U.S. automakers are wrestling with the challenge of reducing vehicle weight to meet the 2025 CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) mandate, which requires new cars and trucks to achieve 55 miles per gallon. Meeting that challenge will require the latest advances in materials and fastening methods.

Lightweighting is the No. 1 challenge facing automotive engineers today. Manufacturers are scrambling to build vehicles that contain a variety of weight-saving materials, such as aluminum, carbon-fiber composites, high-strength steel, magnesium and plastic.

Roughnecks (a term widely used in the oil and gas industry to describe oil-field workers) demand tough materials for equipment that must work around the clock in hostile environments. Delays

FLORENCE, SC—ESAB Welding and Cutting Products has opened a new manufacturing facility here, bringing 101 new jobs to South Carolina.

PRINCETON, WV—Three people were injured at the Conn-Weld assembly plant here when a machine caught fire and exploded during an attempt to put the fire out.