ATRO wins top three in Hannover Messe Technology Awards

Beckhoff’s latest ATRO modular robot is a modular system that can be flexibly combined according to different application requirements to assemble a robot with the most suitable shape. Defined mechanical and electrical interfaces make the robot assembly fast, precise and tool-free. Beckhoff’s modular software provides good support for the modular robot mechanical structure. In addition to robot motion control, it also provides image processing, artificial intelligence and technology automation. This innovative product has been nominated for the Hermes Award at this year’s Hannover Industrial Fair.

The Beckhoff ATRO team, composed of experts from Beckhoff’s headquarters in Weil and Beckhoff Austria, is very happy to be nominated for the Hermes Award this year, which is a great affirmation of the innovative modular industrial robot system.

The ATRO modular industrial robot beat many other entries and was nominated for the 2023 Hermes Award selected by a jury of experts from politics, business, scientific research institutions and social sectors. Two other innovative products were also nominated. The Hermes Award aims to recognize outstanding products and innovative solutions that have outstanding performance in the field of technological innovation and have made outstanding contributions to promoting industrial transformation, ecological environmental protection and social development. ATRO meets both criteria in every way.

In a statement issued by Deutsche Messe AG, Professor Dr. Reimund Neugebauer, President of the Fraunhofer Society and Chairman of the Hermes Award Jury, said: “The overall quality of this year’s entries is very high. The jury was impressed by the innovativeness of the sensor-based robot compensation module, the modular industrial robot system and the multi-user smart building platform, as well as the high efficiency, sustainability and flexibility shown by the nominated entries. All three solutions will be able to bring great impetus to their respective fields and bring lasting changes to their respective application areas.” Hans Beckhoff, President of Beckhoff Automation, which was nominated, added: “Beckhoff Automation is the “spokesman” of innovation, and we seem to have successfully triggered another small robot revolution with the ATRO system. We are very proud of this! I would like to thank our mechanical engineers, electronic hardware engineers and software engineers for their close cooperation in creating our ATRO modular robot!”

Technical advantages

Users can choose from ATRO according to their application needs Choose from the modules and combine them to create any desired robot shape: from simple single-axis rotary indexing tables and Delta robots to multi-joint robots. The holistic perspective that Beckhoff takes when designing the system is decisive for simplifying commissioning and management, because only by integrating the robot directly into the PC-based control system can a truly optimized complete solution for the equipment or factory be achieved. This reduces the number of control components required on each industrial PC, even for controlling multiple robots. All modules are connected to each other via the ATRO interface, which ensures both a rigid connection and the transmission of media.

Therefore, data, power and fluids (compressed air, vacuum or water) are guided and transported internally through the ATRO robot module. On the other hand, traditional robot solutions transport media through external devices, so they are limited in rotation and working space. The Beckhoff solution completely breaks these limitations: each axis can rotate without restrictions, so it has higher spatial accessibility and shorter positioning paths.

About Beckhoff

Beckhoff is a German company focusing on new automation technologies. It was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Weil, Germany. As a global driver of automation technology, Beckhoff has defined many standards in the field of automation and is the setter and promoter of international standards. The company’s industrial PCs, fieldbus modules, drive products and TwinCAT automation software constitute a complete and mutually compatible control system that can provide open automation systems and complete solutions for various industrial control fields. After 40 years of development and hard work, Beckhoff has established more than 30 branches around the world, and with global partners, its business covers more than 70 countries and regions.

Beckhoff entered the Chinese market in 1997. Its China headquarters is located in Shanghai North Hi-Tech Industrial Park. It currently has 300 employees and offices in 30 large and medium-sized cities in China. Innovative products and solutions are widely used in many fields such as wind power generation, semiconductors, photovoltaic solar energy, electronic manufacturing, metal processing, packaging machinery, printing machinery, plastic processing, tire processing, wood processing, glass machinery, logistics and transportation, and building automation.

The EtherCAT real-time industrial Ethernet promoted by the company became China’s national recommended standard in 2014, and has been included in the “Guidelines for the Construction of the National Intelligent Manufacturing Standard System” of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. As a technology-driven company, Beckhoff has always focused on seeking breakthroughs and innovations in technology and enjoys a reputation as an “innovation engine” in the industry. Beckhoff’s PC-based control technology has good openness. It supports all mainstream industrial communication protocols, perfectly integrating IT technology, the Internet and automation technology, and laying a solid technical foundation for the realization of Industry 4.0 and intelligent manufacturing.
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TwinCAT Chat: Innovative chatbot technology integrated into the TwinCAT development environment

Beckhoff has developed a TwinCAT Chat client for the TwinCAT XAE development environment, which makes it easy to use large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT from OpenAI during the development of TwinCAT projects to improve the programming efficiency of control programs. It also offers optimization potential for direct support.

Large language models (LLMs) are neural networks that have been trained on a large amount of text. In recent years, large language models have been increasingly used in the field of natural language processing, including chatbots and machine translation.

The TwinCAT Chat client automates programming in an AI-supported manner, such as creating or adding function block code, and even refactoring optimized code and writing documentation. The client is implemented in TwinCAT XAE, connects to the respective Large Language Model (LLM) cloud (e.g. ChatGPT is based on Microsoft’s AzureTM), provides a user interface, and communicates with the PLC development environment via the Automation Interface. This is possible via the corresponding chat window in Visual Studio, while the functionality of the LLM has been optimized especially for TwinCAT 3 users, i.e. it has been extensively supplemented with TwinCAT-specific content.

About Beckhoff

Beckhoff is a German company focusing on new automation technologies. It was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Weil, Germany. As a global driver of automation technology, Beckhoff has defined many standards in the field of automation and is the setter and promoter of international standards. The company’s industrial PCs, fieldbus modules, drive products and TwinCAT automation software constitute a complete and mutually compatible control system that can provide open automation systems and complete solutions for various industrial control fields. After 40 years of development and hard work, Beckhoff has established more than 30 branches around the world, and with global partners, its business covers more than 70 countries and regions.

Beckhoff entered the Chinese market in 1997. Its China headquarters is located in Shanghai North High-tech Industrial Park. It currently has 300 employees and offices in 30 large and medium-sized cities in China. Innovative products and solutions are widely used in many fields such as wind power generation, semiconductors, photovoltaic solar energy, electronic manufacturing, metal processing, packaging machinery, printing machinery, plastic processing, tire processing, wood processing, glass machinery, logistics and transportation, and building automation.

The EtherCAT real-time industrial Ethernet that the company has vigorously promoted became China’s national recommended standard in 2014 and has been included in the “Guidelines for the Construction of the National Intelligent Manufacturing Standard System” of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. As a technology-driven company, Beckhoff has always focused on seeking breakthroughs and innovations in technology and enjoys a reputation as an “innovation engine” in the industry. Beckhoff’s PC-based control technology has good openness. It supports all mainstream industrial communication protocols and perfectly integrates IT technology, the Internet and automation technology, laying a solid technical foundation for the realization of Industry 4.0 and intelligent manufacturing.
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KUKA AMR family welcomes a new member, KMP 600P-C-U is officially launched!

Excellent navigation performance

High positioning accuracy, larger storage area

Based on the QR code navigation technology of KUKA Navigation Solution, KMP 600P-C-U has a stable and excellent navigation system, a fully optimized motion control precision chain, which can achieve millimeter-level positioning accuracy, and has the function of adjusting the shelf placement position, which can easily achieve the 6cm placement spacing requirement of 1.3*1.3m large-size mobile shelves, win more plane space for the warehouse, greatly increase the warehouse volume ratio, and thus reduce costs.

Faster running speed

Agile and efficient, higher work efficiency

KUKA KMP 600P-C-U is not only small in size, but also agile in action. Among the mobile robots with the same 600Kg load, it achieves a running speed of 2.0m/s, reaching the industry-leading level. Differential drive, flexible steering, autonomous charging, 7*24 hours of uninterrupted operation, can greatly improve work efficiency and further help enterprises achieve a low-carbon “dark factory”.

Higher standard safety design

Stable and reliable, stronger 360° safety protection

KMP 600P-C-U not only has an outstanding appearance, but also has multiple safety protections. It is not only equipped with five external safety protection devices including single-line laser, touch sensor, sound alarm, light warning and emergency stop button, but also supports PL-d level safety wireless system, which complies with system-level NRTL and FCC certification, greatly ensuring on-site safety, providing users with a full sense of security, and realizing a truly all-round three-dimensional safety protection barrier.

High system robustness

Intelligent and flexible, more and stronger scalability

In the post-epidemic era, market uncertainty has increased, and warehousing requires logistics automation systems to be more intelligent and flexible. KMP 600P-C-U has the characteristics of shelf identification and position correction, automatic patrol of lost codes, dynamic correction, and high system robustness. It is the preferred smart partner in the modern warehousing industry. At the same time, it is also highly scalable, supports 5G communication (optional) and customer customization, modular design, and is equipped with a variety of software and hardware interfaces. The K-Studio system (KUKA mobile robot deployment system) can be used for rapid deployment and debugging, and the intelligent logistics system can be quickly upgraded.

The customized KMP 600P-C-U in the new generation of CarryPick goods-to-person solution displayed at ProMAT 2023 left a deep impression on many visitors. In addition to the customized appearance, the KMP 600P-C-U can also be used as a basic chassis to add different upper modules (platform products) to meet the needs of actual scenarios. This product will be sold globally.

The efficiency, intelligence and flexibility of the KMP 600P-C-U can easily cope with the peaks and troughs of warehousing and logistics business, and promote the intelligent and digital transformation of warehousing management. By working with AMR, pickers can better adapt to the dynamic and complex environment in the warehouse, quickly and flexibly deploy, improve storage density, and achieve true flexibility and efficiency.

As a provider of smart logistics and smart manufacturing solutions, KUKA AMR will always adhere to its original intention, be customer-demand-oriented, target scenario applications, and continuously develop valuable products and solutions to help customers upgrade their logistics to intelligent levels.
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Siemens launches new Sinamics G220 high-performance inverter

Help customers improve production efficiency, simplify engineering design, and increase commissioning speed

Adopting integrated clean current conversion technology, harmonics can be reduced by up to 97%

Fully integrated with TIA Portal, digital twins can be created through Startdrive, and testing and optimization can be performed before hardware installation

Equipped with IIoT modules, it can be easily integrated into industrial edge and cloud applications

On the eve of the 2023 Hannover Industrial Fair, Siemens released a new product in the Sinamics series – the Sinamics G220 high-performance inverter. This innovative inverter product uses clean current conversion technology, which can reduce harmonics by up to 97% without line filters or line reactors.

The space utilization and operating efficiency of the Sinamics G220 inverter have been significantly improved, making engineering design easier. At the same time, Sinamics G220 fully integrates TIA Portal, can create digital twins through Startdrive, test and optimize the behavior of the drive before hardware installation, and significantly shorten the commissioning time. This new inverter is also equipped with an IIoT module, which can be easily integrated into cloud and industrial edge applications to further optimize performance and avoid unnecessary downtime. In terms of information security, Sinamics G220 comes standard with security integration functions, which can ensure secure communication, perform integrity and authenticity checks to prevent firmware tampering, and implement user management and access control.

Sinamics G220 inverter offers a variety of hardware options and is equipped with rich software functions, which can flexibly adapt to various application requirements. For example, for relatively harsh operating environments, this product can provide a high protection level of IP55 and a special coating with high protection. Thanks to high-quality components and hardware design, the service life of the drive is extended. At the same time, the safety integrated system of this product meets the SIL3 standard, raising the safety level to a new level. Sinamics G220 can be used in various industries, especially food and beverage, pharmaceutical, chemical, oil and gas and marine industries.
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Timken Completes Acquisition of The Nadella Group, Expanding Linear Motion Portfolio

The Timken Company, a global leader in engineered bearings and industrial motion products, has completed its acquisition of the Nadella Group, a leading European manufacturer of linear guides, telescopic guides, linear modules and module integrated systems, and other specialized industrial motion solutions.

Nadella Group is headquartered in Italy, has 450 employees and has several manufacturing facilities in Europe and China. The company reported revenue of approximately €100 million in 2022.

“Nadella will complement and expand our linear motion portfolio and create strong synergies with our Rollon business,” said Christopher A. Coughlin, executive vice president and president of Timken’s Industrial Motion business. “Nadella’s differentiated solutions are tailored for a variety of high-end applications in hot and growing market sectors, including medical, food and beverage, packaging and automation. We also foresee significant growth opportunities in North America for Nadella products as part of Timken.”

The acquisition of Nadella will further Timken’s strategy to expand and extend its leading industrial motion portfolio, which includes linear motion products and other engineered products designed to improve the reliability and efficiency of industrial equipment and machinery. Timken already added linear motion products to its portfolio when it acquired Rollon in 2018. Rollon is a leader in engineered linear guides, telescopic guides, linear modules and module integrated systems, serving popular market segments such as robotics, automation and logistics.

Timken Greater China is headquartered in Shanghai and provides bearings and industrial transmission products to many industrial industries such as energy, aviation, railways, automobiles, metallurgy, mining, cement and machine tools. In Greater China, the company has more than 3,800 employees, offices at all levels in 14 major cities, and has established 6 bearing manufacturing bases and 3 industrial transmission product manufacturing bases, as well as 1 industrial service center and multiple logistics and engineering technology centers.

Schneider Electric: Empowering the green and intelligent transformation of the metallurgical industry with digitalization

Recently, Schneider Electric successfully held the 2023 Metallurgical Industry Customer Exchange Conference in Tianjin. It held in-depth discussions with many industry insiders from design institutes, general contractors and steel companies on the challenges and development trends faced by the metallurgical industry in the context of the “dual transformation” of digitalization and low carbonization. It also comprehensively interpreted Schneider Electric’s full-scenario solutions and application practices for the metallurgical industry, covering digital intelligent technology, automation systems, and upgrading and transformation services, to jointly promote the high-quality development and green and sustainable transformation of the industry.

China, as the world’s largest metallurgical industry country, has a steel output close to half of the world’s total, but the uneven level of intelligence and backward energy management methods also restrict the industry’s development in a high-quality and green direction. Therefore, actively promoting digital upgrading and in-depth implementation of energy-saving and carbon-reducing technology changes have become the current industry priorities.

“Trinity” creates full-scenario solutions

After years of deep cultivation in the metallurgical industry, facing the future development direction of automation, unmanned, intelligent and low-carbon in the metallurgical industry, Schneider Electric relies on the EcoStruxureTM architecture and platform to integrate cutting-edge digital intelligent technologies, advanced automation control systems, and full life cycle services to create full-scenario solutions to help metallurgical enterprises significantly improve automation control, efficient operation, safety and reliability, energy saving and carbon reduction, and escort green and intelligent transformation:

Digital intelligent technology: By accelerating the integration of IT and OT, and comprehensively innovating in three aspects: interconnected products, edge control, application, analysis and service, Schneider Electric can provide users with complete solutions covering digital material yards, intelligent logistics, integrated management and control, energy management, asset management, etc., to achieve unmanned and intelligent operations in a way that is more in line with actual scenarios, maximize the guarantee of safe operation, reduce energy consumption, and improve investment returns.

Automation system: Based on its profound experience in automation, Schneider Electric has a full range of leading products including Modicon M580 PLC control system, ATV1200C series medium voltage inverter, Yucheng series low voltage inverter, EcoStruxure Triconex safety instrument system, etc. Among them, the classic Modicon M580 is completely based on industrial Ethernet for connection and communication. It has advanced components, flexible architecture and excellent performance, which can make the production process more flexible, transparent and safe. When used in combination with the software platform, it can also integrate process management and energy management, so that users can understand energy data in real time, improve factory operation efficiency, and reduce energy consumption. In addition, the EcoStruxure Triconex safety instrument system, which complies with the IEC 61508 standard, has passed the German TÜV certification, and the ISASecure® Embedded Device Security Assurance (EDSA) Level 1 certification, can meet the metallurgical industry’s strict requirements for functional safety, information security, risk reduction and continuous operation, thereby protecting the safety of customers’ assets, personnel and environment while creating greater benefits.

Full life cycle service: Combining comprehensive industrial software, strong technical capabilities and teams, and relying on professional services such as green intelligent manufacturing consulting, energy management consulting and sustainable development consulting, Schneider Electric can integrate digital transformation and low-carbon transformation into all aspects of consulting, planning and implementation, and provide metallurgical enterprises with consulting, transformation, upgrading, commissioning, training, acceptance and other full life cycle services, while improving digitalization and sustainability capabilities.

So far, Schneider Electric’s automation systems and digital intelligent products have been successfully deployed in 511 ironmaking projects and 24 steelmaking projects of more than 155 steel companies, covering a wide range of scenarios such as raw material fields, sintering, pelletizing, coking, blast furnaces, steelmaking, and power energy, to ensure efficient, safe and green production for customers.

Practice first, achieve industry transformation demonstration

With the above advantages and all-round capabilities, Schneider Electric has helped many domestic steel companies achieve green and intelligent transformation and accumulated rich practical experience. Since 2016, Schneider Electric has been cooperating with Baosteel in all aspects, including the unmanned driving of hot rolling workshops, which has not only successfully promoted the overall digital upgrade and intelligent management innovation of the enterprise, but also provided many references for the comprehensive transformation of the steel industry. In addition, for a certain ironmaking centralized control system, Schneider Electric provided AVEVA system platform and AVEVA Intouch human-machine interface and other products to help customers effectively cope with the challenge of the centralized control system to aggregate the massive data of ironmaking, steelmaking and dynamic environmental protection, thereby realizing the centralized management and operation of 258 automation systems, more than 330,000 monitoring points, 282 on-site operation tables, and 114 operation rooms in the whole plant.

In addition, for a certain hot-rolled slab warehouse unmanned upgrade project, Schneider Electric helped customers promote the internal IoT integration of the enterprise by providing solutions such as warehouse management system, driving automation system and ground system, and realized the efficient automatic operation of driving with advanced dynamic algorithms, and ensured the safety of personnel and facilities while achieving the linkage effect of ground equipment.
Liu Changsheng, Metallurgical Industry Manager of Schneider Electric Industrial Automation, said: “In the context of dual transformation, intelligence and greening have become the only way for traditional industries such as the metallurgical industry to move towards the future. Schneider Electric will always maintain its innovative momentum and launch products and systems that are more in line with modern metallurgical usage scenarios and meet actual domestic needs. It will also further expand its cooperation with partners in the industrial chain, continue to use digitalization as a starting point and low carbonization as a goal, and help more metallurgical companies achieve dual improvements in energy efficiency and quality, and ultimately achieve a smart and green vision, and jointly promote the high-quality and sustainable development of the industry.”
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GM’s latest electric car is a Cadillac “small Escalade” called the Vistiq

DETROIT — General Motors’ latest all-electric vehicle is a three-row SUV in Cadillac’s luxury lineup that the brand is calling a “baby Escalade.”

The 2026 Cadillac Vistiq will be the final model in the brand’s new lineup of electric vehicles, with production set to begin and arrival in dealer showrooms in 2025.

The SUV will start at $78,790. Its price slots between the roughly $63,500 Lyriq and the upcoming $130,000 Escalade IQ EV.

Cadillac marketing chief Brad Franz said the new car is closer to a “baby Escalade” than a larger version of the Lyriq, the brand’s first electric vehicle, due in 2022.

“It’s a great platform, and it’s much more similar to the Escalade than it is to the Lyriq,” he said at a media event.

The interior and exterior design of the Vistiq are consistent with Cadillac’s existing and upcoming electric vehicles, including the Lyriq and Escalade IQ. The interior features a long screen that stretches across the dashboard, while the exterior includes stylish vertical and horizontal headlights and an illuminated grille.

The car has a 102-kWh battery pack that delivers 615 horsepower and 650 pound-feet of torque. Cadillac estimates the car has a range of 300 miles on a full charge.

The Vistiq will be sold globally, including in the United States and Canada, and will go into production at GM’s Spring Hill manufacturing plant in Tennessee in early 2025. At launch, the Vistiq will be available in three trims: Luxury, Sport and Premium Luxury. The top-of-the-line “Platinum” trim will be available starting in summer 2025.

Cadillac’s all-electric vehicle portfolio is expected to include the entry-level Optiq crossover, the midsize Lyriq, Vistiq and Escalade IQ full-size SUVs. It also offers a custom $300,000 Celestiq.

Cadillac previously said it would offer exclusively electric vehicles by 2030, but the brand later backed off that goal, saying it would be guided by customer demand.
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VW’s $5.8 billion investment in Rivian isn’t a done deal. Here are the milestones the electric car maker needs to hit

DETROIT — Volkswagen Group increased its planned investment in a joint venture with electric vehicle startup Rivian Automotive to $5.8 billion as the two companies aim to work together more broadly than initially announced.

The details of the deal impressed investors, pushing Rivian shares up 13% in Wednesday trading.

The joint venture will provide VW with the next-generation electrical architecture and software for its electric vehicles across its brands, while providing Rivian with a needed infusion of capital and new opportunities for future revenue and earnings growth.

The funding is expected to help Rivian expand production of its small R2 SUV at its plant in Normal, Illinois, starting in 2026, as well as production of its midsize electric vehicle platform at its plant in Georgia, where Rivian paused construction earlier this year.

The companies said the joint venture is expected to have about 1,000 employees.

But VW’s investment in Rivian is not certain, and neither is the success of the deal. The electric car maker must achieve some goals first.

The auto industry has seen many large mergers and joint ventures that have not led to long-term success. Many mergers and joint ventures fail before they bear significant fruit.

Both Volkswagen and Rivian have experienced similar failures with Ford Motor in recent years. Two years after Ford acquired a 12% stake in the startup in 2019, Rivian and the Detroit automaker canceled plans to jointly develop electric vehicles. Around the same time, Volkswagen also announced a $2.6 billion autonomous vehicle deal with Ford that fell through.

Volkswagen is also in the midst of a restructuring that could affect the automaker’s future plans, including large layoffs amid declining sales and profits.

Both Volkswagen and Rivian have high hopes for the joint venture, which will be named Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies LLC.

Volkswagen’s investment will be allocated to Rivian in a variety of forms, including convertible bonds, equity and debt. Rivian will receive $2.3 billion this year and up to $3.5 billion by the end of 2027 or early 2028, depending on negotiated milestones, as detailed below.

2024: $2.3 billion

Rivian received $1 billion in funding after the deal was announced in June. The money came in the form of convertible notes that are expected to convert into Rivian equity on December 1.

Of the $1 billion, $500 million will convert at $10.84 per share. The other $500 million will convert based on the stock’s 45-day volume-weighted average price (VWAP) before conversion.

Once the deal is completed and the joint venture is established, Rivian will receive $1.3 billion in cash this week, including “consideration for background [intellectual property] licenses and 50% equity in the joint venture.”

2025: $1 billion

If Rivian achieves two non-consecutive quarters of $50 million in gross profit or two consecutive quarters of gross profit, the company will receive $1 billion in investment in the form of equity, a premium of 33% over the 30-day volume-weighted average price at the time of issuance. That won’t happen earlier than June, according to the companies.

Rivian has five years to reach the milestone, which will be measured on its GAAP versus profit basis and excludes any impact of the joint venture on Rivian’s financials.

Rivian CFO Claire McDonough said the company will update the expected financial impact of the joint venture when it releases fourth-quarter results next year.

2026: $2 billion, including loan

Rivian will receive $1 billion in equity if it successfully tests the joint venture’s technology on one or more vehicles during winter testing. The equity investment will be based on the 30-day VWAP prior to the investment.

Rivian also has the option of taking out a $1 billion loan in October 2026, which would be collateralized by its equity in the joint venture.

The loan would need to be prepaid over 10 years, but the principal would not need to be repaid until 2029. The loan rate will be equal to Volkswagen’s seven-year cost of debt plus 25 basis points.

2027/early 2028: $460 million

Rivian will receive $460 million in equity for the production of the first saleable Volkswagen vehicle using the joint venture’s technology.

The equity investment will be priced at an 84% premium to the 30-day volume-weighted average price (VWAP) until milestones are reached.

Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume said at a press conference on Tuesday that the German automaker expects to use Rivian’s technology across a range of price points, international markets and brands.

Other details

VW said it will finance 75% of the costs of shared platforms within the joint venture through 2028, while Rivian will provide 25%.

Starting in 2029, VW will add $100 million per year to the joint venture’s shared costs, which will reduce Rivian’s shared costs.

In addition, Rivian expects to save on material costs by purchasing shared parts such as electronic control units from suppliers.

Boeing delivered the fewest planes since 2020 and warned it would take weeks to reopen factories after the strike

Boeing said more than 32,000 striking machinists must return to the plant no later than Tuesday, but getting the factory running again will take weeks.

Boeing machinists approved a new contract last week that includes a 38% wage increase over four years and other improvements, ending a more than seven-week strike that halted production of most Boeing aircraft. They first walked out on Sept. 13, rejecting a proposed 25% pay increase.

The company said Tuesday it delivered 14 jetliners in October, the fewest since November 2020, at the height of the pandemic and at the tail end of the global grounding of the Boeing 737 Max following two fatal crashes. Nine of the planes delivered last month were 737 Max. A spokesman said workers not affected by the strike performed the delivery procedures.

Boeing’s woes have put it further behind Airbus this year. So far this year, the U.S. manufacturer has delivered 305 planes, while its European rivals have delivered 559.

As workers return, Boeing must assess potential hazards, reiterate mechanics’ duties and safety requirements and ensure all training qualifications are up to date, a spokesman said.

“It’s much harder to start this program than it is to shut it down. So we have to get it right,” Chief Executive Kelly Ortberg said on the company’s quarterly conference call last month.

The company is resuming production of the 737 Max, 767 and 777 programs, as well as military aircraft, in Washington state and Oregon. Production of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner has continued during the strike because the planes are built at a non-union plant in South Carolina.

Despite the strike pause, Boeing continued to sell dozens of planes in October, with orders totaling 63, two fewer than the September total. Of those, 40 were 737 Max 8s from Avia Solutions Group. The company also delivered 10 787 Dreamliners to LATAM Airlines.

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