This paper presents a new complex optimization problem in the field of automatic design of advanced industrial systems and proposes a hybrid optimization approach to solve the problem. The problem is multi-objective as it aims at finding solutions that minimize CO2 emissions, transportation time, and costs. The optimization approach combines an evolutionary algorithm and classical mathematical programming to design resilient and sustainable global manufacturing networks. Further, it makes use of the OWL ontology for data consistency and constraint management. The experimental validation demonstrates the effectiveness of the approach in both single and double sourcing scenarios. The proposed methodology, in general, can be applied to any industry case with complex manufacturing and supply chain challenges.

BASF, the largest chemical producer in the world, has been collaborating with LSU chemical engineers to better understand and predict its own production ebbs and flows using artificial intelligence, or AI. The project adds to an ongoing partnership between LSU and BASF to develop emerging STEM talent across disciplines in Louisiana. BASF's chemical manufacturing plant in Geismar in Ascension Parish is one of the company's six largest integrated production sites across 80 countries. It supplies products to a wide variety of industries, including agriculture, construction, energy and health. Chemicals such as solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals are produced at Geismar in about 30 interconnected production units, each containing its own subunits.

Monarch Tractor deployed the first production unit of its all-electric, autonomous tractor at Wente Vineyards. Electric tractor company Monarch Tractors closed a $61M Series B round, bringing the total amount of funding raised since its founding to $81 million. Monarch introduced the first production unit of its all-electric, compact tractor to the market on Earth Day 2021. The company has a deep and diverse executive leadership team that disrupted the agtech market when it emerged from stealth in December 2020. Unlike competitive solutions that seek single-purpose autonomous machines to help automate specific tasks on the farm, the Monarch footprint is immediately familiar to every small and medium-sized farmer in the world.

BrainChip Holdings Ltd, a leading provider of ultra-low power high performance artificial intelligence technology, announced it has received the first batch of Akida chips from its manufacturing run from Socionext America (SNA). "These production units from Socionext and TSMC will be part of pioneering devices that are at the forefront of Beneficial AI, as we approach production shipments of boards and systems in Q4 2021." The chips were manufactured at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) from a production mask set provided in May 2021. This mask set follows the successful production of engineering samples from the Company's Multi-Project Wafers (MPW), received in August of 2020, and the subsequent delivery of evaluation boards. SNA supported all assembly and test operations for the Akida devices, including a review of the TSMC Process Control Monitoring (PCM) data, assembly, device electrical testing, and simulation correlation.

The debate between the optimal way of allocating societal surplus (i.e. products and services) has been raging, in one form or another, practically forever; following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the market became the only legitimate form of organisation -- there was no other alternative. Working within the tradition of Marx, Leontief, Kantorovich, Beer and Cockshott, we propose what we deem an automated planning system that aims to operate on unit level (e.g., factories and citizens), rather than on aggregate demand and sectors. We explain why it is both a viable and desirable alternative to current market conditions and position our solution within current societal structures. Our experiments show that it would be trivial to plan for up to 50K industrial goods and 5K final goods in commodity hardware.

AUTOMAKERS, while focused on building self-driving cars, are also keen on using technology to improve existing processes and functions. Porsche is one such company. Although a global brand, the company employs just 30,000 employees -- a fraction of the workforce in comparison to many of its competitors. However, its size is also an advantage. It allows the company to innovate more intimately.