Amazon's Price Gouging, Pentagon Cancels Disputed Contract, Tesla Impresses | Today in Manufacturing Ep. 23

Also on the podcast, another large chemical fire, Amtrak replacing old trains, paper maker sues whistleblower, Panasonic and a desktop waterjet cuts a cow out of beef.

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The Today in Manufacturing Podcast is a new podcast brought to you by the editors from Manufacturing.net and Industrial Equipment News (IEN).

In each episode, we discuss the five biggest stories in manufacturing, and the implications they have on the industry moving forward. This week, we talk about:

Tesla Delivers More than 200,000 Vehicles in 2nd Quarter

Tesla says it delivered 201,250 electric vehicles while battling a global computer chip shortage that has hit nearly every automaker. The company is on pace to double last year's nearly 500,000 deliveries and could hit 900,000 in annual sales this year.

Amtrak to Pay $7.3B to Replace Aging Trains

Amtrak wants to replace 83 passenger trains, and some of them are nearly 50 years old. Last week, the company announced $7.3 billion to overhaul part of its fleet. 

2nd Chemical Fire at Bangkok Factory Highlights Health Risks

Last Monday, a massive explosion at the Ming Dih Chemical factory in Bangkok killed one person and injured many. The fire started around 3 a.m. at a foam and plastic pellet manufacturing factory.

Pentagon Cancels Disputed Cloud Contract

Last week, the Pentagon canceled its $10 billion cloud-computing contract with Microsoft. When Microsoft received the initial reward, Amazon fought back with legal challenges saying the award was tainted by politics. 

Lawsuit Accuses Amazon of Price-Gouging Throughout Pandemic

A new class-action lawsuit accuses Amazon of price-gouging during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Hagens Berman, the law firm behind the suit, some of the gouging included toilet paper that cost $200, and black beans selling for $21.99.

In Case You Missed It:

Desktop Waterjet Cuts Cow Out of Beef

Before the Fourth of July, engineers at Wazer made some tweaks to the company's desktop waterjet. While the machine is typically used to cut metal and glass, Wazer used it to cut meat.

Panasonic Unloads Tesla Stake

Panasonic announced the sale of its stake in Tesla. The move netted the conglomerate around $3.61 billion.

Gov't Sues Paper Maker that Fired Whistleblower

The US Department of Labor said June 28 that it is suing Pennsylvania-based paper products maker, Midvale Paper Box, and its owner, after they fired a worker who raised safety concerns there.

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