FANUC will expand existing facilities and build a new factory in Japan to boost production of robots, Robocut EDM units, and Roboshot injection moulding machines. The new factory will have capacity for 1,000 robots and 50 wire-cut EDM machines; an existing facility will be enlarged to increase Robocut EDM production by 50 units/year. Total investment is ¥8.3 billion (£56.3 million).

Doosan Infracore North America (DINA) and Bobcat Company are splitting into separate sister companies under Doosan, with DINA focusing on heavy construction equipment and Bobcat on compact equipment. The split was planned and aims to help Doosan become a top-five heavy equipment manufacturer in North America.

HNK Machine Tool Co., Ltd signed an agreement to supply a VTC-25/40 vertical turning and boring machining center with Siemens CNC to Artyomovsky Machine-Building Plant 'Ventprom'. The deal value is approximately 95 million rubles.

Rath Group signed a contract with Siemens for the supply of 3 Vectron multisystem locomotives for freight transport in several European countries. The locomotives will be built at Siemens' Munich-Allach factory and delivered starting December 2018.

Continental has acquired a 100% shareholding in Czech machine tool manufacturer VÚK. The acquisition strengthens Continental's tyre assembly machinery business and its presence in Otrokovice, Czech Republic.

The Meusburger Group has acquired Berlin-based ERP and PPS software manufacturer Segoni. Segoni will continue to operate as an independent company, and all employees will be retained.

Citizen Machinery Vietnam celebrated the opening ceremony of its Phase 3 Extension Factory in the Nomura Hai Phong Industrial Park, Vietnam, on July 10, 2018.

Chiron celebrated the groundbreaking for its new 'Chiron Precision Factory' in Neuhausen ob Eck, Germany. The 14,000 m² facility, with a capacity of 450 machines per year, represents an investment of over €30 million and is expected to be completed in autumn 2019.

Ruizhi (Qingdao) Precision Electromechanical broke ground in Qingdao's West Coast New Area on a project adding 3 million compressors of capacity, with a total investment of RMB 387 million and about 41,000 square metres of new plant. Output is expected to rise from 9.36 million to 12 million units.

MAN Energy Solutions held a groundbreaking ceremony on June 26, 2018, for its new United States headquarters and service shop in Brookshire, Texas. The facility will house over 140 employees and provide repair services for reciprocating engines and turbomachinery.

Muller Holdings, through its Redditch site, purchased a Nakamura NTY3-150 CNC machine from Engineering Technology Group, bringing its total CNC investment to over £1 million. The machine will help meet increased automotive work and new contracts.

Spanish packaging line maker Canopack is opening a new plant expanding its floor space from 1,800 m2 to 3,800 m2, with an investment of EUR 1.5 million, EUR 600,000 of it for machinery.

Liebherr-Hydraulikbagger GmbH broke ground on a €35 million logistics centre for production at its Kirchdorf an der Iller site. The project will be completed in two stages by the end of 2020.

Mazak started assembly operations at its new plant in Inabe, Japan, with a $176 million investment. The 603,000 sq ft facility will produce five-axis machining centers and increase production capacity by 20%.

Propapier, part of Progroup AG, awarded machine builder Voith Paper the contract for a new PM3 containerboard paper machine in Sandersdorf-Brehna, Germany, with production due in the second half of 2020. The greenfield project is part of a EUR 375 million investment.

Propapier awarded Voith Paper the contract for a new PM3 paper machine at a EUR 375 million greenfield containerboard plant in Sandersdorf-Brehna near Bitterfeld. The machine is due to start in the second half of 2020 with an annual capacity of 750,000 tonnes and create about 140 direct jobs.

Caterpillar announced a $40 million expansion of its equipment assembly plant in North Little Rock, Arkansas, which could add 250 jobs over the next two years. The expansion will add paving products to the local production schedule.

Partners Group has agreed to acquire Ammeraal Beltech, a global leader in lightweight conveyor belting, from Advent International. The combined enterprise value of the Megadyne and Ammeraal acquisitions is EUR 2 billion.

Exlabesa has ordered a second 35-MN extrusion press from SMS group for its Minden, Germany plant, expanding capacity for aluminium profiles.

Exlabesa has awarded SMS group a contract to supply two 35-MN extrusion presses for its plants in Doncaster, England and Minden, Germany. Each press has an annual capacity of about 10,000 tonnes of aluminium profiles.

Prima Power opened a new technology centre in Neufahrn, near Munich, Germany, to better serve the German-speaking market.

Haskel's Sunderland, UK plant will produce its new hydraulically-driven H-Drive gas booster for the global market, as announced on 2018-07-05.

Sandvik completed the acquisition of French metrology software company Metrologic Group from Astorg Partners for EUR 360 million on a cash and debt free basis. Metrologic Group will be reported under Sandvik Machining Solutions.

Group Rhodes has relocated to new premises in Wakefield, investing £800,000 in refurbishing and re-equipping the facility, and creating 21 new jobs. The site was officially opened on July 4, 2018.

Jack Sewing Machine Co. Ltd. has acquired 80% of the shares of Vi.Be.Mac. spa for approximately EUR 23 million. The Guerreschi family will retain management of Vi.Be.Mac. in Italy.

Blast Cleaning Technologies leased a 127,000-square-foot former Allis-Chalmers building in West Allis, Wisconsin, to expand its manufacturing and assembly space. The company will invest about $2 million in the building and equipment, bringing 70 jobs with potential for 30 more.

Ardenton Capital Corporation has acquired a majority stake in PP Control & Automation, a UK provider of strategic manufacturing outsourcing solutions. The investment will support growth to £40 million turnover.

Caterpillar confirmed a R$12 million investment to expand its factory in Campo Largo, Brazil, which produces backhoe loaders and wheel loaders. The expansion will support the launch of two new products in 2019.

Bondhus Corporation, a hand tool manufacturer, has completed its acquisition of Huot Manufacturing, a maker of cutting tool storage systems. The acquisition was announced on July 3, 2018.

Pumori and Okuma started series production of CNC machine tools (Genos L300M) in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Investment is 4 billion rubles, with planned annual output of 120 machines by 2020.

KKR completed its acquisition of Hyperion, a provider of hard and super hard materials for metalworking, from Sandvik on July 2, 2018. Ron Voigt was named CEO effective upon close.

NUM collaborated with Chinese machine builder Original Point Machine Tools (OPMT) to develop the ML125 8-axis multi-function CNC machining centre, which combines high-speed laser cutting and milling capabilities. The machine is controlled by NUM's Flexium+ 68 CNC platform.

Kobelco Construction Machinery and The Manitowoc Company will end their OEM supply agreement in November 2018, under which Kobelco supplied Manitowoc with crawler cranes and Manitowoc supplied Kobelco with all-terrain cranes. Both will continue service parts support for 10 years.

Ruf Maschinenbau GmbH & Co. KG has taken over C.F. Nielsen A/S, effective July 1, 2018, adding mechanical briquetting and extruder compression technologies to its portfolio.

Evans Machinery acquired the Countertop Machinery Division of Midwest Automation, including several machine lines. Manufacturing will be moved to Evans' plant in Holland, Michigan, and the combined brand will operate as Evans Midwest.

Japan's Kyoto Seisakusho acquired Chicago-based PMI Cartoning, which became PMI Kyoto Packaging Systems as of July 1, 2018. The deal gives Kyoto Seisakusho a route into the North American market.

Partners Group AG, on behalf of its clients, agreed to acquire Megadyne Group from Astorg and other minority shareholders, with the Tadolini family reinvesting. The deal was announced on 2018-07-05.

Wolong Electric Group completed the acquisition of General Electric's small industrial motors business for $160 million. The deal includes several GE entities in Mexico and the US.

China High Speed Drive Equipment Group (listed as 00658) plans to sell its non-gear businesses, including subsidiaries in boilers, metallurgical equipment, diesel engines, semiconductors, heavy forging, machine tools, and more. Additionally, a potential buyer may acquire 51% to 73.91% of the company's shares from Five Seasons and Ji Changqun.

Novanta has acquired Zettlex, a British manufacturer of inductive encoders, for an undisclosed sum. Zettlex will be integrated into Novanta's Celera Motion business.

United Grinding Group, parent of Studer and other grinding machine brands, has been sold by Körber technology group to a pool of investors organized by Swiss BZ Bank Aktiengesellschaft.

Miba plans to form a joint venture with German Zollern BHW Gruppe, with Miba holding 74.9% and taking industrial leadership. The joint venture will combine their plain bearing activities and become part of the Miba Bearing Group, pending antitrust approval.

Baltic Industrial Company (BPK) and Taiwan's Buffalo Machinery are setting up production of AXILE 5-axis machining centers at the Sasta machine tool plant in Sasovo, Russia, under their joint venture. The plant is being modernized with new melting equipment.

Russia's Fund for Industrial Development approved a preferential loan of 110 million rubles to Atomspetsservis to produce spiral heat exchanger surfaces weighing 10 to 40 tonnes in Volgodonsk. The company would become the only Russian and third global producer of such equipment.

Saudi Aramco and National Oilwell Varco agreed to form a joint venture to provide high-specification land rigs and drilling equipment in Saudi Arabia. The JV will build a manufacturing facility in Ras Al-Khair with capacity to manufacture 10 rigs per year, expected to be commissioned by 2020.

JCB is investing over £50 million in a new 350,000 sq ft factory in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, to produce cabs for its machines. The plant will create more than 200 jobs by 2022 and have capacity for 100,000 cabs per year.

Landa Digital Printing announced the completion of a $300 million equity financing led by SKion GmbH and joined by ALTANA, for expansion of infrastructure, manufacturing capabilities, R&D and market development.

Borgman Capital, through Material Handling Holdings, acquired Solution Dynamics Inc., Lift Products Inc., and Derco Mfg. Inc. in southeastern Wisconsin, with 40 employees continuing at their locations.

Great Plains Manufacturing entered into a contract to purchase a 350,000-square-foot building in Abilene, Kansas, to expand production of its Land Pride division's tractor implements and attachments.

Changsha Huaheng Robotics System Co., Ltd. and Siemens (China) Co., Ltd. signed a strategic cooperation agreement on June 27, 2018, to collaborate on digitalization and industrial automation.