition (ATMC), which filed the underlying petitions.

Commerce orders follow affirmative ITC injury finding on Sept. 25, 2026

The ATMC filed AD/CVD petitions with Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) on Nov. 20, 2025. The petitions targeted dumped and subsidized trailer products from Canada, China and Mexico. The ITC issued an affirmative final injury determination on all three countries on Sept. 25, 2026. Commerce had also made final affirmative determinations on dumping and subsidies for China.

Northbrook, Illinois – October 29, 2026 -- Stepan Company (NYSE: SCL) has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.405 per share, extending its record of annual dividend increases to 59 consecutive years.

Stepan lifts the fourth-quarter 2026 payout by $0.010 per share

The board approved the increase in the fourth quarter of 2026. The dividend is payable on December 15, 2026, to common stockholders of record on December 1, 2026.

Specialty chemicals maker keeps its payout streak running through restructuring

Stepan is a merchant producer of surfactants, the key ingredients in consumer and industrial cleaning and disinfection products and in agricultural and oilfield solutions. It also supplies polyurethane polyols to the thermal insulation market and to the CASE (Coatings, Adhesives, Sealants, and Elastomers) industries. Production runs through facilities in North and South America, Europe and Asia.

Rockville – October 29, 2026 -- Ceva (NASDAQ: CEVA) has unveiled a next-generation NeuPro NPU portfolio that delivers up to 2X higher AI throughput per mm2 and 50% better energy efficiency than the first generation, and extends the company's neural processing IP into cloud and data center silicon for the first time.

Four NPUs share one architecture and one SDK

The portfolio comprises NeuPro Nano, Prime, Max and Ultra, all built on a common core architecture and a single unified software development kit. Chip designers can move between cores as requirements change, or combine several within one SoC and assign each workload to the best-suited engine. Ceva says this preserves software investment across product generations.

Schaffhausen – October 29, 2026 -- Garmin Ltd. (NYSE: GRMN) posted record third-quarter operating income of $612 million, up 34% year on year, and raised its full-year 2026 guidance after revenue rose 12% to a record $1.99 billion.

Margins expand 420 basis points as tariff refunds add $33 million

Consolidated gross margin reached 63.3%, up 420 basis points, with higher margins in every segment. Garmin attributed the gain to favorable segment mix, lower product costs and about $33 million in refunds of previously paid tariffs. Operating margin was 30.8%. Pro forma EPS rose 39% to $2.76, while GAAP EPS was $2.80.

Operating expenses grew 10% to $646 million. R&D rose 9% on personnel costs, and SG&A rose 10% on personnel and advertising. The effective tax rate fell to 18.1% from 21.2%, which Garmin linked to higher expected U.S. deductions under tax legislation enacted in 2025 that took effect in 2026.

Galway – October 29, 2026 -- TE Connectivity (NYSE: TEL) closed fiscal 2026 with record net sales of $19.9 billion, up 15% on a reported basis and 12% organically, as customer demand for data and power connectivity lifted both of its segments.

Adjusted EPS rose 24% to $11.52 for the year ended September 25, 2026. GAAP EPS climbed 80% to $11.07. Adjusted operating margin was 22%, against 20% on a GAAP basis.

Fourth-quarter orders jump 29% to $6.1 billion

Fourth-quarter net sales hit a record $5.3 billion, up 12% reported and 13% organic, with the Industrial and Transportation segments both growing strongly. Orders reached $6.1 billion, up 29% year over year and 6% sequentially.

GAAP diluted EPS from continuing operations was $3.10, up 39%, while adjusted EPS of $3.14 rose 21%. GAAP operating margin was 21% and adjusted operating margin was 22%.

ATLANTA – October 29, 2026 -- One in four supply chain leaders wish they had chosen a different automation path, and 94% say switching providers would be prohibitively expensive, according to a survey of 250 North American decision-makers released by warehouse robotics provider Exotec. Most buyers are therefore locked into their chosen system for 10 to 15 years.

Larger companies report more underperformance, not less

Companies with more than $1 billion in revenue were more likely than smaller firms to say their most significant automation investment underperformed (21% vs. 13%). Exotec traces regret to three pre-implementation decisions: underestimating lifetime ownership cost, leaving accountability for issue resolution unclear, and automating before the operation was ready.

HELSINKI – October 29, 2026 -- UPM-Kymmene reported a third-quarter comparable EBIT of €131 million from continuing operations, down 8% from €142 million a year earlier. Operating cash flow nearly doubled to €420 million from €218 million, driven by working capital measures.

Sales slipped to €2,202 million from €2,226 million, and the comparable EBIT margin fell to 5.9% from 6.4%. Lower deliveries during customer destocking and higher variable costs weighed on results. Pricing actions offset part of the impact. CEO Massimo Reynaudo called it "a softer quarter following a strong first half."

ESPOO – October 29, 2026 -- Valmet Oyj's third-quarter orders received rose 30 percent to EUR 1,408 million (EUR 1,083 million), or 25 percent organically, while comparable EBITA climbed 6 percent to EUR 169 million (EUR 159 million).

Biomaterial capital orders reach EUR 552 million on China and Asia-Pacific wins

Growth came from strong biomaterial services intake, continued expansion in Process Performance Solutions and a strong quarter in biomaterial capital projects. Biomaterial capital orders totaled EUR 552 million, including major project wins in China and Asia-Pacific. Biomaterial services orders grew 12 percent organically, with growth across regions, service categories and business areas.

Process Performance Solutions posted 3 percent organic order growth in a low-growth market and a comparable EBITA margin of 20.2 percent.