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The Today in Manufacturing Podcast is brought to you by the editors from Manufacturing.net and Industrial Equipment News (IEN). In each episode, we discuss the five biggest stories in manufacturing, and the implications they have on the industry moving forward. This week:
Bezos Rocket Crashes After Liftoff, Only Experiments Aboard
On Monday, a Blue Origin rocket crashed back to Earth shortly after liftoff.
Personal Submarines Become More Affordable
The U-Boat Worx NEMO submersible series made a splash this week with a pair of submarines that start at just about $545,000.
World’s Largest Silicon Carbide Materials Facility Planned for U.S.
Last Friday, Wolfspeed announced plans to build a new multi-billion-dollar materials manufacturing facility in Chatham County, North Carolina.
Manufacturing Defect Caused Pipeline Explosion
On August 1, 2019, a 30-inch Enbridge natural gas pipeline near Danville, Kentucky, ruptured. This week, the National Transportation Safety Board said the accident could be traced back to a manufacturing defect.
Railway Averts Strike After Labor Deal Reached
A tentative railway labor deal has been made and a potentially devastating strike averted.
In Case You Missed It
Tesla Says it’s Finally Flush with Battery Cells
Martin Viecha, the vice president of investor relations at Tesla, revealed that battery parts that have been in short supply for years are now more available.
Gates: Tech Innovation Would Help Solve Hunger
Bill Gates says the global hunger crisis is so bad that food aid cannot fully address the problem. Instead, he's created 'magic seeds," crops engineered to adapt to climate change and resist agricultural pests.
DARPA's New X-Plane to Make Leaps in Aerospace Tech
DARPA's new Ancillary program wants to develop and demonstrate new technologies that promise to leap vertical takeoff and landing vehicles forward.
Good News
Magline, Inc. Celebrates 75 Years: Magline recently celebrated its 75th anniversary. The company is known for hand trucks and other equipment used for material handling of payloads up to 1,500 pounds by person rather than machine.
Bernard Celebrates 75th Anniversary: Bernard celebrated its 75th anniversary. The company has a history rich in welding product innovation that started as a storefront on the southeast side of Chicago. Now the company does customizable semi-automatic air-cooled MIG guns and other welding products.
This week's episode is sponsored by the Big 50. Industrial Distribution’s Big 50 List is in an annual ranking of the top 50 industrial distributors by sales revenue. This hotly anticipated list will be unveiled starting Sept 27th when we go live with our countdown video series, where we’ll walk through the Big 50 from 50 to 1 over the course of three videos in three days. Check them out on our website – IndDist.com – and you’ll get to see the ranking, complete with a lot of great industry analysis to go along with it.
In continuing the conversation, we’re asking for your input on:
Which of the following do you feel has the best chance to disrupt/improve/change the current status quo (positively or negatively) within their market or operating environment?
- Bezos and Blue Origin privatizing launches and space travel.
- Uboat Worx expanding accessibility to personal submarines.
- Wolfspeed and North Carolina breaking ground on a new silicon carbide chip plant.
- The NTSB cracking down on bad pipes/energy infrastructure.
- Railway union deals.
Additional comments on the stories? (If we read your comment on the next podcast, you’ll get a TIM t-shirt and hat).
Thanks, Anna, David and Jeff
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