Manufacturing & Industrial Technology

Zurich – September 29, 2026 -- Amcor (NYSE: AMCR, ASX: AMC) confirmed that Graeme Liebelt will step down as Chairman after nearly 13 years, with the Board electing Tom Long as his successor effective at the company's Nov. 11, 2026 annual meeting.

Liebelt exits after leading Amcor through major portfolio transformation

Liebelt will not stand for re-election and will retire from Amcor's Board of Directors at the close of his current term. He chaired Amcor plc and its predecessor entity for nearly 13 years, overseeing expansion of the company's product portfolio and sustainability capabilities.

Tom Long brings CEO track record from MillerCoors and Miller Brewing

Long has served as an independent non-executive director on Amcor's Board since 2017. He was previously Chief Executive Officer of MillerCoors, LLC, and led Miller Brewing Company before its 2008 merger with Coors. Long currently chairs the Board of Wolverine Worldwide, Inc.

Stamford, Conn. – – September 29, 2026 -- Tronox Holdings plc (NYSE: TROX) and JX Advanced Metals Corporation (TYO: 5016) have signed a cooperation and investment agreement to jointly fund approximately $32 million on a 50/50 basis for feasibility studies covering new rare earth processing facilities in Australia and the United States.

Companies commit $32 million to feasibility work across two continents

The funding will support a definitive feasibility study for a proposed rare earth cracking and leaching facility in Western Australia and a pre-feasibility study for a rare earth oxide refinery in the United States, alongside development of a US-based pilot plant capable of producing initial quantities of high-purity rare earth oxides.

Kyoto – September 29, 2026 -- Nuvoton Technology Corporation Japan (NTCJ) will begin sampling its KA85010UA battery monitoring IC in January 2027, a 26-cell chip that integrates electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) directly on-chip while cutting PCB temperature rise during measurements by approximately 93% compared with conventional methods.

Inductor-based design slashes power loss and heat by 93%

The KA85010UA replaces the industry-standard resistor method with NTCJ's proprietary inductor approach for EIS measurement, reducing both energy loss and PCB temperature rise by roughly 93%, according to company evaluations. The lower thermal footprint allows EIS functionality to be embedded directly into automotive batteries and energy storage systems without dedicated external measurement equipment.

Espoo – September 29, 2026 -- Valmet Oyj's Board of Directors has confirmed that the second instalment of its 2025 dividend, EUR 0.67 per share, will be paid on October 7, 2026.

Shareholders on record October 1 qualify for payout

The dividend will go to shareholders registered in Valmet's shareholders' register held by Euroclear Finland Oy on the record date of October 1, 2026.

Total 2025 dividend reaches EUR 1.35 per share in two tranches

Valmet's Annual General Meeting in 2026 approved a total dividend of EUR 1.35 per share for the 2025 financial year, split into two instalments. The first tranche of EUR 0.68 per share was paid on April 9, 2026.

Payout ratio hits 89%, well above policy floor

Valmet's dividend policy commits to distributing at least 50% of the period's profit as dividend. The 2025 payout ratio stands at 89%, substantially exceeding that minimum threshold.

Shenzhen, China – September 29, 2026 -- i2Cool has expanded its passive radiative cooling fabric line with two electricity-free products, i2Umbrella Fabric-Hyber and i2Tarpaulin, that lower surface temperatures without power or refrigerants.

New umbrella fabric cuts ambient temperature by 5.2°C without electricity

i2Umbrella Fabric-Hyber, engineered for umbrellas, patio shades and outdoor canopies, achieves solar reflectivity of up to 76% and mid-infrared emissivity of up to 96%. In controlled outdoor testing, the fabric produced internal temperatures 5.2°C cooler than unshaded areas and 2.4°C cooler than conventional silver-coated sun-protection fabrics. The material also blocks 99% of UV radiation and offers full blackout capability with high water repellency.

Fremont, Calif. – September 29, 2026 -- Leopard Imaging will unveil eight new camera and AI perception platforms at VISION 2026, the machine vision trade show running October 6-8 in Stuttgart, Germany, at Hall 10, Booth 10G79.

Sirius Max combines Lumotive beam-steering with iToF depth sensing for long-range robotics perception

The compact RGB + depth platform supports programmable beam-steered illumination and embedded synchronization for software-defined 3D scanning in autonomous systems.

ASTRO Stereo Camera runs on NVIDIA Jetson Thor with dual 5.1MP global-shutter sensors

The system integrates IR projection, illumination, and NVIDIA Holoscan 10GigE connectivity to deliver synchronized RGB + IR stereo imaging, depth mapping, and 3D reconstruction for AI perception pipelines.

Tokyo – – September 29, 2026 -- Advanet Inc., a member of the Eurotech Group, has launched three new industrial computing products built on Renesas Electronics' RZ/G3L MPU, targeting OEMs in HMI, industrial automation, edge computing and building automation.

Three-tier platform spans module, motherboard and box PC

The lineup consists of the Adsmc7101 SMARC module, the AdiMB7103 industrial motherboard and the AdiCS7102 industrial Box PC, all designed, developed and manufactured in Japan on a shared hardware and software platform. The structure lets customers move from a System-on-Module to a fully integrated system without redesigning core architecture, cutting development risk for long-lifecycle deployments.

Shanghai – September 29, 2026 -- YR Fitness plans to expand its one-stop commercial gym supply model by adding design and fit-out services, letting gym owners manage equipment sourcing and physical build-out through a single partner.

YR Fitness will phase in design and fit-out services based on market demand

The company, which has manufactured strength equipment in-house for nearly 30 years, said the rollout will occur in phases tied to specific market and project needs rather than a single simultaneous launch.

George Yang says the goal is consolidating more of the gym-build process under one team

"Opening a gym already means managing enough moving parts," said George Yang, founder and chief designer of YR Fitness. "If we can make equipment sourcing, planning, delivery and after-sales easier, we should. The next step is helping customers manage more of the project through the same team."

Shanghai – – September 29, 2026 -- Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science & Technology Co., Ltd. has signed a US$300 million portfolio credit insurance policy alongside an initial US$50 million non-recourse factoring agreement, creating a tiered financing structure for the company's overseas installment receivables. The deals were finalized at the Zoomlion 2026 Global Financial Partners Summit in Shanghai on September 11.

New framework converts overseas receivables into standardized, investment-grade assets

Developed over six months with international insurers and financial institutions, the arrangement lets overseas installment receivables covered by the credit insurance policy be factored with an overseas bank on a non-recourse basis. The structure replaces transaction-by-transaction handling of overseas receivables with a scalable, replicable financing model.

Copenhagen – September 29, 2026 -- NKT used its Investor Day 2026 in Karlskrona, Sweden, to unveil a formal capital allocation framework and confirm that commercial operation at its expanded Karlskrona facility will begin in Q2 2027, slightly ahead of the original schedule.

NKT ties cash generation to a four-priority capital allocation framework

The company said it will maintain a robust balance sheet, targeting net interest-bearing debt to operational EBITDA below 0x. Beyond balance-sheet discipline, NKT will direct capital toward organic growth and strategically aligned, value-accretive acquisitions, commit to a minimum annual dividend of 20% of adjusted net profit with an ambition for a stable payout per share, and return excess cash via share buybacks or extraordinary dividends when conditions allow.