By Tony Gunn | The WorldWide Machinist Ask somebody what they think of when you say South American manufacturing. Coffee? Agriculture? Raw materials? Maybe a container ship leaving port with something that gets turned into the “real product” somewhere else. That picture needs an update. I spent the week moving through Argentina and Colombia, visiting manufacturers, talking with people on shop floors, attending an industrial show, and seeing what companies here are actually bu

The cameras had barely cooled down after filming at ALIGN Precision in Clearwater when the suitcases were zipped, the batteries were recharged and the airport once again began calling my name. Next stop: Chicago for IMTS 2026. If you have never attended IMTS, imagine placing several million pounds of machinery inside one building, inviting the smartest and most wonderfully obsessed people in manufacturing, adding enough caffeine to power a small country, and then asking every

The Protecnic event in Querétaro had wrapped, the handshakes had been exchanged, and nine technical conferences had left my brain running more programs than a five-axis machine with an unlimited tool magazine. Naturally, this meant it was time to head back to the airport. There was no extended vacation, no ceremonious unpacking and certainly no dramatic movie scene where I stared thoughtfully across Mexico while inspirational music played in the background. There was another

When the JASPER filming wrapped in Willow Springs, Missouri, there was no triumphant return home, no quiet weekend and absolutely no opportunity for my suitcase to unpack itself. There was simply another boarding pass. We left Missouri and headed east toward Washington, D.C., carrying camera equipment, freshly recorded stories and enough airport snacks to survive a small manufacturing recession. Missouri had been about horsepower, engine blocks and giving hardworking componen

Another day, another airport, another opportunity to discover how something the world depends on is made. This journey began at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, trading palm trees, ocean air and South Florida traffic, which occasionally resembles a demolition derby, for a flight of roughly 1,100 miles to Springfield, Missouri. There are currently no direct flights between Fort Lauderdale and Springfield, so reaching the Ozarks requires at least one connection.

A syringe filled precisely in Charlotte. A century-old textile town in Virginia rebuilt around advanced manufacturing. Tony Gunn explores two very different stories of American manufacturing innovation — one hidden in your medicine cabinet, one growing out of the ashes of Dan River Mills.

Christian Pähr started with electric motors in 1931. Luigi Cestari started with a blacksmith's forge in 1901. Tony Gunn explores how SEW Eurodrive and WEG-Cestari became giants of industrial gear manufacturing — and why neither one ever stopped investing in what comes next.

Two countries, thousands of kilometers apart, working together like perfectly meshing gears. Tony Gunn goes inside Liebherr Brasil's Guaratinguetá facility to uncover what Brazilian manufacturing excellence really looks like — from massive wind turbine bearings to a €45 million aerospace expansion.

With Muratec, you don't just join a team, you join a family. Tony Gunn spends an evening with the Murata Machinery USA sales teams, distributors, and partners to experience Muratec company culture up close.

By Tony Gunn | The WorldWide Machinist Manufacturing has always been like an iceberg. The world celebrates the ten percent sticking above the water. This week I went looking for the other ninety. Baer Brake Systems: Manufacturing Coolant Technology in Action For more than three decades, Baer Brake Systems has been proving that stopping is every bit as important as going. Their performance brake systems are engineered, machined, coated, assembled, and finished right in Phoenix

Founded in 1912, Goodwin-Bradley has supported innovations tied to Henry Ford, Sikorsky helicopters, and the USS Nautilus submarine program. Tony Gunn explores what a century of manufacturing experience really means — and why it can't be replicated overnight.

Everyone celebrates the machine. Almost nobody talks about the fluid touching the tool thousands of times a minute. Tony Gunn visits three Italian shops — Righi, Gamba, and Officine Mara — to uncover the industrial coolant innovation quietly changing the game.

By Tony Gunn | The WorldWide Machinist Italy gives the world art, food, fashion, cars, architecture, and coffee strong enough to make your ancestors answer emails. But spend a week with the people I just spent the week with — and you'll start to suspect Italy's greatest export isn't any of that. It's industrial obsession. This week took me through four Italian manufacturing stories that genuinely don't exist anywhere else on the planet. A company that's been operating since b

Four companies. Four families. One city. Tony Gunn goes inside Avinent, Mikalor, Bonastre, and Createch Medical to discover how Barcelona manufacturing innovation is quietly changing lives one precision component at a time.

From a Swedish machine removing 1,200 cubic inches of aerospace aluminum per minute, to Spain's Basque Country, to a German machine that self-corrects in real time — this week Tony Gunn goes inside three of the world's most advanced machining centers.

From a Swedish machine removing 1,200 cubic inches of aerospace aluminum per minute, to Spain's Basque Country, to a German machine that self-corrects in real time — this week Tony Gunn goes inside three of the world's most advanced machining centers.

From a 130-year-old threading legend to a 100% employee-owned heavy machining shop — Tony Gunn goes inside two American shops that prove US manufacturing excellence is built one decade at a time, not one headline at a time.

From a 115-year-old German shop that 10x'd its output overnight, to the world's largest environmental technology show, to Liebherr's secret automation lab — this week in Germany redefined what manufacturing innovation looks like. Plus, GrindingHub is coming to America. Here's everything we saw.

By Tony Gunn | The WorldWide Machinist Germany doesn't manufacture. Germany obsesses. I just wrapped up one of the most intense weeks of factory tours I've done in a long time. Six stops. Back-to-back. Across some of the most serious precision manufacturing facilities on the planet — all as part of Jan Votteler's German tour. Every shop had a different specialty. Every team had a different story. But by the time I walked out of the last one, I realized they were all telling t