For manufacturers, the product-miniaturization trend is kind of a Catch-22. They know that serving a large and ever-expanding marketplace ensures company growth—so long as their robots can precisely place ever-smaller parts into subassemblies, final assemblies or packaging. Specially designed small grippers and vacuum cups have enabled many manufacturers to achieve both goals.

Historic events make a Major League Baseball (MLB) season memorable. In October 2017, for instance, the Houston Astros won its first World Series championship ever. Several months before that, however, a less-well-known event took place: MLB approved the use of any Whoop Inc. wearable fitness tracker by all players and coaches in games.

WASHINGTON--New orders for manufactured goods fell 0.1 percent in October from the month before, according to a report from the Commerce Department on Monday, but that was better than the 0.4 percent decline expected in a consensus estimate from analysts. This latest performance followed an upwardly revised September hike of 1.7 percent.

WASHINGTON--The U.S. manufacturing sector has weathered a bumpy road over the course of the past two decades, but successfully righting the country's industrial ship would mean an economic windfall of $530 billion, according to a new report from The McKinsey Global Institute.

KONYA, Turkey--AkinRobotics opened its first humanoid robotics factory here last week. Established by AkinSoft software company, AkinRobotics says the factory has started mass production of Ada GH5 human-robots. They will be programmed for use at malls, fairs, airports, hospitals, and even at homes.

ZURICH--ABB is reorganizing part of its global Power Grids operations as the Swiss engineering group responds to the division's sluggish profitability and falling orders. ABB said on Monday that it will restructure operations in North America, halting production at its factory in St. Louis and investing in its sites in South Boston and Crystal Springs, MS, as well as expanding its medium and large transformer factory in Varennes, Canada.

The continuing miniaturization of consumer electronics, medical devices and even automotive components presents challenges for manufacturing, particularly electronics assembly. Surface mount technology, for example, is the dominant process for assembling a wide range of electronic devices.

KYODO, Japan-–Murata Manufacturing Co. said Monday it has acquired a Sony Corp. plant in central Japan as it looks to meet growing demand for iPhone and other smartphone components.Murata, an Apple Inc. supplier, has purchased the plant located in the city of Nomi, Ishikawa Prefecture, to produce smartphone circuit boards. Kanazawa Murata Manufacturing Co., the wholly owned subsidiary of Murata that will operate the plant, will hire a workforce of about 300 over the next three years.

WASHINGTON--The Trump administration is advocating for a more balanced trade relationship with Japan as high-level economic talks with the Asian nation advance this week in Washington, according to Vice President Mike Pence.

Size definitely matters when it comes to processing wire. Small wire (26 AWG or higher), for example, presents different challenges than large wire. This is especially true regarding crimping.