Manufacturing & Industrial Technology

Reutlingen – October 29, 2026 -- A total of 186 of 228 eligible Stoll employees entered the MYPEGASUS transfer company after the Reutlingen knitting-machine maker shut down, and a large share have since found new jobs, according to the provider.

Stoll closed after more than 152 years, affecting 250 employees

Stoll, once a world market leader in knitting machines, ceased operations on October 31, 2025. Cheap textile production from the Far East first squeezed its customers and then the machine builder itself. The closure hit 250 employees and the wider region. The transfer company ran from November 1, 2025; the overall project continues until March 2028.

MILWAUKEE – October 29, 2026 -- A. O. Smith (NYSE: AOS) reported third-quarter 2026 sales of $941 million, net earnings of $126 million and diluted EPS of $0.93, while moving to sell 81% of its China business to alternative asset manager CPE and cutting China from its full-year outlook.

China sale values the unit at about $400 million before royalties

The definitive agreements, announced October 27, value the China business at approximately $400 million on a cash-free, debt-free basis, excluding the long-term brand licensing royalty stream. Including the net present value of licensing payments over a multi-decade period, total value is expected to exceed $500 million.

MILWAUKEE – October 29, 2026 -- Food and beverage manufacturers effectively use only about 45% of the data they collect, even though nearly 90% already use AI and machine learning or plan to do so soon, according to Rockwell Automation's 2026 State of Smart Manufacturing Report.

Data gaps stall AI projects at the pilot stage

Rockwell (NYSE: ROK) says the 45% data-utilization rate is a significant barrier to scaling AI beyond isolated pilots. Many manufacturers lack connected data, standardized processes and integrated systems, which limits enterprise-wide results.

Greg Schmidt, Vice President, CPG Global Industry at Rockwell, said the question is no longer whether AI delivers value but "how to scale successful pilots across the enterprise."

DOWNERS GROVE – October 29, 2026 -- Federal Signal Corporation (NYSE: FSS) has completed the acquisition of substantially all assets and operations of Global Vacuum Systems, Inc. (GVS) for approximately $29 million, adding a custom liquid vacuum tank truck manufacturer to its vacuum truck lineup.

Manufacturing facility accounts for about $15 million of the price

The purchase price includes GVS's manufacturing facility, valued at approximately $15 million. That leaves roughly $14 million for the operating business, which generated net sales of approximately $12 million for the year ended December 31, 2025.

GVS adds code and non-code LVT trucks in three materials

Founded in 1985 and based in Navasota, Texas, the family-owned company designs and manufactures custom code and non-code liquid vacuum tank (LVT) trucks. Its units are built in carbon steel, stainless steel, and aluminum.

CHICAGO – October 29, 2026 -- Ryerson Holding Corporation (NYSE: RYZ) posted third-quarter Adjusted EBITDA, excluding LIFO, of $115.0 million, well above its guidance of $88 million to $92 million, as merger synergies reached a $52 million annualized run-rate against a $40 million first-year target.

Revenue totaled $2.18 billion, up 8.6% from the second quarter. Total tons shipped rose 1.2% and average selling prices rose 7.2% sequentially. Net income was $32.0 million, or $0.61 per diluted share, compared with $15.5 million in the prior quarter and a net loss of $14.8 million a year earlier.

CLEVELAND – October 29, 2026 -- Preformed Line Products (NASDAQ: PLPC) lifted third-quarter 2026 net sales 18% to $209.5 million, from $178.1 million a year earlier, while gross margin widened 370 basis points to 33.4%.

Net income reached $18.0 million, or $3.56 per diluted share, against $2.6 million, or $0.53 per share, in Q3 2025. Adjusted for charges tied to the U.S. Pension Plan termination in Q3 2025, diluted EPS rose 70%. Currency translation added $3.1 million to quarterly sales and $0.4 million to net income.

PLP-USA drives growth on transmission and distribution demand

PLP-USA delivered more than $100 million in net sales for the second consecutive quarter, driven mainly by transmission and distribution markets. For the first nine months, PLP-USA net sales grew 28%.

SHANGHAI – October 29, 2026 -- VeriSilicon (688521.SH) has launched GLTiny, a 3D GPU programming model that pairs a streamlined API with an ultra-lightweight driver for smartwatches, smart glasses and other wearables with tight power and memory budgets. GLTiny runs on the company's Nano OpenGL ES GPU IP series.

GLTiny cuts driver memory footprint and CPU overhead through configurable rendering

The model draws on VeriSilicon's experience in wearable graphics. Developers define their rendering requirements through configurable functions, and GLTiny maps them onto the underlying OpenGL ES GPU capabilities. VeriSilicon says this reduces driver memory footprint and CPU overhead, improving power efficiency and performance on constrained hardware.

SHANGHAI – October 29, 2026 -- DODGEN supplied devolatilization technology to three Chinese polyolefin elastomer (POE) projects in 2026. Two plants, at CNPC Daqing Petrochemical and Xingchuan New Materials, have started up on the first attempt, and a third customer, Shaanxi Yuneng, has signed a supply contract.

Daqing Petrochemical produced on-specification POE three days after completing its process flow

CNPC Daqing Petrochemical's 30,000-tonne-per-year industrial demonstration plant completed its full process flow on September 23. It produced on-specification product on September 26. DODGEN engineered and supplied proprietary core equipment for the plant's devolatilization section.

Mountain View – October 29, 2026 -- xTool has begun worldwide shipping of the X1, a desktop laser engraver and cutter priced from $3,399 to $6,679, built around swappable laser modules that let buyers add capabilities without buying a second machine.

Galvo and gantry systems run on a synchronized 4-axis linkage

The X1 combines a high-speed Flying-Galvo system with a large-format Dragon-Gantry workspace. xTool says this removes the usual trade-off between engraving speed and working area. The machine uses a 4,000-ton UniCast high-pressure die-cast aluminum frame, and software feathering algorithms are meant to remove micro-vibrations and visible seams across flat and 3D surfaces.

xTool is competing on motion architecture rather than wattage. "The future of desktop fabrication is not about replacing machines every time your business expands," said Jessie Liu, President of xTool.

PITTSBURGH – October 29, 2026 -- Wesco International reported record third-quarter net sales of $7.2 billion, up 17% year over year and 8% sequentially, and raised its full-year 2026 outlook as backlog grew about 80%.

Data center sales rise about 55% to $1.8 billion

Data center sales reached $1.8 billion, up roughly 55% from a year earlier. Non-data center sales rose 7%. Organic sales grew 16.6%, with volume gains in all three segments (CSS, EES and UBS) and a favorable price effect. Organic sales for the first nine months rose 13.9%.

Total company backlog hit a record, and each of the three business units set its own backlog record. CEO John Engel said the growth is fueled by multi-year customer commitments, and that the past five consecutive quarters of double-digit sales growth show a growth profile that extends beyond data centers.