It’s just business: Manufacturing moves from Critical Manufacturing, Phoenix Tube Co., Bosch Rexroth, and more

As manufacturers strive to optimize and improve profitability, they often use various business strategies to stay competitive. These actions include mergers, acquisitions, promotions, layoffs, funding, and much more. Below are just a few of the companies that are making moves and making headlines in the industrial sector.

Acquisition: Critical Manufacturing has acquired Convanit, a software company developing machine learning tools for visual analysis. Critical Manufacturing, which develops manufacturing execution systems, says augmenting their systems with Convanit’s c-Alice image classification engine will improve how it utilizes visual information. In a recent quote from the acquisition, Critical Manufacturing CEO Francisco Almada Lobo said, “By integrating Convanit’s advanced AI-powered image analytics into our platform, we are transforming how customers convert unstructured image data into actionable, contextualized intelligence.”

Expansion: Trussworks is adding 65 positions to a new location in Pueblo, Colorado near its Pueblo Memorial Airport. According to local news, Trussworks GM Travis Anderson said Pueblo has “a great workforce that we can pull from.”  The company, which manufactures structural products for the construction industry, hopes the new site will be operational before the end of the year, KOAA5 reported.

Expansion: Phoenix Tube Company is nearing completion of its expansion in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. In a release, the company said the expansion will increase its existing 200,000 square-foot facility’s space for production, warehousing, and offices. Andrew Reale, President of Phoenix Tube Company, said in a statement the expansion “marks an exciting new chapter for Phoenix Tube,” and that the expansion would “build the foundation for Phoenix Tube’s next phase of growth.”

Expansion: Not far from Phoenix Tube Company, Bosch Rexroth, which produces automation equipment, broke ground on a new logistics center. According to a company statement, the new facility in Lehigh Valley Industrial Park I will increase storage capacity by 50%, shorten lead times and increase company flexibility. The new site will replace Bosch Rexroth’s old location in Bethlehem Township. Plant Manager Rafael Paredes, in a statement, said the new project was about the company’s history in the community.

“This project is not only about us. This project is about continuing a legacy of partnership and investment in this community. This community has supported us for many generations, and we are very happy to continue to grow for more decades to come,” Paredes said.

Partnership: Belden Inc. announced a new partnership with Chicago Quantum Exchange. Announced in a joint release from Belden, a network security and connectivity company, and CQE, a quantum-computing research hub associated with two national laboratories and several universities, the partnership will give Belden access to nascent quantum research that will dramatically alter the face of cryptology — according to CQE, soon. The companies noted in their release that the National Institute of Standards and Technology finalized its post-quantum cryptography standards last year and recommends they be adopted by 2030.

“Just as Belden has long focused on reliability in secure communications, we now have the opportunity to explore what that entails in the quantum era,” said Hiran Bhadra, a Senior VP at Belden.