Texas locomotive manufacturer Wabtec produces as many as eight rebuilt engines weekly as part of an industry shift away from buying new locomotives. Wabtec is also testing a battery-electric locomotive that could one day supplant diesel engines.

Pandemic-related supply chain challenges that are disrupting work at furniture factories in China and other parts of Asia are fueling a revival at manufacturers in Hickory, N.C., that saw their business decrease as overseas competition grew during the 1980s and '90s. Strong demand among US consumers for new furniture has sent orders surging, leaving US factories hurriedly seeking to hire new employees.

The upright-and-balancing Segway personal transportation scooter that came to be a common sight in many locales is on its way out, but Segway-Ninebot has many other products on offer or in development, including electric scooters. Jean Thilmany looks at two of the company's most interesting projects: an autonomous lawnmower and a motorized chair on two wheels.

US oil and gas drillers have been adding rigs at a record pace for 16 consecutive months. The rig count is at 569, up 249 rigs over this time last year, for a 78% increase.

Vehicle maker Polaris is managing tight supply and higher costs by increasing inventory and prices, while roof truss and flooring maker Trussway Manufacturing has less price flexibility but is hedging through forward contracts and risk-based modeling. "We try to figure out our customers' pain points by way of helping to solve them in ways that address our profitable revenue objectives," says Trussway Chief Financial Officer John Tunison.

Data historians powered by artificial intelligence of things can help companies make industrial data useful and actionable, writes Bill Scudder of AspenTech. "An AIoT strategy provides integrated data management, edge and cloud infrastructure, and a production-grade AI environment to build, deploy, and host Industrial AI applications at enterprise speed and scale," Scudder writes.

Lean proponents can allay employee concerns through relevant training, offering demonstrations of lean and clearly communicating results, among other steps, writes Jeff Sipes of Back2Basics. "The stubborn person is a monumental test of your leadership's conviction to the lean journey and of your willingness to step up to make tough decisions," Sipes writes.

The Delaware Pathways skills initiative will support career and technical education and STEM education in the state. The initiative is funded by DuPont and relies on includes Discovery Education's platform, with a goal of helping to connect what students learn in the classroom to real-world scenarios.

Initial unemployment claims totaled 199,000 for the week ending Nov. 20, the lowest level since the week of Nov. 15, 1969. Meanwhile, the 2,049,000 continuing claims for the week ending Nov. 13 marked a post-pandemic low. In addition, total unemployment insurance payments dropped to $45.2 billion in October, the lowest level since February 2020, after peaking at $1,395.8 billion in June 2020. Read more.