IEN Radio

Mexico’s largest cement producer — and one of the leading building materials manufacturers globally — hopes that a newly announced acquisition will bolster its position in the U.S. construction market.Cemex said Thursday that it reached an agreement to buy Omega Products International, a top provider of stucco in the western U.S.Omega, based in Southern California, operates four production...

Eight months after PepsiCo relegated a longtime Frito-Lay plant in Southern California to a distribution hub, the food and beverage giant is now reportedly closing the campus entirely — and laying off hundreds of workers.Frito-Lay halted snacks production at the Rancho Cucamonga plant last summer — one of several closures across the country as PepsiCo dealt with sluggish demand and rising costs —...

On October 10, 2024, at around 4:23 p.m., some 27,000 pounds of toxic hydrogen sulfide gas were released during a maintenance activity at the PEMEX Deer Park Refinery in Deer Park, Texas. The refinery makes more than a quarter of a million barrels per day of motor fuels, like gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel, that are exported to the U.S., Mexico, and Latin America. The toxic release fatally...

U.S. consumers looking for the least expensive new vehicle option are facing both bad and good news.The bad news is that the U.S. market no longer has a new vehicle with an average MSRP below $20,000. According to Kelley Blue Book, the all-but-gone Mitsubishi Mirage was the last hope. The good news is that the new cheapest car, the Nissan Versa, carries a fairly reasonable MSRP of $22,315. But...

Welcome to another episode of Gen Z in Manufacturing, a podcast where I talk to young people about their journeys in manufacturing, how they intend to influence the industry and what they are looking for from an employer.For this episode, I welcome Colton Harnar, a 29-year-old CNC programmer for SendCutSend, an on-demand, custom sheet metal and CNC machining manufacturing company. Harnar has been...

Nearly two years after its workers voted to establish one of the first unions at an auto factory in the South, employees at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, have approved their first contract.The United Auto Workers union announced Thursday that 96% of workers at the Chattanooga plant voted in favor of the deal, which was hashed out over months of often slow-moving talks between...

One of the nation’s largest brewers says it expects tariffs on the aluminum used in its cans to dent its profits this year.Molson Coors said in its latest financial results that an 8.1% jump in its average cost of goods sold in the quarter, in part, reflected increases in the U.S. Midwest aluminum premium, and noted that commodity inflation would continue to affect profitability this year....

The State of Texas filed a lawsuit against Darling Ingredients, accusing the company of illegally emitting odors and air contaminants from its rendering facility near Austin, Texas. The complaint noted that the smells can be detected up to 10 miles away, with some described as resembling “boiling blood and death.”Founded in 1882 and based in Irving, Texas, Darling Ingredients converts materials...

Last month, Conn-Selmer – a manufacturer that’s said to be the last to produce brass musical instruments in the United States – announced that it would be closing its plant in Eastlake, Ohio.And while it’s not exactly an unfamiliar story, this situation has a bit of an interesting twist: the production is reportedly going to a Conn-Selmer plant in China, and the company’s owner, John Paulson, has...

The U.S. Army’s Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona is filled with all manner of things that can seriously hurt or kill a person. And the U.S. military would really appreciate it if people would stop trespassing there.The giant desert training facility, which was formed by General George S. Patton during World War II, is used as a test center for just about every piece of equipment used in ground...