IEN Radio

On August 30, 2022, Kawasaki Heavy Industries sued Rorze Corporation for patent infringement. Kawasaki accused Rorze of stealing its patented semiconductor silicon wafer handling and transfer robotic systems technology and — nearly four years later — a jury agreed. 

In March 2026, a jury found that Rorze willfully infringed on Kawasaki's patent and awarded $16.65 million in lost profits and $31.7 million on lost roy...

A candy company whose origins pre-date the Great Depression made a disappointing announcement last week.

After 117 years in business, Pearson’s Candy Company will close its Minnesota factory.

According to reports, Pearson’s - operating as St. Paul Candy Company - completed a WARN filing to notify the state that it would be cutting 80 jobs in September because it lacks the funding to continue operating its St. Paul plant.

P...

An affiliate of a Canadian aerospace manufacturer has filed for bankruptcy protection for its longtime factory in Southwest Ohio, according to a local report.

Magellan Aerospace USA Inc. is seeking Chapter 11 protection for the Magellan plant in Middletown, the Journal-News reports. Documents filed with the court reportedly listed assets of $10 million to $50 million and liabilities of $50 million to $100 million.

The Chapter...

Last week, TRISO-X announced tentative plans to create some 1,140 new jobs in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The company hopes to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in equipment to build a new fuel facility and R&D center at Horizon Center Industrial Park, according to the state's Department of Economic and Community Development .

TRISO-X is unique in that it is the first company to receive a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commi...

Researchers have been trying to make invisible drones and camouflaged robots for years, before that it was cars and planes. They have used everything from transparent materials to light-bending optical systems or cloaks, but haven't been able to make it happen. 

But now, engineers at Northwestern University have created a drone that appears to vanish in plain sight after it takes flight. 

The team created the Phantom Twist,...

Athletic shoe company New Balance is well known for its U.S.-based manufacturing footprint, so when it announced in 2024 that it would be closing its plant in Norridgewock, Maine, many local officials were surprised.

At the time, New Balance leaders said they’d be shifting work from Norridgewock to another Maine plant – in nearby Skowhegan. 

The Skowhegan plant, which opened in 2025, was intended to serve as its &ldq...

Yesterday, Miller High Life, a Molson Coors brand, announced an interesting new position. The beermaker is looking for a Mayor of the "Champagne of Beers" region—and that region is oddly specific.

​Odd jobs work as PR stunts. Remember when Custom Cones USA offered a $70,000 salary for the "Ultimate Stoner Dream Job,' which was basically a content creator who smoked weed every day—they reportedly had so many applicants th...

Welcome to another episode of Gen Z in Manufacturing, a podcast that asks young people about their journeys in manufacturing, how they intend to influence the industry and what they are looking for from an employer.

For this episode, I welcome Josiah Bondy, a 29-year-old senior product marketing manager for Miter, a software developer that helps construction and field service contractors manage their workforce and field operations.

B...

A few years ago, food manufacturer Land O'Lakes had a radical idea: What if it let part-time employees pick their own schedule?  

In early 2022, coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Arden Hills, Minnesota-based maker of dairy products and animal feeds noticed a sea change in employee priorities: people wanted flexibility.

So, the company rolled out the Flex Work program for employees working 16-30 hours per week. Workers set...

Federal agents conducted an operation at LaFontanella Foods’ facility in Kansas City, with outlets reporting that law enforcement detained up to eight people. The company manufactures food products, including Cascone’s [cas-CONY] pasta sauce.

A spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed to IEN that “Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Kansas City conducted a federal criminal search...

Sony earlier this month announced plans to end physical game disc production for all new games released on PlayStation consoles beginning January 2028. The consumer electronics giant has already started the transition.

According to an ORF Salzburg report spotted by The Verge, Sony’s disc plant outside of Salzburg, Austria currently makes 600,000 discs every day. But that figure will soon drop significantly. Dietmar Tanzer, hea...

The former chief human resources officer of pharmaceutical manufacturer Nephron filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging it wrongfully terminated her after she raised concerns about illegal conduct. 

According to court documents, Nola Grant began working for South Carolina-based Nephron in October 2022. During her employment, she allegedly discovered that the company experienced a loss of fentanyl and failed to report the ...

EV maker Lucid, for the second time this year, announced a round of job cuts aimed at advancing its “path toward profitability and positive cash flow generation.”

The company said it will reduce its current U.S. workforce by approximately 18 percent, including full-time employees, contractors and hourly production workers in manufacturing. Part of the plan includes eliminating the second shift of production at its AMP-1 ...

Ford Motor filed a major lawsuit last week alleging rampant lawsuit abuse and fraud from Quill & Arrow, a law firm that files thousands of Lemon Law cases every year against Ford and other automakers. 

The lawsuit accuses Quill & Arrow of "fabricated attorney billing records, unauthorized practice of law, and deliberate obstruction of Ford’s ability to fulfill its warranty obligations." According to the automaker,...

Blue Origin, the commercial space exploration company owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, is expanding and possibly moving into the “balloon” factory formerly owned by now-defunct space tourism company Space Perspective.

According to Florida Today, Blue Origin is in negotiations with the current owners of Space Perspective to acquire a 700-foot-long facility located at Space Coast Regional Airport. The 49,000-square-foot...

Last year, Ford recalled a record-breaking 12.9 million vehicles over 153 separate campaigns – an embarrassing fail the automaker is looking to remedy. And like most businesses, it's leaning on cutting edge technology to make improvements.

In a recent interview with Road & Track, Ford’s leadership revealed a new strategy they say is already enhancing the quality of its engines. And it’s about getting back to th...

JBS USA plans to close two facilities in Pennsylvania and Tennessee and a portion of another Tennessee site in a move expected to eliminate more than 2,000 jobs. 

According to a WARN Notice, the company will lay off 1,485 workers at its beef production facility near Philadelphia. ABC 24 Memphis reported that the closure of the value-added Empire Packing site in Tennessee will affect 208 jobs. Additionally, JBS-owned Pilgrim&rsq...

Welcome to another episode of Gen Z in Manufacturing, a podcast that asks young people about their journeys in manufacturing, how they intend to influence the industry and what they are looking for from an employer.

For this episode, I welcome Jerry Klein, a 27-year-old technical support specialist for Artec 3D, a supplier of handheld and portable 3D scanners for multiple industries, including manufacturing, reverse engineering and ...

On Wednesday, some 1,000 union workers who were on strike at GM supplier Dauch Corporation, formerly American Axle, in Three Rivers, Michigan, reached a tentative deal with the company. The new contract will secure the workers' topline demand of $30 per hour by 2030, a more than 36% increase to the top wage rate over the next four years. 

Members of the UAW Local 2093 walked out on strike at midnight on June 1, 2026. The plant&...