In an announcement orchestrated from Barcelona, California-based HP in June announced an expansion of its 3D printing business.

If you ask any number of manufacturers exactly what they felt the first time they crashed a stationary machine tool or dropped portable measuring equipment, you’re bound to get a range of answers—though dread, terror and even nausea will almost certainly be on the list of responses.

Improvements in manufacturing management software, robotics, additive manufacturing and thermal controls are making small batch sizes more cost effective—even for smaller shops. Manufacturing plants are able to reduce inventory, improve throughput and reduce demands on human operators.

With a single example, Ira Moskowitz makes the case for why the organization he leads may be critical for advancing manufacturing in the United States.

Lockheed Martin has had robotics and automation solutions as a component of its product portfolio for longer than a decade.

Florida's advanced manufacturing industries are diverse and include sectors producing intermediate and finished products ranging from plastics and micro-electronics to tortillas and motor vehicles.