For decades, aluminium windows and doors were largely viewed as functional elements of construction. Today, advances in extrusion technology, precision engineering and architectural design have transformed their possibilities. What once required bulky frames and conventional openings can now be achieved through remarkably slender profiles, expansive glass surfaces and sophisticated systems that bring together structural strength, durability and understated luxury. As Indian architecture becomes increasingly ambitious, aluminium is no longer simply framing spaces; it is helping redefine how they are designed, experienced and connected. Market data According to ALUMEX India 2025: Extruding the Future, India is the world’s second-largest primary aluminium producer and third-largest consumer,...
Two recent Tesla stories sit at opposite ends of the range. Tesla Model 3 is set to benefit from cost-focused Cybercab inverter technology, announced on November 1 2026. The flying car, Tesla Roadster, uses aluminum in its battery cells and underbody protection, reinforcing power delivery, thermal management and lightweight construction. The two models reveal how aluminum can serve very different engineering priorities, from making electric vehicles (EVs) more affordable to helping them deliver extraordinary performance. Tesla Model 3: the everyday car gets Cybercab hardware Nick Verzini, Tesla’s Head of Drive Unit Engineering, mentioned on a Munro Live factory tour that a new printed circuit board assembly and power stage from the Cybercab’s inverter will enter Model 3 production in...
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Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) is the body in India that is working hard to implement the government's massive energy efficiency drive. The drive is getting implanted through electric vehicles, LED lighting, smart meters and other factors like demand side management and supporting measures. In a recent interview with ETEnergyWorld, Saurabh Kumar, Managing Director of EESL said that like any new initiative on energy efficiency, electric cars are likely to be costlier than the traditional non-efficient model in the beginning and will slowly get affordable and convenient with time. He said that the basic ethos of EESL revolve around a service model based on “pay as you save”. He said that the first tender for 10,000 electric vehicles was closed around January 2018 and the operations...
Aluqa, a Dutch shipyard, is reportedly designing and building lightweight, premium aluminium boats for a highly exclusive segment. Their design comes from Dutch design and they implement the latest high-tech. With a rock-solid experience in the nautical industry for about a decade, the team of Aluqa shipyard noticed that anchors and the overall functionality of the boats are old-fashioned. The Aluqa team’s background in metal and aluminium works led them to design a new way with systems including a folding process to store the anchor in a totally different way. The anchor system of Aluqa is foldable and hidden while it is not needed. The hatch that closes off the anchor compartment makes the anchor and its foldable system invisible. This is one of the hidden gems that set the Aluqa apart....
Reflecting the high levels of interest in flexible packaging – both for its performance and role in the circular economy – the Flexible Packaging Europe (FPE) summer conference attracted a record number of attendees to the event, which was held recently in Naples, Italy. During the conference Gérard Blatrix of Amcor Flexibles was re-elected to serve a second term as Chairman of FPE. Michele Guala (Gualapack) and Stefan Gutheil (Wipak) were elected as Vice-Chairmen. During the conference FPE could officially welcome six new member companies in addition to the 80+ members of the trade association who represent around 85% of the turnover in the European flexible packaging market. FPE is well established as the authoritative voice for the sector while having conducted several studies on the...
Portland craft brewers are facing a tight supply of cans along with the problem related to aluminium tariffs. Paul Lorrain of Funky Bow Brewery & Beer Co. in Lyman said his company has had difficulty procuring 16-ounce cans and had to shut down beer production twice in 2018. According to Lorrain it’s easy to blame the shortage on a 10 per cent tariff on imported aluminium, but the problem has been brewing for two years as large beverage companies have consumed more cans than the volume produced. “When you can’t move beer out of kegs into cans, it messes up the brewery schedule,” he said. “A combination of factors is impacting many of our brewers’ ability to get cans,” spokesman Sean Sullivan said. Over the last decade, more and more brewers are now using cans instead of bottles. Aluminum...
Orora Limited has acquired Bronco Packaging Corporation (Bronco) for USD$24 million as part of the continued growth of the Orora Packaging Solutions (OPS) business in North America. Orora’s products portfolio include glass bottles, aluminium cans, closures and caps, boxes and cartons, point-of-purchase displays, packaging equipment, recycled paper, bags and sacks, rigid packaging, flexible packaging and general packaging materials and supplies. Source:www.ororagroup.com Based Dallas, Bronco serves corporate accounts in the fresh food manufacturing industry. The company provides an ‘on-demand’ packaging delivery service to customers predominantly located in Texas. The Company, which generates revenues in excess of USD$50 million, will continue to lead the business for a period of at least...
Automobile industry has been a key pillar of Japan’s manufacturing sector and auto exports contribute a large chunk of Japanese export revenue. Exports to the United States accounting for a significant share of the total auto export by Japan. Like all other auto exporters to the US, Japan is also facing a threat when US is contemplating a 25 per cent tariff on auto and auto parts import. Source: Trade Data The White House is considering auto tariffs in its efforts to reduce the overall trade deficit and encourage the U.S. domestic auto sector. The U.S. trade deficit with Japan totalled US$72 billion in 2017, the third largest U.S. trading partner after China and Mexico. The $54 billion trade deficit in car and car parts accounts for 75% of that overall deficit. Unlike the earlier steel...
Minimalist designer Michael Anastassiades has recently designed Bang & Olufsen's circular Beosound Edge, which is both speaker and volume knob in one. Designed for the first time by the best known designer for minimal lightings design and unveiled last week at Berlin electronics fair IFA, the speaker can be rolled to adjust the volume. The rest of its subtle touch controls are built into the aluminium frame and only light up when a person approaches them. The speaker is designed in such a way that it can either be kept on the floor as a centrepiece or mounted perpendicular to the wall, serving as an object to divide spaces. Next to the aluminium body, the speaker on both sides has a matt black fabric cover that looks as dark as a void. "It looks quite surreal as an object, because of the...
Leading soft drinks company Britvic is investing more than £100milllion in its facility in Rugby as part of a broader £240m three-year investment programme in its GB manufacturing capability. The company has installed three new PET bottling lines, a new on-site warehouse and an aseptic line to manufacture preservative-free drinks. Britvic has also unveiled three new can lines that will produce up to 6,000 cans per minute. This year, Britvic’s steel can formats have moved to aluminium cans, enabling the company to reduce the amount of metal it uses annually by 8,000 tonnes. Jeremy Howard, Director of Production at Britvic, said: “We are delighted to welcome Mr. Pawsey to our Rugby site today to see our new state-of-the-art manufacturing and logistics capability. It is a proud moment for...
Ford Motor Co. is reportedly cancelling its plan to import a new crossover model from as President Donald Trump’s tariffs undermined the business case for bringing vehicles to the US market. Kumar Galhotra, Ford President in North America said Trump’s decision of imposing 25 per cent tariff on China-built cars in July had eroded the profitability of the Focus Active that Ford planned to start shipping into the US about a year ago. The company thus decided not to invest more money in a vehicle that would have had fewer than 50,000 annual unit sales in the US. “Our viewpoint on Focus Active was that, given the tariffs, obviously our costs would be substantially higher,” Galhotra said. “Our resources could be better deployed.” Daimler AG, a German-based multinational automotive corporation,...
China’s once-booming car market is slowing down, in part because of escalating trade tensions with the U.S. Auto sales registered a growth of just 3 per cent in 2017, the slowest rate in recent years and a similar growth is forecasted for the current year, according to China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. However, as a part of its plan to improve its manufacturing sector and control the overcapacity of metals in the country, China has been working towards developing the domestic auto sector and opening up its market. The country has slashed car import duties to 15 per cent from 25 per cent last month. It is also starting to ease rules limiting foreign ownership of joint ventures. A few new joint ventures have already been announced. Whereas in another big market, the U.S.,...
Barrio Brewing, the United States-based independent brewery will reportedly launch an environmentally-friendly aluminium canned beer, with the aim to enhance the brand’s retail presence in Arizona, US. According to the source, Ardagh will supply aluminium beverage cans to Barrio. Ardagh is a Luxembourg-based glass and metal packaging products manufacturer that operates more than 100 facilities in 22 countries, with global sales of around $8.6bn. Founded in 1991 by Dennis and Tauna Arnold, Barrio Brewing is said to be one of the longest-running independent breweries in the state. Dennis said: “We believe market trends are tending to quality local beers supplanting multi-state regionals but it will still come down to taste and quality in determining what brands will endure and grow. We’re...
Auto components maker Amtek Auto reported yesterday, August 29, a lower standalone net loss of INR 80.21 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2017. The net loss, during the contemporary period last year, had stood at INR 241.56 crore, as the company posted. This means the standalone net loss in Q4 2017 dropped by 66 per cent year-on-year. The total revenue also declined from INR 458.6 crore in Q4 2014 to INR 316.18 in Q4 2017, Amtek said is a BSE filling. In July last year, NCLT had admitted insolvency proceedings initiated by a consortium of banks led by Corporation Bank. As per the resolution plan, UK-based Liberty House will acquire control in the company in accordance with the applicable laws. The resolution plan was voted upon in April this year and then approved by the Committee...
ZENS has just launched a trio of new wireless chargers at IFA with aluminium bodies and at least one that is quite similar to Apple's forthcoming AirPower. The three chargers consist of a dual charger, a single charger, and a second dual charger with an Apple Watch charging puck. Of the trio, the most interesting one seems to be the last, as it can charge two iPhones and an Apple Watch simultaneously. Each iPhone and the Apple Watch get charged at full speed, namely 7.5 Watts for each phone and 5 Watts for the watch, which matches up to the reported 20-Watt output. A charging puck for the Apple Watch is built in, which means you don't need to supply your own. This helps keep down clutter and improve design because there is only one power cord to deal with. This makes ZENS' Dual+Watch very...
Modern Coach Factory (MCF) in Raebareli is expected to manufacture aluminium coaches for Indian Railways. The coaches are likely to be featured with better corrosion resistance and to be rolled out in the early half of next fiscal year, Hindustan Times reported. “Aluminium coaches have the advantage of lesser weight and better corrosion resistance. Lesser weight results in savings in haulage costs and better acceleration/deceleration. “Better corrosion resistance would result in lesser maintenance requirements in the workshops. They will also last longer than the traditional LHB (Linke Hofmann Busch) coaches,” Rajesh Aggarwal, General Manager of MCF, said. The Railway Board is expected to approve MCF’s project report for manufacturing aluminium carriages, the report said. MCF will have to...
The Ducati Scrambler 1100 is finally available in India in three variants Scrambler 1100, Scrambler 100 Special, and Scrambler 1100 Sport. The most noticeable difference on the three models of the Scrambler 1100 is that the Standard and the Special come with fully adjustable 45 mm Marzocchi forks upfront and a Kayaba monoshock at the rear, while the Scrambler 1100 Sport is featured with adjustable 48 mm Ohlins USDs up front and an Ohlins monoshock at the rear. The other differences are the Standard model and the Standard 1100 Sport come in two different colours while the Scramble 1100 Special is offered in only one shade, which is customer grey. It has aluminium spoke wheel and brushed aluminium bits beside brown quilted seat, chrome exhaust headers and a slightly lower handlebar. The...
According to the report from Shanghai Metals Market, China is likely to increase the construction of charging stations for new-energy vehicles (NEVs) in the next two years, as production and sales of NEVs in China are on the rise. As per the estimate by market participants, production and sales of NEVs would reach compound annual growth rates (CAGR) of above 50 per cent within the next five years. A CAGR rate above 50 per cent, according to market insiders, is expected to bolster the NEV market further to around RMB 200 billion with the next five years. Until July 2018, some 662,000 charging stations have already been built across China, of which 275,000 stations are public and 387,000 are private, showed data presented at the Shanghai New Energy Vehicle International Conference & Expo...
Geeta Aluminium, one of the leading providers of aluminium system windows and doors in India, launched a showroom in Panaji. Geeta Aluminium Co. Pvt. Ltd. is a leading provider of aluminium doors and windows that started operation in 1964. The company manages distribution, marketing and full scale retailing and is a one stop source for premium aluminium architectural sections across India. Being operated by City Aluminium, the retail showroom is known as Geeta Gallery that consists of range of aluminum system windows and doors that make it convenient for customers to choose windows of a specific style and shade that matches their architectural preference and individual taste. Geeta Aluminium already has set a strong foothold in the Goa market as it has supplied to clients like Britto’s,...
Exal, the global leader in premium aluminium packaging has once again opted for Lighthouse Systems to implement a manufacturing execution system (MES), Shopfloor-Online, at its North American manufacturing operations in Youngstown, Ohio. This is in a move to support further its industry excellence agenda. Previously, Exal used an SPC software package from Lighthouse Systems and saw the benefits in their quality operations. Stephen Carchedi, Continuous Improvement Manager and Project Manager commented, “Our continued partnership with Lighthouse Systems provides an unprecedented opportunity for us to continue to achieve excellence through the delivery of industry-leading value to our customers by aligning our most important resource, our people, with industry-leading processes and...
