Business

The investment environment is improving only gradually, as inflation is proving more persistent than the central banks had hoped. The pace of interest rate cuts is therefore slower than in previous cycles. This delay means that the dampening effects of high interest rates will last longer and, as a result, there will be a time lag before machinery and equipment customers are in the mood to invest.

SirenOpt, an advanced manufacturing intelligence company has announced the successful closing of its US $6.6M seed funding round. From semiconductors and batteries to turbine blades and smartphone screens, many products that underpin the modern global economy are produced using advanced coatings, thin films and nano-scale materials.

Nearfield Instruments, the developer of state-of-the art Metrology & Inspection solutions for the semiconductor manufacturing industry, has announced the successful closure of a €135 million Series-C funding round. 

True Position Robotics (TPR) is a company whose industrial robots could revolutionise aerospace production and slash the cost of new aircraft. The investment comes as demand for new aircraft has surged due to a rise in passenger numbers and a drive by airlines to replace ageing fleets with more modern, fuel-efficient craft.

Mahr has announced that it has acquired the German company OptoSurf GmbH. Mahr expands its portfolio in the field of optical surface metrology and opens to its customers the unique potential for assessing tribological properties. The ability to measure surfaces extremely accurately and efficiently enables friction to be minimized, wear to be reduced and the efficiency of systems to be substantially improved.

New machinery orders were up nearly 22% from April 2024 and up 6.5% over May 2023. This is the first month in 2024 where the value of orders placed exceeded those of the same month the previous year.

Industrial Physics, a leading test and measurement instrument provider, recently announced the acquisition of Torus Group, a UK-based expert in quality control measurement systems and metrology.

NMi Group, a global leader in market access Advisory, Testing, Inspection, Certification, and Calibration (ATICC) services, has announce the acquisition of Minerva Metrology and Calibration, a trusted, respected calibration services provider based in the BeNeLux region.

Shipments of cutting tools, measured by the Cutting Tool Market Report compiled in a collaboration between The Association For Manufacturing Technology (AMT) and the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute (USCTI), were $214.4 million in May 2024.

FANUC America, the global leader in robotics and automation systems, has officially unveiled its new 650,000 square foot West Campus facility in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The expansion increases the footprint in Michigan to over 2 million square feet and is part of FANUC America’s strategic investment plan to support and advance industrial automation in North America.