Alliance Laundry Systems announced a Bt1.5 billion (approx. US$45 million) investment for a new manufacturing plant in the Hemaraj industrial estate in Chon Buri, Thailand. Construction will begin in April 2018, with production starting in April 2019, and the plant will initially produce up to 32,000 units per year and employ 350 people.

Intai Technology Corp. invested NT$850 million to set up a branch in Central Taiwan Science Park in Taichung, dedicated to R&D of minimally invasive surgical instruments, aerospace processing equipment, and precision fasteners. The branch plans to hire 164 staff over three years.

Siemens has acquired Agilion, a German supplier of industrial Real-Time Locating Systems (RTLS) using Ultra-Wide Band technology, to enhance its Digital Enterprise portfolio and enable safer use of collaborative mobile robots.

Liebherr is investing $45 million to expand its Newport News, Virginia facility. The expansion includes three new buildings with over 23,300 square meters of covered space, including a new headquarters and administrative building, production and workshop facility, and warehouse.

thyssenkrupp Elevator opened a new plant and test tower in Zhongshan, Guangdong, China, with a total investment of about 800 million yuan. The plant has a planned production capacity of 30,000 units per year, and the 248-meter test tower is the tallest thyssenkrupp test tower in the world.

Fuji Machine Mfg will invest about ¥1 billion to relocate and expand its German European office in April 2018, enhancing its showroom functions.

Fuji Machine Mfg invested about ¥700 million to add a third factory building at its Okazaki plant in Okazaki, Aichi, Japan, completed in March 2018. The building will mainly serve as a logistics warehouse for components.

Fuji Machine Mfg will invest about ¥5 billion to build a new factory building at its Fujioka plant in Toyota, Aichi, Japan, increasing annual production capacity by about 30% to ¥14 billion. The new building is expected to be completed in March 2019.

XCMG built the industry's first intelligent production line for crane turntables in Xuzhou, China, with a daily production capacity of 40 units, the largest in the world. The line can produce over 20 types of products.

Zhengdai Machinery and TRIDENT (Senhe) announced a merger, with Zhengdai holding operational control. The TRIDENT brand will be retained. The merger combines CNC lathes, machining centers, and drilling/tapping machines into a complete product line.

Valmet signed a contract with WestRock to supply a Kraft linerboard machine for WestRock's mill in Florence, US, replacing three narrow-width paper machines.

Diamond Mowers, a manufacturer of industrial mowing and brush cutting equipment, has secured an undisclosed amount of equity and debt funding from Lineage Capital and Abacus Finance. The capital will be used for product development, acquisitions, and expansion of manufacturing capacity.

TechnipFMC has agreed terms for a collaboration agreement with Magma Global to develop a new generation of hybrid flexible pipe for offshore applications. TechnipFMC is also purchasing a minority stake in Magma Global.

Moldow A/S and Dan-Web Machinery A/S completed delivery of a complete production and air filtration system for a large new airlaid manufacturing facility in the U.S. The installation and commissioning have been finalized.

Tsugami's subsidiary Tsugami Precision Machinery (Zhejiang) will establish a new company and construct a factory in Maanshan, Anhui, China, with a total investment of approximately 200 million yuan (3.36 billion yen). The factory will have a casting capacity of 18,000 tons per year and assembly capacity of 1,200 units per year.

Tsugami China plans to invest ¥200 million to build a new factory in Ma'anshan, Anhui, to produce metal castings and CNC precision machine tools. The factory will have an annual capacity of 18,000 tons of metal castings and 1,200 CNC machine tools, with production expected to start in 2020.

Kubota Farm Machinery officially opened its new tractor production facility in Bierne, France, with an investment of over €40 million. The plant will produce 3,000 M7001 tractors per year and employs 165 local workers.

Valmet will supply a new kraftliner paper machine to WestRock Company at its mill in Florence, South Carolina, USA. The machine will produce 644,000 metric tons of kraftliner annually, replacing three older machines. Start-up is scheduled for the first half of 2020.

Rolls-Royce Power Systems and Force Motors signed a joint venture agreement to form 'Force mtu Power Systems Pvt. Ltd.' The JV will produce mtu Series 1600 engines and generator sets at a new facility in Chakan, India, with serial production expected by Q3 2019. Total investment is over Rs. 300 crores (€40 million).

Sächsisches Textilforschungsinstitut e. V. awarded a contract to NOMACO GmbH & Co. KG for the delivery, assembly and commissioning of a two-component mixing plant and material storage/mixer for staple fibers and conductive special fibers, valued at EUR 250,400. The award was granted on 2017-09-19 and published on 2018-03-20.

Sächsisches Textilforschungsinstitut e. V. awarded a contract to RUCKS Maschinenbau GmbH for the manufacture and delivery of a complete interval hot press system for producing organic sheets, valued at EUR 817,031. The award was granted on 2017-10-26 and published on 2018-03-20.

Shareholders and creditors of Schaeffler India, INA Bearings India and LuK India voted in favor of merging the two unlisted entities into Schaeffler India. The merger will streamline operations under one corporate umbrella.

Grimme is investing about €13 million in a 13,000 sq.m. production facility and office building in Tianjin, China, to produce potato and sugar beet equipment, with production scheduled for spring 2017.

Sodick will build a new multi-product factory at its Kaga site in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, with an investment of about 2.5 billion yen, to flexibly produce various machines including EDM, machining centers, and injection molding machines.

Bystronic, part of the Conzzeta Group, has signed an agreement to fully acquire Italian technology company TTM Laser S.p.A., which specializes in 3D laser cutting applications for tubes and profiles.

Spanish packaging machinery maker Boix Maquinaria agreed on 20 March 2018 to buy the remaining 50% of Boix Europe B.V. from Gremio Vitalis, making it the sole owner of its European distributor. Boix Europe's management stays in place.

Flowtech Fluidpower completed its £10.2m acquisition of Balu Ltd and its subsidiaries Beaumanor and Derek Lane, UK fluid power importers and distributors, funded by a share placing raising £11m. The deal was completed on 20 March 2018.

Gulf Island Fabrication, through its subsidiary Gulf Island Shipyards, signed a contract with the U.S. Navy to build one Towing, Salvage and Rescue Ship (T-ATS) vessel, with an option for seven more.

JCB has launched its new X Series tracked excavator, rolling off production lines at its Uttoxeter plant after a £110 million investment programme. The excavator is the 10th generation of JCB tracked excavators.

Kjastepsa, an independent corrugated converter in Puebla, Mexico, installed a Macarbox FFG 1300/2800 line, which has been in production since January 2018, increasing plant production efficiency.

Bell Equipment will start assembling Kamaz heavy-duty trucks at its Richards Bay facility in South Africa early next year, creating additional jobs.

Bell Equipment will expand its German manufacturing plant to 15,000 m² with an investment of about €15 million, and will start assembling Kamaz heavy-duty trucks at its Richards Bay facility in South Africa early next year, creating additional jobs.

Lectra announced the signing of a share purchase agreement to acquire the entire capital and voting rights of Italian company Kubix Lab. The acquisition will integrate Kubix Lab's Link product data management platform.

Siemens is investing €30 million in a new 3D printing factory for its additive manufacturing specialist Materials Solutions in Worcester, UK, scheduled to open in September 2018 and expected to create over 50 jobs.

OCRIM has announced an expansion project for its production site in Cremona, which includes the construction of a new office building covering approximately 7,000 square meters.

OCRIM has signed an agreement with Acciaieria Arvedi for the supply of raw material to produce new rollermills and plansifters, representing 30% of OCRIM's total production.

Tees Components invested £500,000 in a new CNC multi-axis machine tool to support growth.

Pandrol secured a contract to manufacture FC-16 fastenings for the Shanxi Jingshen Railway Company, covering 232 km of track between Menghua and Central China, involving almost 880,000 fastening rail sets.

Ju Teng International (03336) entered into a 2018 equipment agreement with Yamazen Group on March 16, 2018, under which Yamazen will sell compact machining centers and related parts and accessories to Ju Teng for a total consideration of approximately 2.0085 billion yen and 691.311 billion yuan.

Maxim Crane Works opened a $4.71 million, 17,000-square-foot office in Wilder, Campbell County, Kentucky, consolidating operations and creating 100 full-time jobs. The ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on March 15, 2018.

EMAG GmbH & Co. KG is building a 10,000 square meter building at its headquarters in Salach, including a 6,000 square meter production hall and 4,000 square meters of office space. Completion is expected by the end of 2018.

Waltron Trailers, with support from the Southwestern Ontario Development Fund, will expand its facility by 6,360 square feet to house new assembly lines and painting operations.

Kyocera CTC Precision Tools Pvt Ltd (KCPT), a joint venture between Kyocera Corporation and CTC India, plans to invest Rs 250-300 crore to triple its production capacity from 600,000 to 1,800,000 pieces per month over three years. The company also plans to open an R&D centre at its Jamshedpur plant.

Nigeria Liquid Natural Gas has purchased two Grove GMK5130-2 all-terrain cranes for plant maintenance and construction work at its Bonny Island facility. The cranes were supplied in late 2017 through Savvytech.

Tissue Machine Company (TMC) and Valley Tissue Packaging (VTP) entered into a joint partnership on March 5, 2018 to offer enhanced packaging solutions to the global tissue industry, combining their product ranges and services.

HillTip is expanding its factory by 2200 m² to increase production capacity and improve lead times. The expansion includes new powder painting, acid processing, welding, and CNC-machining areas, and is expected to be ready in June/July 2018.

Max Automation has completed the sale of its subsidiary NSM Packtec GmbH, based in Ahaus, to Chinese company Ningbo Lehui International. NSM Packtec makes filling and packaging machines for dairy and non-alcoholic beverages and employs about 50 people. The closing was reported on 2018-03-14.

KONE has won an order to supply 46 elevators and five escalators for the ICD Brookfield Place project in Dubai's DIFC district.

Fermat built a bespoke 6-axis table-type horizontal boring mill (WFT 15 R) with a 7.7 m X-axis for Liebherr to machine deep features in large cast iron and steel components.

Tipper specialist MEILLER is expanding its capacities in Austria by building a new plant in Oed-Öhling to concentrate production in one location.