Global

The week that does not sit in one capital: supply chains, standards, and the bill of materials.

October 2026

News · Supply Chain

Leapmotor starts building cars in Spain

New car programmes in Zaragoza and South Carolina are pulling suppliers into new lines, while US vehicle output fell in September. An Essex maker of low-volume car parts broke ground on a new factory, Plasser & Theurer made the largest investment in its history, in Linz, and Babcock and BAE set up a route for apprentices they can't take on.

The Industrial Brief · 19 Oct 2026 · 7 min

News · Production

UK manufacturing output rose 1.2% in August as pharmaceutical production jumped 5.1%

Pharmaceuticals supplied more than half of the month's manufacturing growth. Also in this roundup: £40m for robotics adoption hubs, Schaeffler's job cuts running a year early, and new defence and chip-equipment capacity in Poland, Spain, Georgia and North Carolina.

The Industrial Brief · 17 Oct 2026 · 7 min

News · Production

GSK and UCB back new US biologics sites as Britain opens its factory electricity relief window

GSK and UCB marked big American manufacturing bets on Friday. Renishaw finished Hall 3 in Wales. In Paris, Stellantis showed low-cost EV concepts and Volkswagen pressed policymakers on European rules.

The Industrial Brief · 12 Oct 2026 · 8 min

News · Supply Chain

UK factories waited longer for supplies in September

Delivery times stretched at the fastest rate since June and costs rose again. Elsewhere this week: a Rotherham melt shop gets ready to restart, BioNTech and Westlake will shut German plants, and Bayer picks Ohio for a $2.2bn medicines site.

The Industrial Brief · 3 Oct 2026 · 5 min

September 2026

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