WICHITA, KS—Bell Textron Inc. recently held a ceremony to mark the official opening of its new manufacturing facility here. The facility will also be used for Bell engineering, supply chain and corporate services operations.

NEW YORK—Despite a tumultuous first half of 2020 that has significantly impacted manufacturing, a new study reveals that while four in 10 manufacturers say they’ve furloughed and laid off employees this year, 56 percent have not taken any form of government financial aid, including the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

NEW YORK—Codecademy, the world’s largest online coding education platform, is offering 100,000 free premium Pro memberships (normally $20 per month) to furloughed or unemployed manufacturing industry workers due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

TEMPE, AZ — The Institute for Supply Management said Monday that its manufacturing index rose to 54.2 in July, up from 52.6 in June and slightly better than the 54.0 economists surveyed by FactSet expected. July’s reading shows the industrial sector expanded for the third straight month after April’s sharp shutdown-induced contraction.

FERNELMONT, Belgium — Hemp block maker IsoHemp says it will open a new Industry 4.0-based plant featuring ERP management software, robots and cobots to optimize production.

WICHITA, KS — Aerospace parts and assemblies manufacturer HM Dunn Aerosystems Inc. recently announced the company has completed the relocation of its offices from Fort Worth, TX to here, where it has two manufacturing sites.

PITTSBURGH — The Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Institute has announced selection and funding from its third Education and Workforce Development project call that took place in late 2019. ARM plans to provide up to $2 million for the initial launch of a public website focused on robotics careers in advanced manufacturing. The funding for this project call was provided by the U.S. Department of Defense.

ATLANTA — Interroll has begun operations at its second plant on the company campus in Hiram, GA. The new building provides 100,000 square feet of manufacturing and warehousing area, as well as 25,000 square feet of offices, plus a kaizen room.

DETROIT — U.S. Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette recently announced $139 million in federal funding for 55 projects across the country that will support new and innovative advanced vehicle technologies.

DEARBORN, MI — In a unique pilot program, Ford Motor Co. is deploying four-legged robots into tough-to-reach areas within the company's Van Dyke Transmission Plant to collect data that can be used to retool plants, thereby saving Ford engineers time and money.