Bunting Magnetics Europe has constructed a new recycling test facility at its Master Magnets manufacturing operation in Redditch, UK. The 122-square-meter facility houses magnetic separators and an eddy current separator.

ABB has delivered an ABB Ability System 800xA automation platform and a new operating center for SCA Östrand's new pulp mill in Sweden. The mill, launched in June 2018, will reach full operation by end of 2019, producing 1 million tons per year.

FlexBlow is building a new 3,500 m² manufacturing facility in Kretinga, Lithuania, to produce 8-cavity Hybrid SBM machines. The plant will incorporate Industry 4.0 technologies and is expected to start operations in July 2019.

hGears Group's German plant Herzog GmbH announced a EUR 25 million investment in innovative machinery, including the first Index MS40/06 multi-spindle turning machine, to expand capacity for electric transmission components at its Schramberg plant.

Bombardier Transportation and Akiem introduced the Traxx DC3 locomotive for Poland at Bombardier's Wroclaw site. Akiem ordered 20 of these locomotives in November 2018, under contracts for a total of 33 Traxx AC, DC and MS locomotives, scheduled for delivery between 2019 and 2021.

Siemens Numerical Control (Nanjing) Co., Ltd. (SNC) signed an investment agreement with Lishui Economic Development Zone to build a digital factory in Nanjing, with an additional investment of over 800 million RMB. The factory is expected to start production in 2020.

Wabtec Corporation completed its merger with GE Transportation, a former business unit of GE, establishing Wabtec as a Fortune 500 transportation and logistics leader.

Soft Control Co., Ltd. and Hainan Rubber signed a strategic cooperation agreement on February 24, 2019, to collaborate on rubber research, military-civilian integration, and development of air springs, leveraging Hainan Free Trade Area policies.

Martin GmbH, a specialist in excavator attachments, is building a new 10,000 m² facility in Ludesch, Austria, for production, administration, warehouse, and training. The €14 million investment will relocate operations from Braz to Ludesch, with completion expected in summer 2020.

Tadano has agreed to acquire Terex's Demag mobile crane business for approximately $215 million. The deal includes manufacturing facilities in Zweibrücken, Germany, and multiple sales and service locations. The transaction is expected to close mid-2019.

Shantui Construction Machinery (Shandong Heavy Industry Group) launched a 5 billion yuan smart manufacturing project for 20,000 excavators annually in Linyi, Shandong, with a groundbreaking ceremony on February 22, 2019.

Wastequip, a North American manufacturer of waste handling equipment, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Amrep, a refuse body and hoist manufacturer based in Ontario, California.

Yaskawa Electric Corporation started operations at the Yaskawa Solution Factory, a new production plant at its Iruma site in Japan, to manufacture Sigma-7 servo drives and serve as an IoT validation facility.

Amada Holdings will merge the press processing machinery business of Amada Machine Tools into Orii Mekk, which will be renamed Amada Orii. The integration aims to strengthen the press business and expand sales to 25 billion yen by 2021.

Flex is investing US$65 million to expand its manufacturing site in Aguascalientes, Mexico, increasing production capacity by 35% with 15 new production lines. The expansion will add 240,000 square feet and create 2,000 direct jobs over three years ending in 2022.

Alamo Group Inc. has entered into an agreement to acquire 100% of Dutch Power Company B.V., a Dutch manufacturer of landscape and vegetation management equipment. The purchase is expected to close in Q1 2019; terms were not disclosed.

Kyocera has acquired 100% of the shares of Van Aerden Group BV, a European pneumatic tool manufacturing and sales company. Signing took place on 2 February 2019.

American subcontractor Metalex has installed a massive Droop+Rein T series 6-axis portal machine from Starrag at its facility in Cincinnati, Ohio. The machine is a large-scale milling/turning centre with a table length of 18,000 mm.

Emerson completed the first phase of its $100 million four-year renovation and expansion project at its Sidney, Ohio facility, which houses its Copeland compressor technology and manufacturing headquarters for the Americas. The project includes new lobby, office space, visitor gate, and infrastructure for an engineering laboratory, with future phases focusing on expanding engineering labs for compressor and refrigerant testing.

Teva Pharmaceuticals and Insilico Biotechnology announced an agreement to apply Insilico's predictive biomanufacturing technology (Digital Twins) to create more efficient production processes for Teva's biopharmaceutical therapeutics.

Amkodor-Onego, a subsidiary of Belarusian holding AMKODOR, will invest 18 billion rubles to create a production facility for wheeled harvesters and forwarders at the former Onega tractor plant site in Karelia, creating over 500 jobs. Work begins in February 2019.

Waukesha Bearings Corp. plans to expand its plant in Antigo, Wisconsin, with a 1,500 sq ft addition for shipping and receiving and a 35,000 sq ft manufacturing area. Construction is expected to start as soon as weather permits and be completed in 2019.

Federal Signal Corporation announced plans to expand its Vactor Manufacturing facility in Streator, Illinois, adding approximately 100,000 square feet and up to 90 jobs. The company expects to invest up to USD 25 million, with construction starting in the first half of 2019 and first phase completion by end of 2019.

Chester Machine Tools was selected to supply and install a V6L vertical machining centre and an Asteroid CSL5530 CNC slant-bed lathe for Brunel University's new Centre for Advanced Solidification Technology.

Rotec Engineering completed a £450,000 investment with the purchase of a Nakamura NTRX 300 5-axis machine from ETG, enabling lights-out manufacturing of complex components for aerospace, automotive, and oil & gas sectors at its Evesham facility.

Kubota has signed an agreement with Escorts Ltd to form a joint venture and invest around €38 million in a new tractor factory in Faridabad, Haryana, India. The plant is expected to be operational in 2020 with capacity of 50,000 tractors per year.

EMMETI Spa, MECTRA Spa, SIPAC Spa and LOGIK Srl merged to form EMS Group, with investment from XENON PRIVATE EQUITY. The group has 290 employees and €130 million revenue, aiming for €200 million.

Endúr Fabricom completed its acquisition of Bergen Group ASA in a reverse merger transaction on February 20, 2019, resulting in Endúr shareholders owning 51% of the combined entity, which will be renamed Endur ASA.

Vactor Manufacturing announced plans to expand its Streator, Illinois plant, adding up to 90 jobs and increasing production capacity. Parent Federal Signal expects to invest up to $25 million in the project, with construction targeted to finish by end of 2019.

Tubacex and Senaat General Holding Corp. agreed to acquire The Nobu Group, a Dubai-based precision component repair and manufacturing services provider for oilfield equipment. The transaction is expected to close in March 2019.

Glaston is selling its Glaston Tools Srl segment to Bavelloni SpA, a glass processing machinery company. The acquisition is for 100% of the shares.

Glaston Corp. signed an agreement to acquire the Bystronic Glass Group from Swiss industrial holding company Conzzeta AG. The transaction is expected to close by the end of Q1 2019, subject to regulatory approval.

Thomas Brown Engineering installed a new Hardinge Bridgeport XR1000 CNC machine from Engineering Technology Group to support three new aerospace contract wins. The investment has reduced cycle times by up to 20%.

Komatsu America Corp. announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire TimberPro, Inc., a Wisconsin-based manufacturer of purpose-built forest machines and attachments. The acquisition is expected to close on April 1, 2019.

Kawasaki Heavy Industries completed a new factory at Wipro Kawasaki Precision Machinery in Bengaluru, doubling production capacity to 40,000 units per year for hydraulic pumps and motors used in construction machinery.

SafanDarley invested in a new Soraluce SLP-8000 milling machine at its production plant in Eijsden, replacing an ageing CME machine. The machine weighs 28.8 tons and is 6500mm long.

Danfoss is investing about €1.5 million in an automated water-based paint line in a 700 square metre area of its mobile hydraulics plant in Caxias do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul. The line will bring painting in-house, previously outsourced, and is expected to create new jobs.

Air Products agreed to provide its proprietary AP-C3MR liquefaction technology, equipment and process license for the three-train Golden Pass LNG export facility in Sabine Pass, Texas, which is due to start up in 2024. Value was not disclosed.

Kawasaki Heavy Industries plans to start a new hydraulic equipment plant, Suzhou No. 4, in China around summer 2020. It will take over production of hydraulic components for China from its Nishi-Kobe mother plant in Japan.

Kawasaki Heavy Industries opened a new plant in Bangalore to make pumps and motors for 7-36 tonne construction machinery, doubling its Indian hydraulic capacity to 20,000 units a year. The investment is about 800 million yen and production starts in April 2019.

Mno-Bmadsen, the investment arm of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, acquired a majority stake in Enmark Tool & Gage, a precision machining company serving aerospace, automotive, defense and machine tooling sectors. The deal closed on February 1, 2019.

On July 5, Optima Group officially dedicated its Optima Logistics Center at the Solpark industrial park in Schwäbisch Hall, Germany.

The Toro Company announced a definitive agreement to acquire Charles Machine Works, parent of Ditch Witch, for $700 million in cash. The transaction is expected to close before the end of Toro's fiscal 2019 third quarter.

Heartland Automation invested over $850,000 in its machine shop in Georgetown, Kentucky, upgrading and expanding to support mobile robot part manufacturing and integration. The investment includes new CNC machining centers from Haas Automation and a waterjet from OMAX.

EDGE Innovate plans to create 80 new jobs and develop a new factory as part of an £8 million investment programme in Dungannon, Co Tyrone. Invest NI is supporting the expansion with over £957,000.

SMS Group received an order from Marcegaglia for a high-performance two-strand reversing cold rolling mill for its Ravenna facility. The mill is scheduled to start operation by April 2020.

The UK Competition and Markets Authority cleared the anticipated acquisition by AL-KO Kober Holdings Limited of Bankside Patterson Limited. The merger inquiry was launched on 13 February 2019 and cleared on 24 April 2019.

Holsby Metall AB secured a three-year order worth 100 million SEK to supply machined aluminium profiles for telecom infrastructure in the USA and Italy. The company is also investing in six new production lines.

LMF, a Kaishan company, received a 6.2 million euro advance payment, 30% of a 20.67 million euro contract to supply 16 truck-mounted natural gas pipe evacuation units to a Russian natural gas company. The payment means the contract has officially come into effect.

Emerson completed the purchase of General Electric's Intelligent Platforms business, adding PLC technologies to expand its automation capabilities in machine control and discrete applications. The acquired business is based in Charlottesville, Virginia, with approximately 650 employees and 2017 sales of $210 million.