Latest Manufacturing Headlines
All the headlines from our Manufacturing Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Technology, Regulation Prove Double-Edged Swords in Product Recall Risk
Dec 6 2017 // Exploding Samsung phones, error-prone Takata airbags, faulty GM vehicle ignition switches, failing Johnson & Johnson hip implants — multi-billion dollar product recalls have become more common over the past...
Hospitals in Mississippi, Alabama Sue Opioid Manufacturers Over Addiction Costs
Dec 5 2017 // Hospitals in Mississippi and Alabama are suing more than a dozen pharmaceutical companies, claiming the companies deceptively marketed and sold opioids. The Clarion Ledger reports the class-action federal lawsuit was filed...
New Lawsuit Over West Virginia Warehouse Fire Targets Chemical Manufacturer
Dec 5 2017 // A new lawsuit over the industrial fire that burned for a week in West Virginia targets the chemical manufacturer who sold products stored in the building. The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports the case filed last week says...
Probe Underway Into Fatal Blasts, Fire at New York Cosmetics Factory
Nov 22 2017 // State and local authorities are trying to determine what triggered explosions and a fire at a cosmetics factory in New York’s Hudson Valley that killed one employee and injure nearly three dozen other workers and...
California Lawmakers May Limit Liability of Autonomous Carmakers
Nov 21 2017 // California regulators are embracing a General Motors recommendation that would help makers of self-driving cars avoid paying for accidents and other trouble, raising concerns that the proposal will put an unfair burden on...
Fire Caused by Ventilation Fan Destroys Mississippi Factory
Nov 20 2017 // An electrical fire inside a ventilation fan is believed to have fed a Thursday fire that destroyed a northeast Mississippi factory. Alcorn County Deputy Fire Coordinator Jackie Farr tells The Daily Cornithian that...
Tesla Debuts 500-Mile Electric Heavy Duty Truck
Nov 17 2017 // Tesla Inc. upstaged its own debut of an electric heavy duty truck on Thursday when a red Roadster pulled out of the big rig’s trailer and Chief Executive Elon Musk said the new $200,000 sports car would be the...
Insurers Urged to Catch Up with Risks of Fast-Growing 3-D Printing
Nov 16 2017 // Insurers are woefully behind in developing a coverage strategy for 3-D printing and stand to face liability problems if they don’t do so, an expert appearing at the PLUS 2017 conference in Atlanta said...
French Startup Navya to Roll Out $290,000 ‘Robotaxi’ in Paris Within Weeks
Nov 8 2017 // Navya Technologies SAS will roll its robot-driven automobiles onto the cobbled streets of Paris in the next few weeks to try and beat behemoths from General Motors Co. to Alphabet Inc. at proving autonomous cars are...
Worker Killed at Berkshire Hathaway Manufacturing Subsidiary in Georgia
Nov 3 2017 // Authorities in Georgia say a man is dead after being caught in a piece of machinery at a plant in north Georgia. Whitfield County Coroner Greg Bates told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that 51-year-old Jesus Pimentel was...
Cost-Cutting Japanese Factories Struggle to Maintain Safety
Oct 31 2017 // A series of safety scandals at Japanese companies have put the country’s lionized factory floor under scrutiny as manufacturers struggle with increased pressure on costs, stricter enforcement of standards and growing...
Worker Dies at Previously Cited Southern Indiana Auto Parts Factory
Oct 25 2017 // The Clark County coroner and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration are investigating the death of a worker at a southern Indiana auto parts manufacturing plant. The coroner’s office says 44-year-old...
U.S. Warns of Hacker Attacks on Energy, Aviation, Manufacturing Industries
Oct 23 2017 // The U.S government issued a rare public warning that sophisticated hackers are targeting energy and industrial firms, the latest sign that cyber attacks present an increasing threat to the power industry and other public...
Specter of Corporate Exodus Leaves Connecticut Budget in Crisis
Oct 17 2017 // Thirty years ago, so many companies flocked to Connecticut that Stamford, a waterfront enclave of about 100,000 residents, became the third-largest center of corporate headquarters in the U.S., behind only New York City...
Getting Highly Automated Vehicles on the Road
Oct 16 2017 // A number of current vehicle safety standards are blocking the development of the more sophisticated self-driving cars and trucks. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration promulgates Federal Motor Vehicle Safety...
Gun Industry Immunity Again Tested with Las Vegas Shooting Lawsuit
Oct 12 2017 // Last week’s massacre at a Las Vegas country music festival offers gun control advocates a fresh chance to test a law, put in place by Republicans and the gun industry’s lobby, that protects the industry from...
Las Vegas Shooting Victims Sue Bump Stock Manufacturers
Oct 10 2017 // Victims of the Las Vegas shooting sued manufacturers of bump fire stocks, accusing them of negligence. A dozen bump stocks, which allow a semi-automatic weapon to fire with the rapidity of an automatic weapon, were found...
Driver Assist on Big Rigs Being Tested by Oregon Vehicle Manufacturer
Oct 4 2017 // A Portland-based manufacturer of commercial vehicles is performing trials on Oregon highways of tractor-trailers with driver-assist technology. The Bend Bulletin reported Daimler Trucks North America is testing the same...
Kentucky Jury Awards $21.7M to Families of 3 Killed in Medical Chopper Crash
Oct 2 2017 // A Kentucky jury has awarded $21.7 million to the families of three people who died in a June 2013 medical helicopter crash. A jury in Clay County decided the award Thursday after a three-week trial and five hours of...
Chicago Container Manufacturer Faces $503K in OSHA Penalties
Sep 26 2017 // A Chicago manufacturer of rigid metal, plastic, and hybrid containers faces $503,380 in proposed penalties after inspectors from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)...
