Process Technology
ABB to supply DCS for world’s first commercial-scale liquefied hydrogen facility
ABB has been selected by Kawasaki Heavy Industries to supply its ABB Ability System 800xA distributed control system for the Kawasaki LH2 Terminal near Tokyo — described as the world’s first facility designed to handle and scale liquefied hydrogen supply beyond pilot projects.
A signal that hydrogen-handling infrastructure is moving from pilot to commercial scale — worth tracking if hydrogen is on your roadmap.
Robotics & Cobots
Teradyne Robotics sues JAKA over cobot patents in second such fight this year
Teradyne Robotics sued Chinese cobot maker JAKA for alleged patent infringement, marking its second legal battle with a Chinese cobot company in 2026.
Cobot patent litigation is heating up between incumbents and Chinese entrants — factor IP risk into any evaluation of lower-cost Chinese cobot alternatives.
Edge Computing & Inference
NVIDIA launches Jetson Orin Nano 2 for economical entry-level edge AI
NVIDIA introduced the Jetson Orin Nano 2, a robotics computer positioned to bring frontier-class generative AI capability to entry-level, cost-sensitive edge-AI designs.
If edge AI has been out of reach on cost, this is worth a fresh look for line-level vision or inference projects you’ve shelved.
IIoT & Connected Manufacturing
84% of manufacturers say they can’t use their own data, panel finds
A panel discussion featuring experts from HighByte, HiveMQ, CrateDB and Deloitte found that 84% of manufacturers report data access is slowing them down despite generating enormous data volumes from machines and enterprise systems, pointing to usability, governance and architecture gaps.
If data access is a bottleneck on your floor too, this points to architecture and governance — not more sensors — as the fix worth prioritizing.
Automation & Controls
Federal advisory: 100+ US water systems hit by coordinated PLC-focused cyberattacks
More than 100 US water systems reported direct cyberattacks targeting exposed industrial hardware within a single month, according to a federal advisory; CISA data shows a deliberate, coordinated focus on programmable logic controllers rather than a scattershot crime wave.
If your PLCs are internet-exposed anywhere in the plant, treat this as a prompt to audit that exposure now, not after an incident.
Smart Manufacturing & Digital Twin
BMW runs digital twins of 30+ plants; Unilever cites 20% waste cut from AI-enabled twins
BMW Group operates virtual replicas of 30+ production sites where staff test layout changes before moving physical tooling. Separately, Unilever and Accenture reported AI-enabled digital twins across five sites delivered a 20% waste reduction at its Raeford, NC plant.
Digital twins are past the pilot stage at major OEMs — a 14-week build timeline (per the source) makes this a realistic 2026 project, not a multi-year moonshot.
