January 17, 2019 – Binder USA introduces the new M12-DT cordset, moulded to a binder M12-A cordset with a black PTFE-coated locking nut.

January 16, 2019 – Hammond Power Solutions, a manufacturer of dry-type transformers and magnetics, has announced an improved line of three-phase encapsulated transformers for industrial and harsh environments.

January 15, 2019 – FLIR Systems has added three midwave infrared (MWIR) camera cores to its Neutrino line for industrial, commercial and defense products.

January 14, 2019 – Advanced Motion Controls has released the AB25A100 PWM servo drive, designed to drive brushless and brushed DC motors at a high switching frequency.

January 11, 2019 – Lanner has added the LEC-3034 series to its industrial-grade box PC product lineup.

January 10, 2019 – The Sysmac AI Controller for human-machine collaboration is now available from automation solutions provider Omron Automation Americas.

January 9, 2019 – Siemens has launched the Sinamics V20 Smart Access web server module, designed to mount directly onto the drive, transforming a mobile device or laptop into a virtual operator panel for drive control.

January 8, 2019 – B&R has created new mapp functions in SafeDESIGNER, for the creation of safety applications.

January 7, 2019 – WIN Enterprises, a global manufacturer of embedded x86 motherboards and appliances for OEMs, has announced the line of PL-81980 network servers.

January 7, 2019 – Lintech has released the 100 series linear positioning slides, which use a low-friction, pre-loaded, recirculating linear ball bearing system that rides on ground linear square rail guide.

January 4, 2019 – Vortec's line of enclosure coolers are designed to keep small electronic components such as resistors and switches cool in control panels, which the company says helps to protect sensors, solenoids, relays and PLCs.

January 7, 2019 – The Excellence in Manufacturing Consortium (EMC) has kick-started a new three-year program to help Northern Ontario manufacturers become more productive and globally competitive.

January 7, 2019 – Heidenhain has established its first authorized training partner in North America focusing on its CNC controls, at the Community College of Denver’s (CCD) Advanced Manufacturing Center (AMC).

January 4, 2019 – SICK and Humber College have partnered to build awareness of new industry automation sensor solutions and Industry 4.0 ready sensor technologies as part of Humber College's Barrett Centre for Technology Innovation (Barrett CTI). 

December 10, 2018 – The National Research Council of Canada (NRC) recently opened the Manufacturing and Automotive Innovation Hub in London, Ontario, a 75,000-square-foot set of renovated scientific laboratories intended to bring together companies, governments, universities and colleges together to collaborate on breakthrough projects.

December 6, 2018 – Sarnia, Ontario’s Lambton College, which offers several industrial automation programs, has capitalized on the area’s diversification and industry partnerships to take top honours in a national ranking of research colleges.

December 3, 2018 – Baby boomers have left a footprint on every industry since they joined the workforce five decades ago. In leadership roles, they have set the organization’s vision, established the company’s culture and built the business’s reputation.

November 30, 2018 – Festo has launched a Festo Service channel on YouTube with explainer videos on how users can commission its electric or pneumatic automation products or carry out simple maintenance work.

November 29, 2018 – Toronto's Seneca College and KUKA Canada, an advanced manufacturing and intelligent automation supplier, have partnered to provide Seneca students with state-of-the-art robotic equipment and the opportunity to enhance their manufacturing skills as future graduates within the postsecondary sector.

November 21, 2018 – Registration is open for the next year of Bosch Rexroth's suite of hydraulic and mobile hydraulic training courses.

November 20, 2018 – The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) has opened a brand-new Productivity and Innovation Centre (PIC), a facility that aims to help Alberta businesses become more competitive. 

November 15, 2018 – The Yves Landry Foundation is accepting applications from manufacturers in south, central and eastern Ontario to receive up to $100,000 to offset the costs of training expenses.

January 16, 2019 – The Ontario Provincial Police say they're investigating after a man died in what they describe as an industrial accident in Caledon, Ont.

January 2, 2019 – Ontario's Ministry of Labour is investigating two industrial accidents at Dofasco plants in Hamilton.

January 2, 2019 – Scientists at the University of Waterloo have created a powder that could capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from factories and power plants.

December 19, 2018 – Ace Bakery Ltd. has been fined $55,000 by Ontario provincial offences court after pleading guilty to an offence involving a worker's critical injury at its food processing plant in Mississauga, Ontario.

December 18, 2018 – Welded Tube of Canada Limited, a cold-formed carbon steel and high-strength, low-alloy steel tube manufacturer, has been fined $120,000 in provincial offences court following a guilty plea after a worker injury at its plant in Welland, Ontario last spring.

December 18, 2018 – Weston Bakeries Ltd., a manufacturer of fresh and frozen baked products, has been fined $65,000 in provincial offences court following a guilty plea after a worker was critically injured at its Concord, Ontario facility last summer. 

December 7, 2018 – Federal officials will review an accident in which an automated machine punctured a can of bear repellent at an Amazon warehouse in New Jersey, releasing fumes that sickened workers and sent two dozen to hospitals.

December 5, 2018 – ArcelorMittal Long Products Canada MP Inc., a manufacturer of steel products, has been fined $75,000 in Ontario's provincial offences court after a worker was critically injured attempting to connect coils to a hoist with a chain. 

November 27, 2018 – SIM/Cognibox, a Quebec-based training services company, has released 19 new e-learning training modules in English, for a range of industries including manufacturing, as part of its ongoing health and safety programming.

November 22, 2018 – Old adages advise against reinventing the wheel, but what is a manufacturer to do when customers all want different wheels?

November 20, 2018 – According to the Association of Workers' Compensation Boards of Canada, manufacturing is statistically one of the highest risk industrial sectors to work in. 

November 19, 2018 – Robert Markle, sole director of JTF Davco Ltd., a company that manufactures screws from brass and other metal stock, has been fined $22,000 in a Ministry of Labour charge after a worker was killed at the JTF Davco plant in Toronto. 

January 17, 2019 – Vention, a Montreal-based company that has created a digital manufacturing platform for custom factory equipment, has secured a $17-million investment to further develop its cloud-based software and expand its modular hardware library.

January 15, 2019 – Manufacturing AUTOMATION is pleased to present a new webinar series alongside Pemeco Consulting called Integrating the Enterprise: ERP Best Practices.

January 15, 2019 – The National Research Council (NRC) and Fives, an industrial engineering group, have partnered to develop a machine that will improve the efficiency of manufacturing composite parts for the aerospace industry using automation.

January 10, 2019 – DENSO, one of the world's largest mobility manufacturers, has opened a satellite research and development lab in Montreal.

January 9, 2019 – French software company Dassault Systèmes has acquired IQMS, a manufacturing ERP software company, for $425 million.

January 9, 2019 – A new U.S. survey exploring cybersecurity challenges faced by the global manufacturing industry has found that manufacturers still face security concerns, that they continue to struggle with finding skilled cybersecurity staff and that they may be underspending on security training. 

January 8, 2019 – The science of robotics and automation has come a long way since Asimov's laws, not least in coming to encompass a far wider range of devices than Asimov ever imagined. Now robots take forms ranging from industrial arms, military drones or Boston Dynamics’ "Big Dog," through to DNA and protein robots designed to aid in surgery and medical applications.

January 4, 2019 – Despite a somewhat rocky year for the robotics industry, Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR), developer of autonomous mobile robots, says it nearly tripled its sales in 2018.  

January 3, 2019 – Robotiq, the Quebec-based provider of tools and software for collaborative robots, has raised $31 million in funding from global investment firm Battery Ventures. As part of the transaction, Jesse Feldman, a Battery general partner who specializes in industrial technology investments, will join Robotiq’s board.

December 21, 2018 – RightHand Robotics, a Boston-based robotic piece-picking solutions provider, has secured $23 million in a Series B funding round, which the company will use to expand business and technical teams, and to broaden its suite of product applications. 

December 20, 2018 – Optomec, a production-grade additive manufacturing solutions provider, has acquired Huffman, a 3D metal printing systems developer for additive repair of gas turbine components in the energy and aviation markets.

December 13, 2018 – A new study by McKinsey & Company suggests that established companies are leaving as much as US$2 trillion on the table in total return to shareholders because of missed opportunities in digital transformation.

January 16, 2019 – The January/February 2019 digital edition of Manufacturing AUTOMATION is now available!

November 29, 2018 – Manufacturers have seen massive communication and operations improvements through the convergence of informational technology (IT) – the ever-present systems sending and storing information throughout an organization – and operational technology (OT) – the systems informing direct change through monitoring and control of devices and processes. IT and OT offer significant improvements in plant efficiency when the proper technology is in place to enable communication between the systems.

November 23, 2018 – Because it’s relatively intangible, the concept of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) can be a difficult thing to wrap your head around. But it’s essentially a catch-all term for the network of physical devices embedded with sensors, actuators and other connectivity enablers that collect data to send to the cloud, where it can be accessed by end users in your plant.

November 19, 2018 – The modernization of the factory is changing the way manufacturers are conducting their operations by connecting the entire business.

November 12, 2018 – It is easy for me to identify the “true all-stars” on the teams I worked with over the years. They were the performers that not only got things done, but that products, divisions, and even companies were built upon. Some were diamonds in the rough, discovered along the way. Some were fresh graduates with that certain “spark.”

October 22, 2018 – It is official: recreational marijuana is legal in Canada with effect from October 17. With that comes a patchwork of jurisdictional laws establishing where and how marijuana products will be sold and used by consumers.

October 22, 2018 – Industry 4.0 and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) was, unsurprisingly, the topic of conversation at last month’s International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) in Chicago. We’ve been writing about this monumental shift in the industry for years now, but connected manufacturing is really only starting to trickle down to the SMEs that make up much of Canada’s output. The reason why it’s been a slow start is obvious: cost. So maybe the better question to ask is, why now?

October 18, 2018 – Ten years ago, as the global recession waned, I observed the emergence of two major Lean trends – one that saw it deployed in a wider range of industries and disciplines, and another that has carried Lean thinking to the corner office.

October 12, 2018 – On the factory floor, every new connection point is an opportunity for operations teams to monitor, analyze and optimize performance. It’s also a security risk.

October 11, 2018 – Regular readers of this column probably wonder if I am still working, or if I’m retired, given that so many of the columns I’ve written highlight my recent recreational pursuits and adventures, many of them with my granddaughter.

September 21, 2018 - There are moments throughout history that change the way societies work and function on a daily basis. In the 18th to 19th centuries, rural societies became urban, iron and textile industries grew, and the steam engine made its mark on history. Fast forward to a paradigm shift that began in 1870: the world saw its first light bulb, as well as the invention of the telephone and electricity for mass production. More recently, digital technology has put a mobile computer in our pockets to communicate in ways once only imagined in science fiction films.

January 16, 2019 – Airbus SE broke ground Wednesday on the A220 aircraft assembly line at its facility in Mobile, Ala., the first step in a US$300-million construction project paid for by Bombardier Inc.

January 15, 2019 – Volkswagen and Ford are forming a global alliance to develop commercial vans and medium-sized pickups together while exploring broader co-operation on future battery-powered and autonomous vehicles and services.

January 14, 2019 – German automaker Volkswagen said Monday its factory in Tennessee will be the focus of an $800 million investment in the company's manufacturing of electric vehicles in North America.

January 14, 2019 – Chris Reynolds was promoted by Toyota late last year to one of the toughest jobs in the U.S. auto industry. He's in charge of North American manufacturing, as well as human resources, legal, finance and communications.

January 7, 2019 – Tesla Inc. broke ground Monday for a factory in Shanghai, its first outside the United States.

January 3, 2018 – The aerospace industry on the U.S. Gulf Coast received a boost Thursday as Airbus said it will fulfil two new aircraft orders at an expanding manufacturing operation in Alabama.

December 10, 2018 – Action-camera maker GoPro says it will move production of U.S.-bound cameras out of China by the summer over tariff-related concerns.

November 21, 2018 – German firm Siemens AG has landed a 1.5 billion pound ($1.9 billion) order for new trains for the London Underground's busy Piccadilly line, which brings 700,000 people in and out of central London every day.

November 13, 2018 – Brookfield Business Partners LP and the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, together with a group of institutional partners, have signed a deal to buy Johnson Controls' power solutions business for US$13.2 billion.

November 12, 2018 – A Bombardier-Alstom consortium says it will supply Montreal's transport agency with 153 more Azur metro cars in an order approaching a half-billion dollars.

November 7, 2018 – POSITAL FRABA, a manufacturer of industrial position and motion sensors, has upgraded its facilities for producing Wiegand sensors.

November 1, 2018 – General Motors will attempt to cut costs by offering buyouts to about 18,000 white-collar workers in North America.

January 11, 2019 – Algoma Steel, Canada's second-largest steel producer, will receive investments from the federal and Ontario governments totalling $150 million. 

December 10, 2018 – Mercer International Inc. has completed its previously announced acquisition of Daishowa-Marubeni International Ltd. (DMI), which owns 100 per cent of a bleached kraft pulp mill in Peace River, Alberta. The deal was worth $465 million.

November 30, 2018 – The Squamish Nation has approved economic benefit agreements for Woodfibre LNG, a project worth up to $1.8 billion in British Columbia's Howe Sound.

November 29, 2018 – During SPS IPC Drives in Nuremberg, Germany this week, ABB debuted a new asset management product and an update to its security system for process industries. 

November 7, 2018 – Parmalat Group says it has reached an agreement valued at $1.62 billion to acquire Kraft Heinz Canada's natural cheese division.

November 5, 2018 – Irving Pulp & Paper Limited was ordered to pay a $3.5 million penalty after being sentenced today in connection with three offences under the federal Fisheries Act.

October 30, 2018 – Emerson has completed a $73 million contract for automation systems and cloud engineering services at North West Redwater Partnership's new Sturgeon Refinery in Alberta.

October 25, 2018 – Resolute Forest Products Inc. has announced $40 million in investments at its Northwestern Ontario operations, in addition to $13.5 million in major maintenance repairs and the creation of 25 new jobs.

October 10, 2018 – Ahlstrom-Munksjö has recently completed a EUR 23 million investment in its plant in Madisonville, US.

October 4, 2018 – Cascades has announced that its president and CEO, Mario Plourde, received the 2019 Clean50 and Clean16 awards from Delta Management Group.

October 3, 2018 – Emerson, the automation supplier for process and industrial applications, has announced it will acquire Intelligent Platforms, a division of General Electric that offers machine control, industrial computing, input/output (I/O) and networking devices, project and integration services and other hardware/software solutions.

September 13, 2018 - The federal government has announced funding to support Indigenous jobs and manufacturing efficencies in Canada's forestry industry.