MOUNT PLEASANT, Wis.--Foxconn Technology Group (FTG) has made its first financial commitment for a planned flat-panel plant in Wisconsin, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., known as FTG outside of Taiwan, on Friday deposited $60 million to special bank accounts in Wisconsin. The money is to be used by the village and Racine County to buy land for the $10 billion flat-panel plant, the construction of which is to begin next month.

QINGDAO, China--Earlier this month, the New York-based Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) announced a proposal to develop an international mass customization standard led by Chinese electronics manufacturer Haier at the National Engineering and Scientific Commission conference. It is the first international standard created by IEEE based on the model, and to serve as its technical framework since the organization was launched more than 50 years ago.

For manufacturers, the product-miniaturization trend is kind of a Catch-22. They know that serving a large and ever-expanding marketplace ensures company growth—so long as their robots can precisely place ever-smaller parts into subassemblies, final assemblies or packaging. Specially designed small grippers and vacuum cups have enabled many manufacturers to achieve both goals.

Historic events make a Major League Baseball (MLB) season memorable. In October 2017, for instance, the Houston Astros won its first World Series championship ever. Several months before that, however, a less-well-known event took place: MLB approved the use of any Whoop Inc. wearable fitness tracker by all players and coaches in games.

WASHINGTON--New orders for manufactured goods fell 0.1 percent in October from the month before, according to a report from the Commerce Department on Monday, but that was better than the 0.4 percent decline expected in a consensus estimate from analysts. This latest performance followed an upwardly revised September hike of 1.7 percent.

WASHINGTON--The U.S. manufacturing sector has weathered a bumpy road over the course of the past two decades, but successfully righting the country's industrial ship would mean an economic windfall of $530 billion, according to a new report from The McKinsey Global Institute.

KONYA, Turkey--AkinRobotics opened its first humanoid robotics factory here last week. Established by AkinSoft software company, AkinRobotics says the factory has started mass production of Ada GH5 human-robots. They will be programmed for use at malls, fairs, airports, hospitals, and even at homes.

ZURICH--ABB is reorganizing part of its global Power Grids operations as the Swiss engineering group responds to the division's sluggish profitability and falling orders. ABB said on Monday that it will restructure operations in North America, halting production at its factory in St. Louis and investing in its sites in South Boston and Crystal Springs, MS, as well as expanding its medium and large transformer factory in Varennes, Canada.

The continuing miniaturization of consumer electronics, medical devices and even automotive components presents challenges for manufacturing, particularly electronics assembly. Surface mount technology, for example, is the dominant process for assembling a wide range of electronic devices.