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Panasonic ramps up its smart factory solutions business in India

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Panasonic has announced its plans to ramp up its smart factory solutions business in India.

The company has integrated its welding business and SMT (Surface Mount Technology) equipment business to consolidate its software and hardware capabilities and become an end-to-end integrated Smart Manufacturing Solutions company.

The smart factory solutions proposition will enable Panasonic to deliver broader, high value-added, smart solutions and services along with hardware to manufacturing industry.

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Marvell to acquire Avera Semi for $740 million

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Marvell, a computer networking technology supplier, has reached an agreement to purchase Avera Semi, the chip design business of Global Foundries.

Marvell will initially pay $650 million in cash and an additional $90 million over the next year or so, depending on the performance of the business.

Marvell says the acquisition brings together Avera Semi’s “leading custom design capabilities with Marvell’s advanced technology platform and scale”, creating a “leading application specific integrated circuit supplier for wired and wireless infrastructure”. [Read more…] about Marvell to acquire Avera Semi for $740 million

ABB and Ericsson partner to accelerate wireless automation for flexible factories

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Industrial automation provider ABB and telecommunications equipment company Ericsson have strengthened their commitment to accelerate the industrial ecosystem for flexible wireless automation, which will enable enhanced connected services, industrial IoT and artificial intelligence technologies in the future. 

The partners signed a Memorandum of Understanding at Hannover Messe 2019, establishing their joint vision for future flexible production with automation and wireless communication.

The collaboration comes during the Industry 4.0 era and 5G connectivity which allow businesses to realize increased productivity, with the help of automation and digitalization. [Read more…] about ABB and Ericsson partner to accelerate wireless automation for flexible factories

Europe continues to build 5G networks with Huawei despite US ban

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Europe is continuing to construct 5G networking infrastructure using Huawei equipment, according to Nikkei, despite the Chinese company being effectively banned from doing business in the US.

The administration of President Donald Trump has been vocal in its criticism of what it sees as Chinese companies using communications technology as a way to potentially spy on the US.

After days of speculation, Trump signed an executive order which, although does not name Huawei, effectively prevents the company from selling its products in the US, and even buying components from the US.

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Mass customization platform KBMax named ‘visual configuration leader’

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KBMax, a company which provides mass customization services to the manufacturing sector, says it has been named “visual configuration leader” by G2 Crowd, a website which collates and presents reviews from users of software.

KBMax mainly offers its services through its website, and primarily categorizes itself as a “CPQ” platform, a well-known term in sales and marketing which stands for configure, price, quote.

Traditionally, CPQ platforms have not included visual configurators, which enable the customization of a product using online 3D computer-aided design software.

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Volkswagen to invest €1 billion in new battery cell production facility

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Volkswagen is planning to move into the battery cell manufacturing market with an investment of €1 billion in a new production facility in Europe.

The automotive giant will set up the battery cell production facility in the Lower Saxony region of its native Germany.

The company is working with the local government to choose a suitable location for the factory complex, and is likely to partner with businesses from relevant sectors.

[Read more…] about Volkswagen to invest €1 billion in new battery cell production facility

Trump trade tariffs to hit $300 billion worth of Chinese goods

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US President Donald Trump’s proposed increase in tariffs will hit $350 billion worth of goods imported from China, according to economic analysts.

Trump announced his intention to impose the additional tariffs recently in a tweet, but the US and China are currently locked in trade talks and there may be some modifications to the proposal.

The effects of his announcement, however, have been far-reaching, and are said to be the reason for the $1 trillion fall in share prices around the world.

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OnRobot opens Singapore office for its robot end-of-arm tools

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OnRobot, the Danish end-of-arm tooling specialist, is opening regional headquarters in Singapore.

OnRobot says it will closely focus on the growing demand of end-of-arm-tooling (EOAT) in robotics automation in Southeast Asia.

OnRobot specializes in EOAT for collaborative applications, where machines and humans come together to automate, for faster and cost-effective production. [Read more…] about OnRobot opens Singapore office for its robot end-of-arm tools

GM’s autonomous driving business Cruise raises another $1.15 billion

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The autonomous driving business which General Motors acquired three years ago, Cruise, has raised more than $1 billion in its latest funding round, bringing total capital raised to approximately $7 billion.

Cruise says the equity investment of $1.15 billion is from a group comprising institutional investors, including funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, and existing partners GM, SoftBank Vision Fund and Honda.

Dan Ammann, Cruise CEO, says: “Developing and deploying self-driving vehicles at massive scale is the engineering challenge of our generation.

[Read more…] about GM’s autonomous driving business Cruise raises another $1.15 billion

Chinese exporters accuse Trump of not playing by the rules

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Chinese export companies have strongly criticized President Donald Trump for deciding to increase tariffs on imports into the US by another 10 percent, bringing them up to 25 percent for hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of manufactured goods.

Comments reported by the South China Morning Post say Chinese exporters are decrying Trump as a business “killer” who “never plays by the rules”.

One exporter, Liao Yu, who produces bags and suitcases, said: “A 25 per cent [tariff] will kill everyone.”

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