The Today in Manufacturing Podcast is brought to you by the editors of Manufacturing.net and Industrial Equipment News (IEN).

This week's sponsor is Epicor. If you ask any technology expert, they’ll say the opportunities for AI are vast, but many manufacturers feel they are still out of reach. Meanwhile, other manufacturers are already using it to cut waste and boost design & production efficiency, sharpening their competitive edge.

Our latest video podcast, AI in Manufacturing: Handle with Care, answers the questions holding businesses -- like yours -- back: Where does AI deliver the most value? Which applications carry the highest – and lowest – risk? And what will it really cost? Download the podcast right now.

Every week, we cover the three biggest stories in manufacturing, and the implications they have on the industry moving forward. This week:

- Ford Factory Hires Hawk to Fight Off Pigeons

- New Drone Falls From Sky Like Maple Seed, Then Sails Like Boat

- Figure Trained Its Humanoid Robots to Jump Into Molten Steel

In Case You Missed It

- Your Next Vulnerability May Be an Exhausted Employee

- Kawasaki Made a Robot Cat to Care for the Elderly

- Your Home’s Foundation Could Soon Power the Entire Building

Please make sure to like, subscribe and share the podcast. And to email the podcast, you can reach any of us at Anna, Jeff or David@ien.com, with “Email the Podcast” in the subject line. Subscribe to our daily and weekly newsletters.

Editor's note: Download and listen to the audio version below and click here to subscribe to the Today in Manufacturing podcast.

The Today in Manufacturing Podcast is brought to you by the editors of Manufacturing.net and Industrial Equipment News (IEN).

This week's episode is brought to you by GAINS Systems.

Digital transformation is more than simply upgrading your IT systems and hoping for the best. Manufacturers are being tasked to use the latest and greatest AI solutions — a toolkit proven to improve the efficiency of existing processes and procedures.

And while this emerging field requires a little experimentation, experts say there are ways to implement AI that are more trial and less error.

In this video, "Practical AI for Real Results," you’ll learn how to build the momentum you need to move forward faster with AI: which choices drive the biggest results and how each decision has ripple effects across your business. Watch it right now.

Every week, we cover the three biggest stories in manufacturing, and the implications they have on the industry moving forward. This week:

- Workers Hospitalized After Chemical Leak at Purina Dog Food Plant

- It Took At Least 16 Fire Departments and 2 Million Gallons of Water to Put Out Plastics Plant Blaze in Michigan

- Pentagon Investigates 'Shipment Issue' After China Obtains Parts From F-35 Stealth Fighter Jet

In Case You Missed It

- World’s First Self-Balancing Exoskeleton Lets Wheelchair Users Walk Upright

- Caterpillar Commits $1B to Expand Compact Machine Manufacturing

-Criminal Conspiracy To Steal Used Cooking Oil Shows How Trash Can Become Treasure

Please make sure to like, subscribe and share the podcast. And to email the podcast, you can reach any of us at Anna, Jeff or David@ien.com, with “Email the Podcast” in the subject line. Subscribe to our daily and weekly newsletters.

Editor's note: Download and listen to the audio version below and click here to subscribe to the Today in Manufacturing podcast.

The Today in Manufacturing Podcast is brought to you by the editors of Manufacturing.net and Industrial Equipment News (IEN).

This episode is brought to you by Siemens. Small and medium-sized manufacturers encounter the same industry-wide pressures as large manufacturers: rising costs, labor shortages, and growing operational complexity. But conventional digital transformation programs are often out of reach for smaller manufacturers due to budget, time, and skills constraints.

This paper from ARC Advisory Group, "How Siemens Is Positioning Xcelerator for Small-Medium Manufacturers," outlines a more practical way for these manufacturers to do more with less and see results faster.

Download "How Siemens Is Positioning Xcelerator for Small-Medium Manufacturers" right now.

Every week, we cover the three biggest stories in manufacturing, and the implications they have on the industry moving forward. This week:

- America's Transformer Crisis Is a Sign of What's Coming

- F-150 Gas Tanks Could Detach in Latest Ford Recall Filing

- Police Bust $3.5M Underground Plant With 70-Year-Old Vinyl Presses

In Case You Missed It

- Pirelli Bets $1.2B to Expand U.S. Plant With Autonomous Modular Robotics

- Bacteria Evolved to Survive and Eat Industrial Pollution

- Manufacturers Are Moving Past Pilots and Scaling AI Deployments

Please make sure to like, subscribe and share the podcast. And to email the podcast, you can reach any of us at Anna, Jeff or David@ien.com, with “Email the Podcast” in the subject line. Subscribe to our daily and weekly newsletters.

The Today in Manufacturing Podcast is brought to you by the editors of Manufacturing.net and Industrial Equipment News (IEN).

This episode is brought to you by Siemens. Small and medium-sized manufacturers encounter the same industry-wide pressures as large manufacturers: rising costs, labor shortages, and growing operational complexity. But conventional digital transformation programs are often out of reach for smaller manufacturers due to budget, time, and skills constraints.

This paper from ARC Advisory Group, "How Siemens Is Positioning Xcelerator for Small-Medium Manufacturers," outlines a more practical way for these manufacturers to do more with less and see results faster.

Download "How Siemens Is Positioning Xcelerator for Small-Medium Manufacturers" right now.

Every week, we cover the three biggest stories in manufacturing, and the implications they have on the industry moving forward. This week:

- Cyborg Cockroach Paramedics Are Here to Save You

- Samson Says It's Building a U.S. Factory for the Switchblade Flying Car

- Ford Announces Another $1B U.S. Investment 2 Days After Being 'Blindsided' by DOT

In Case You Missed It

- Scientists Turn Dairy Waste into Fuel

- Gen Z in Manufacturing: Why Young Engineers Are More Skeptical of AI Than Older Generations

- Students to Transform 1976 Ford F-350 Into 'America’s Ultimate Trades Toolbox' for Northern Tool Challenge

Please make sure to like, subscribe and share the podcast. And to email the podcast, you can reach any of us at Anna, Nolan or David@ien.com, with “Email the Podcast” in the subject line. Subscribe to our daily and weekly newsletters.

Editor's note: Download and listen to the audio version below and click here to subscribe to the Today in Manufacturing podcast.

The Today in Manufacturing Podcast is brought to you by the editors of Manufacturing.net and Industrial Equipment News (IEN).

This episode is brought to you by Siemens. Small and medium-sized manufacturers encounter the same industry-wide pressures as large manufacturers: rising costs, labor shortages, and growing operational complexity. But conventional digital transformation programs are often out of reach for smaller manufacturers due to budget, time, and skills constraints.

This paper from ARC Advisory Group, "How Siemens Is Positioning Xcelerator for Small-Medium Manufacturers," outlines a more practical way for these manufacturers to do more with less and see results faster.

Download "How Siemens Is Positioning Xcelerator for Small-Medium Manufacturers" right now.

Every week, we cover the three biggest stories in manufacturing, and the implications they have on the industry moving forward. This week:

- New Metal Foam Could Make Car Crashes Safer

- Volkswagen to Cut 50,000 More Jobs and Close 4 Plants

- Northern Tool Reshores from Mexico, ‘Insources’ to Improve Quality

In Case You Missed It

- New Device Could Make Sleep Studies Much Easier for Patients

- Manufacturers Pay Price When Factory Workers Miss Critical Updates

- 'Living Character' Startup Spins Out of Boston Dynamics to Bring the World Fluffy Purple Robot Dogs

Please make sure to like, subscribe and share the podcast. And to email the podcast, you can reach any of us at Jeff, Ben or David@ien.com, with “Email the Podcast” in the subject line. Subscribe to our daily and weekly newsletters.

Editor's note: Download and listen to the audio version below and click here to subscribe to the Today in Manufacturing podcast.

The Today in Manufacturing Podcast is brought to you by the editors of Manufacturing.net and Industrial Equipment News (IEN).

This week's episode is brought to you by Opswat. AI is moving from pilots into manufacturing operations, helping teams improve productivity, quality and scale. But as more files, devices, suppliers and OT data flows become connected, cyber risk expands in an industry already targeted more than any other. Watch this new on-demand webinar, "Manufacturing Cybersecurity in the Age of AI," to learn how to protect critical operations in the age of AI.

Every week, we cover the three biggest stories in manufacturing, and the implications they have on the industry moving forward. This week:

- 40,000 Pounds of Beer Swiped From California Distribution Center

- SpaceX Pulls Off Biggest Salvage Operation Yet

- Deadly THC Facility Explosion Leads to Murder Charge for Owner

In Case You Missed It

- This Cookies is Made From Plastic Bottles

- Ice Cream Cones, the Ingenious Invention of American Immigrants

- DARPA Gives Northrop $7M to Make Diamond-Cooled Microchips for the Military

Please make sure to like, subscribe and share the podcast. And to email the podcast, you can reach any of us at Jeff, Anna or David@ien.com, with “Email the Podcast” in the subject line. Subscribe to our daily and weekly newsletters.

The Today in Manufacturing Podcast is brought to you by the editors of Manufacturing.net and Industrial Equipment News (IEN).

This episode is brought to you by Siemens. Small and medium-sized manufacturers encounter the same industry-wide pressures as large manufacturers: rising costs, labor shortages, and growing operational complexity. But conventional digital transformation programs are often out of reach for smaller manufacturers due to budget, time, and skills constraints.

This paper from ARC Advisory Group, "How Siemens Is Positioning Xcelerator for Small-Medium Manufacturers," outlines a more practical way for these manufacturers to do more with less and see results faster.

Download "How Siemens Is Positioning Xcelerator for Small-Medium Manufacturers" right now.

Every week, we cover the three biggest stories in manufacturing, and the implications they have on the industry moving forward. This week:

- Freedom and Glory Featured in New Episode of 'Made in America'

- Ohio Manufacturer Files Defamation Lawsuit Over 1-Star Google Review

- Illegal Cookie Factory Caught Substituting Charcoal for Cocoa

In Case You Missed It

- Chinese Humanoid Robots Smash Human Records in Sprint, High Jump

- Yellow School Bus Faces New Reality

- SpaceX to Build World's Largest Spaceport in Louisiana

New Segment: Executive Q&A with Michael J. DeVoney, OptiCrib

Michael J. DeVoney is the executive vice president of OptiCrib. DeVoney flew to Madison, Wisconsin, last week to be in studio to discuss physical AI warehouse automation, "grab and go MRO," critical spares management and Amazon's new robotics manufacturing facility in Austin—as well as fears over the ecommerce giant entering the B2B industrial market.

Please make sure to like, subscribe and share the podcast. And to email the podcast, you can reach any of us at Jeff, Anna or David@ien.com, with “Email the Podcast” in the subject line. Subscribe to our daily and weekly newsletters.

The Today in Manufacturing Podcast is brought to you by the editors of Manufacturing.net and Industrial Equipment News (IEN).

This episode is brought to you by Siemens. Small and medium-sized manufacturers encounter the same industry-wide pressures as large manufacturers: rising costs, labor shortages, and growing operational complexity. But conventional digital transformation programs are often out of reach for smaller manufacturers due to budget, time, and skills constraints.

This paper from ARC Advisory Group, "How Siemens Is Positioning Xcelerator for Small-Medium Manufacturers," outlines a more practical way for these manufacturers to do more with less and see results faster.

Download "How Siemens Is Positioning Xcelerator for Small-Medium Manufacturers" right now.

Every week, we cover the three biggest stories in manufacturing, and the implications they have on the industry moving forward. This week:

- 5 Notable Cars That Won't Be Around Next Year

- Engine Debris to Blame for Broken Boeing Window That Sucked Out Passenger

- Tyson to Close 2 Facilities, Cut 3,200 Jobs

In Case You Missed It

- AI Companies Look to Ocean as Place to Put More Data Centers

- Meat Processor Accused of Dumping Animal Blood, Waste Into Nearby Waters

- How UAV Technology Can Help Combat the Growing Cargo Theft Crisis

Please make sure to like, subscribe and share the podcast. And to email the podcast, you can reach any of us at Andy, Nolan or David@ien.com, with “Email the Podcast” in the subject line. Subscribe to our daily and weekly newsletters.