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In depth
Best practice and analysis for industrial leaders. Design, production, energy, talent, and the systems that connect them.
In depth · Production
High-NA is waiting on a bigger photomask
TSMC, Samsung, Intel and ASML have agreed the industry must leave the 6-inch photomask. High-NA already throws away a third of a shift on stitching. 2031 is closer than it looks.
The Industrial Brief · 21 Sept 2026 · 8 min
In depth · Talent
Chip plants are going up faster than the technicians to run them
America can pour concrete for chip plants. It cannot yet pour people into them. The shortage is about to set the pace of the industrial build-out.
The Industrial Brief · 18 Sept 2026 · 9 min
In depth · Design
Design changes are still landing after the tools are cut
A drawing that has never met a fixture is still being released as finished. The plants that are on time keep geometry, process and inspection in one file.
The Industrial Brief · 16 Sept 2026 · 8 min
In depth · Automation
Most plant simulations never get used on the shift
The useful models cover one bottleneck with live data. A picture of the whole site, last updated at the last improvement workshop, does not run a shift.
The Industrial Brief · 11 Sept 2026 · 8 min
In depth · Energy
For a heavy plant, the power connection now decides the site
For mills, furnaces, and gigafactories, megawatts have become as scarce as skilled operators. Location is now a power decision wearing a real-estate costume.
The Industrial Brief · 9 Sept 2026 · 8 min
In depth · Energy
Transformer and blade plants have not caught up with the orders
Wind blades, transformers, and switchgear are the hardware of decarbonisation. Many of the plants that make them would be familiar to a supervisor from 1998.
The Industrial Brief · 8 Sept 2026 · 7 min
In depth · Supply Chain
A second region now means a second set of tools
A second qualified plant means a second set of tools, a second quality file and a slower payback. A contract manufacturer in another country is not that plant.
The Industrial Brief · 4 Sept 2026 · 8 min
In depth · Materials
Metal printing is moving out of the prototype shop
The parts that have moved into production are the ones a mill was never going to make well: internal channels, conformal cooling, and spares whose tooling cost more than the lifetime demand.
The Industrial Brief · 28 Aug 2026 · 7 min