“We have become a white-collar workforce, and automation has become a necessity.”
– Randy Breaux, President, Motion Industries
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1. Kennametal Named Among World’s Best Companies
Kennametal just landed on Time magazine’s World’s Best Companies 2025 list, highlighting its push for employee satisfaction, innovation, and sustainability. Fresh off making Time’s U.S. Best Midsize Companies list, the tooling and materials leader credits its workforce for driving continuous improvement and long-term value. For manufacturing technology buyers, it’s a sign the company’s practices are earning serious mainstream validation.
2. Divergent Snags $290M for DAPS Platform
Divergent Technologies has closed its Series E financing round, which raised $290 million to scale its Divergent Adaptive Production System (DAPS), an end-to-end digital manufacturing platform for aerospace, defense, and automotive. With a $2.3 billion valuation and over 600 part numbers in production, Divergent’s software-defined approach is designed to shorten development cycles, cut costs, and expand the U.S. industrial base at high speed.
3. Toyota 3D Prints Cooler Transmission Mold
Fraunhofer ILT, MacLean-Fogg, and Toyota 3D printed a massive die-casting mold insert for the Yaris Hybrid using a new gantry-based laser powder bed fusion system and L-40 tool steel. The mold integrates complex cooling channels and withstands high stresses without cracking, proving that large-scale AM tools can now replace conventional dies, unlocking longer life, more flexibility, and faster production for high-pressure casting.
4. GM Uses AI To Keep the Supply Chain in Gear
GM built an AI-powered toolkit to map its 18,000-supplier network, flag risks, and keep plants running. The system spots weak points, scans public signals, and alerts teams before trouble hits – turning reactive fire drills into proactive fixes. By working closely with suppliers and earning their trust, GM has gained deeper visibility into its supply chain, helping to avoid costly disruptions and stay ahead of the next shortage.
5. US Magnesium Restructures To Protect Supply
U.S. Magnesium, America’s only primary producer of magnesium, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to restructure operations and plan a sale while maintaining the supply of critical minerals. The move aims to stabilize production, preserve jobs, and sustain domestic access to magnesium, a material vital for the defense, aerospace, and energy sectors, reducing the risk of deeper dependence on foreign suppliers.
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