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Siemens Acquires Canopus AI to Bring AI-based Metrology to Semiconductor Manufacturing 

Siemens announced the acquisition of Canopus AI, an innovator in computational and AI-driven metrology solutions, enabling semiconductor manufacturers to achieve new levels of precision and efficiency in wafer and mask inspection processes. This acquisition strengthens Siemens’ position in the semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem and expands its semiconductor design and manufacturing digital thread by integrating additional cutting-edge metrology technologies, enhanced with advanced AI capabilities. 

The semiconductor industry faces increasingly complex manufacturing challenges as device geometries continue to shrink and production volumes scale. Massive metrology has become critical to ensuring quality and yield in advanced semiconductor fabrication. Canopus AI’s innovative AI-powered solutions complement Siemens' existing portfolio, providing semiconductor manufacturers with intelligent inspection and measurement capabilities that drive operational excellence.  

“The acquisition of Canopus AI exemplifies Siemens' commitment to leveraging industrial AI to solve critical challenges in semiconductor manufacturing,” said Tony Hemmelgarn, president and CEO, Siemens Digital Industry Software. “By combining the computational lithography and manufacturing physics simulation capability in our Calibre portfolio with Canopus-AI’s advanced metrology and inspection technologies, we are creating a differentiated, end-to-end EDA digital thread that improves the fidelity of printed wafer patterns, accelerates yield ramp and reduces time-to-volume for advanced nodes. This integration further advances our vision of a comprehensive, high-accuracy, semiconductor manufacturing digital twin, enabling sub-nanometer process control and mask development.” 

Founded in 2021 and based in Grenoble, France, Canopus AI is a fast-growing software and AI company dedicated to revolutionizing wafer and mask metrology and inspection. Canopus AI is pioneering 'Metrospection,' a revolutionary approach that enhances metrology and inspection workflows with AI. By bridging the gap between conventional wafer metrology and inspection, this comprehensive software framework uses AI to help chip designers and manufacturers meet the extreme precision requirements of advanced technology nodes. 

“We are delighted to join Siemens and bring the power of AI-enabled metrology in the semiconductor industry to a broader audience as part of Siemens’ EDA community of users,” said Joël Alanis, chief executive officer, Canopus AI. “Together, we’ll empower innovators pushing the boundaries of semiconductor design and manufacturing with robust wafer and mask metrology and inspection and help them to meet the challenges of the rapidly changing semiconductor industry.” 

For more information, visit https://blogs.sw.siemens.com/calibre/2026/02/04/siemens-acquires-canopusai/. 

The Manufacturing Institute Launches New FAME Chapter in Iowa 

The Manufacturing Institute—the workforce development and education affiliate of the NAM—is launching a new chapter of the Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education (FAME USA) in partnership with Grow Quad Cities and Eastern Iowa Community Colleges. 

• FAME USA, which was founded by Toyota and is now led by the MI, is an employer-led solution that provides global-best workforce development through strong technical training, integration of manufacturing core competencies, intensive professional practices and intentional hands-on experience. 

How it works: The new two-year apprenticeship-style training program at EICC—the product of two years of research by the MI and partners into local workforce needs—will allow students to earn while they learn to become highly skilled advanced maintenance technicians. 

• Students spend two days a week in the classroom and three days a week with a sponsoring employer to get hands-on experience on the shop floor. At the end of their two years, they will have accrued over 2,000 hours of hands-on training and earned an associate degree in industrial maintenance. 
• The new IA FAME – Riverbend chapter will be housed at EICC’s Blong Technology Center in partnership with Grow Quad Cities and seven local manufacturing companies: Amcor Global Rigid Packaging Solutions, LMT Defense, Novelis, Oertel Metal Works, PCT Ebeam and Integration, Smith Filter and SSAB. 
• “Riverbend FAME expands what’s possible for students,” said EICC Chancellor Bryan Renfro. “It gives them a direct pathway to industry experience, job-ready training and long-term career success in manufacturing.” 

Why it matters: Grow Quad Cities’ annual  Top 100 High-Priority Jobs Report, released in August 2025, shows high local demand for industrial machinery mechanics, machinists and mobile heavy equipment mechanics—roles for which FAME graduates are perfectly suited. 

• “We’ve been thoughtfully listening to what our local manufacturers need when it comes to future workforce,” said Grow Quad Cities Vice President, Business Retention & Expansion, Workforce Chris Caves. “And we know the need for maintenance talent in the region is growing due to an aging population of maintenance staff. FAME has been adopted positively by global manufacturing companies for the past 15 years, and we’re ready to demonstrate that the Quad Cities is serious about developing manufacturing professionals to satisfy this occupational need that will only grow in the years to come.” 
• With support from the Arconic Foundation, the MI advanced its FAME efforts by partnering with Grow Quad Cities to convene local employers and launch the newest FAME chapter, strengthening workforce development for the Quad Cities’ robust manufacturing community. 

Critical support: The new chapter was made possible thanks to grants from the Arconic Foundation. 

• “The newly established FAME chapter serving the Quad Cities region will open new paths to great careers in manufacturing for local students,” said Arconic Foundation President and Treasurer Ryan Kish. “Arconic Foundation is proud to invest in this proven model to help prepare the next generation of manufacturing workers in the community.” 

FAME spreads: IA FAME – Riverbend is the first FAME chapter in Iowa, expanding FAME USA’s footprint to 17 states, with 45 locations nationwide. 

• As of 2025, six years after the MI took over responsibility for the initiative, FAME has brought together nearly 500 companies employing more than 1,200 students annually with 2,700 graduates and growing. 
• FAME USA National Director Tony Davis said, “This chapter is really a great example of perseverance and engagement from local manufacturers, supported by great community groups and with a commitment to serve the needs of manufacturers by the college.” 

What’s next: The first cohort of 10 students will start in fall 2026 and will graduate ready to join the manufacturing workforce full time in spring 2028. 

To learn more about FAME and starting a chapter, visit https://themanufacturinginstitute.org/workers/fame/?utm_source=894842&utm_medium=email. 

Marposs Corporation Announces Matteucci as President 

Marposs Corporation, the North American headquarters of Marposs S.p.A. (Bentiviglio, Italy), has announced the appointment of Luca Matteucci as its new president. 

In this role, Matteucci will be responsible for defining and executing company strategy in alignment with Marposs S.p.A., providing leadership for the North American organization, overseeing budgets and personnel, and evaluating overall performance to ensure achievement of corporate objectives. 

Matteucci brings nearly 20 years of experience with Marposs to the position. He joined the company in 2007 as a Final Check Engineer, quickly distinguishing himself through his technical expertise and leadership capabilities. He later relocated to Marposs UK, where he served as Service & Quality Manager, overseeing post-process gaging systems and leak test machines. 

Leveraging his strong electro-mechanical background and passion for emerging technologies, Matteucci was subsequently appointed Managing Director of Marposs India in New Delhi. In that role, he led commercial negotiations, managed key relationships with OEM customers, and oversaw sales, marketing, and human resources operations. Under his leadership, the organization achieved significant revenue growth, improved invoicing performance, and strengthened gross margins. 

For more information, visit www.marposs.com. 

Aegis Software Completes Acquisition of Simio 

Aegis Software, a global provider of manufacturing execution and operations software for diverse manufacturing industries, announced that it has completed the acquisition of Simio, a leading provider of Digital Twin Simulation software and Advanced Planning and Scheduling (“APS”) to an attractive and resilient set of end-markets. Together, manufacturing operations software powered by glass-box digital twin simulation gives manufacturers command of what happened, what is happening, and what will happen. 

Simio has built a reputation as a pioneer in the Simulation and APS spaces, with its use of digital twin processing to help customers gain valuable, real-time insights into their most complex, mission-critical operational workflows. Simio has become a standardized, best-in-class tool for industrial engineers and is uniquely part of the curriculum at more than 500 higher education institutions around the world ensuring that future manufacturing and operations professionals enter the workforce with hands-on experience using modern digital twin, simulation, and APS technologies. 

Jason Spera, co-founder and CEO of Aegis, commented, “We are excited to join forces with Simio, expanding our 30-year legacy of pioneering MES software innovation. This acquisition unites cutting-edge solutions under one platform, empowering customers to make mission-critical decisions via access to end-to-end support throughout the manufacturing process. We’re grateful to our employees, customers and partners for supporting us through this next chapter of growth.” 

Preston Thomas, managing director of Peak Rock and board member of Aegis, said, “Aegis’ acquisition of Simio enhances the combined company’s ability to serve customers with a differentiated and comprehensive suite of integrated manufacturing solutions, coupled with industry leading simulation and advanced planning and scheduling capabilities. We are confident that this combination will help Aegis grow its solutions to serve over 2,200 factories in their critical operations.”  

Dennis Pegden, founder of Simio, said, “The Simio team and I have built and refined a differentiated software solution to optimize our customers' manufacturing operations. Our team is proud of the success it has achieved to date and believes that Aegis is the ideal partner as we undertake the next stage of growth. I am thrilled to continue as a shareholder in the company.” 

Jared Mason, managing director at Peak Rock and board member of Aegis, added, “We look forward to partnering with the combined company to achieve its ambitious growth plan and will continue to pursue strategic acquisitions that expand Aegis’ capabilities and product breadth.”  

For more information, visit https://www.aiscorp.com, www.peakrockcapital.com or www.simio.com. 

FARO, Creaform Combine to Form Two New Business Units 

FARO Technologies and Creaform, businesses of AMETEK, Inc., are announcing a major new chapter in their evolutions which will reframe how industries approach metrology and reality capture. FARO’s 3D Measurement business segment combines with Creaform, giving rise to FARO CREAFORM, a business unit delivering rigorous dimensional measurement solutions providing practical certainty so manufacturing and maintenance teams can act decisively. In parallel, FARO’s reality capture business segment will become FARO INSIGHT, a business unit that will focus on delivering world-class reality capture solutions transforming the physical world into actionable insights that teams can trust. By design, this reorganization is intended to deliver greater value to customers, accelerate innovation, and create synergies that support growth and longterm growth.  

Under the leadership of Fanny Truchon, FARO CREAFORM aims to make metrology more mobile, usable, and transformative, giving manufacturers better outcomes, a superior experience and a single point of contact for the complete portfolio. Led by Dietmar Wennemer alongside Virtek Vision, FARO INSIGHT will deliver a reality capture ecosystem that moves teams from field data to impact, enabling seamless capture, point cloud conversion, and data management and sharing for digitaltwin workflows across AEC&O, public safety, and geospatial.  

“FARO CREAFORM is more than a consolidation. By combining the strength of two leaders, we’re opening possibilities that will empower industries to move from hindsight to foresight. FARO CREAFORM aims to become the undisputed leader in portable metrology,” explained Fanny Truchon, business unit manager of FARO CREAFORM.  

“FARO INSIGHT’s approach is simple: we want to digitize the world. Our hardware and software solutions reduce ambiguity to help track building progress, document changes, digitize crime scenes, structures, mines, forests, and landscapes to provide insights customers can build on,” added Dietmar Wennemer, business unit manager at FARO INSIGHT and Virtek Vision.  

Building on FARO’s more than 40 years of leadership in 3D measurement and reality capture and Creaform’s handheld metrology innovation since 2002, this next phase introduces a unified structure designed to ensure continuity, provide clear, timely information, and maintain the trust customers and partners expect. 

For more information, visit faro.com or creaform3d.com. 

InnovMetric Announces Global Partnership with Artec 3D 

InnovMetric announced that it has signed a global partnership agreement with Luxembourg-based company Artec 3D. Under the terms of this agreement, Artec 3D becomes a bundled reseller that will offer PolyWorks® software solutions alongside its portfolio of professional 3D scanners to provide comprehensive 3D metrology packages. 

By leveraging the integration of Artec 3D’s portable 3D scanners with the powerful inspection and modeling capabilities of PolyWorks, manufacturers can streamline their entire 3D metrology workflow, from high-speed data acquisition to in-depth analysis. This will drive greater product quality, boost operational efficiency, and strengthen confidence in meeting diverse measurement needs across any organization. 

"Our partnership with Artec 3D marks another significant step toward making advanced 3D metrology more accessible and efficient for manufacturers worldwide. By seamlessly integrating PolyWorks with Artec 3D’s professional scanners, we provide a unified, high-performance solution that accelerates the journey from measurement to actionable insight. This streamlined workflow is key to helping our customers achieve new levels of product quality and operational excellence," says David Bergeron, chief revenue officer at InnovMetric. 

“We continue to strengthen our offering in the lucrative quality control and metrology markets, and our agreement with InnovMetric is another solid step in this direction,” says Art Yukhin, president and CEO of Artec 3D. “We’re excited about the prospects of this collaboration, which will see even more advanced tools being made available to our customers worldwide.” 

For more information, visit innovmetric.com. 

November 2025 US Cutting Tool Orders Total $206.1M, Up 9.9% From November 2024 

Shipments of cutting tools, measured by the Cutting Tool Market Report, a collaboration between AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology and the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute (USCTI), totaled $206.1 million in November 2025. Orders decreased 17.6% from October 2025 but were up 9.9% from November 2024. Year-to-date shipments totaled $2.34 billion, up 1.3% from the same period in 2024. 

“Cutting tool manufacturers and importers are doing their best to control prices, but it has become more apparent that the overall prices for carbide and HSS-based products are on the rise,” said Jack Burley, chairman of AMT’s Cutting Tool Product Group and president of Big Daishowa, a cutting tool manufacturer. “The latest trend shows that more products are sold in terms of total dollars, but the number of units delivered remains normal. Agriculture and automotive production remain flat, whereas aerospace and defense continue to produce at very high levels. As we approach 2026, I am optimistic that costs and production will settle in for unit growth after a turbulent year of uncertainty.” 

Steve Stokey, executive vice president and owner of Allied Machine and Engineering, a cutting tool manufacturer, said, “The market typically shows a significant drop-off in November, and this year was no exception. That seasonal dip also impacted the three-month moving average in typical fashion. The good news is the 12-month moving average continues its gradual upward trend. 2025 was anything but normal – but what’s new in business? We persevere, we figure it out, and we keep serving our customers. The trends suggest the table is set for a stronger 2026. It should be exciting to start selling in a rising-tide environment again!” 

For more information, visit amtonline.org. 

After a Better-Than-Usual November, 2025, Orders Beat 2024 in 11 Months 

New orders of metalworking machinery, measured by the U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders Report published by AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology, totaled $437.9 million in November 2025. This represented a 19.6% decrease from October 2025 and nearly equaled the orders in November 2024, with a difference of just over $2 million. Machinery orders tracked by USMTO through November 2025 totaled $4.92 billion, a 17.8% increase over the first 11 months of 2024.

End-of-year manufacturing technology orders tend to increase as firms seek to exhaust capital equipment budgets and maximize tax benefits. November 2025 underscored this trend while also continuing the elevated order activity that began in August. November 2025 orders were nearly 26% above the typical November level, and except for the month prior, November saw the largest three-month cumulative order value since May 2022. 

While nearly all customer industries declined in November, there were bright spots. Both contract machine shops and manufacturers in the aerospace sector decreased machinery order values by only slightly less than the overall market. Primary metal manufacturers reversed a three-month trend of declines with significant order increases, as North America is one of the few regions that has increased steel and aluminum production through 2025. Manufacturers of industrial machinery also increased order values, as did manufacturers specializing in molds, metalworking machinery, and specialty tools and dies. These additional capacity additions late in 2025 may signal a coming surge of manufacturing activity throughout 2026. 

Despite the decline in order value experienced in November 2025, the metalworking machinery market remains on solid ground. Even without a tally of December activity, year-to-date orders are nearly 5% higher than all of 2024. While tax incentives and easing financial conditions have the potential to spur additional investment in manufacturing technology, a resurgence of geopolitical unrest and growing uncertainty could derail this promising path. 

Stay tuned to the latest USMTO reports to see the final tally of the 2025 rebound in new machinery orders, and be sure to attend the 2026 AMT Winter Economic Forum on Jan. 30 to see what the latest headlines really mean for manufacturing technology orders in the near future. 

For more information, visit amtonline.org.