Derek Stake is the forge manager at Mid-West Forge Corporation of Cleveland, Ohio.

As many of you are aware, the Chinese government has been planning and implementing changes to increase its global manufacturing presence and influence.

Additive manufacturing (AM) has become a specific topic of interest in the general manufacturing community due to its novelty and projected abilities for ground-up automation.

In this case study, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is working in partnership with Purdue University Northwest and steel-industry stakeholders to use their high-performance computing (HPC) modeling, simulation and visualization capabilities to optimize blast furnaces in order to reduce emissions and energy use.

Nikola Motor Company selected Buckeye, Ariz., for its hydrogen-electric semi-truck manufacturing facility. The $1 billion investment is expected to create 2,000 new jobs. The 1,000,000-square-foot zero-emission facility will be developed on a 500-acre parcel of land on the west side of Phoenix. Construction is projected to begin by the end of 2019.

You may be curious as to how the FTC defines Made in the USA and how that affects forges and forging suppliers.

I would like to draw attention to Oct. 7 – about the time you will be reading this – to the fifth annual Manufacturing Day.

At its recent annual meeting in Hilton Head, S.C., FIA recognized nearly 20 companies for their exceptional safety records during the past year.