Physical AI & Supply Chain: Top Manufacturing News This Week
13 July
Volkswagen Group says it saw growth around the world in the first half of 2026, except for in China and North America.
It delivered 4.13 million vehicles, a 6% decrease from the previous year due to a decline of 26% in China and 7.4% in the US.
Despite this, the Group saw growth in Europe and South America of 3.5% and 8.3% respectively.
15 July
Hitachi is introducing its Forward Deployed Engineers (FDE) model as global deployments of physical AI expand.
The company is also widening its partnerships with OpenAI and Google Cloud to support physical AI integrations and cybersecurity.
Toshiaki Tokunaga, Chief Executive Officer of Hitachi, says: "Deploying AI is only the beginning. The real challenge is making it work safely, effectively and reliably in complex physical environments."
13 July
Mondelēz International is introducing a new flexible wrapper for its Marabou chocolate brand using chemically recycled plastic.
Developed in collaboration with LyondellBasell (LYB), Taghleef Industries and Amcor, the project combines advanced recycling technology with certified circular polymers to produce food-grade flexible packaging containing recycled content.
For food manufacturers, flexible packaging remains one of the more challenging formats to decarbonise due to strict food safety requirements and performance standards.
14 July
GEP's Global Supply Chain Volatility Index has found that companies are looking at stockpiling in order to avoid supply chain risks.
This comes as manufacturers have faced significant supply strains since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, prolonged by geopolitical conflicts, trade disputes and extreme weather.
The research shows that procurement teams continue to face high pressure levels, manufacturers reported increased backlogs and shortages of critical inputs reached their highest levels since late 2022.
15 July
The aerospace and defence industry is an increasingly competitive one, but while organisations are aiming to increase production, they are facing significant supply chain issues.
Order books are at historic highs, but the industry is growing its backlog, rather than keeping pace with demand.
Now, the competitive advantage is going to the companies which are able to scale production and close their backlog before their competitors.
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Toshiaki Tokunaga
President & CEO