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Hi all!
The Boston and greater Massachusetts tech sectors faced significant challenges in 2024, with declines in employment and job postings, and diversity metrics lagging behind other major metro areas.
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Despite these headwinds, the region demonstrated some flashes of opportunity — major VC investments went to battery startup Ascend Elements and quantum computing firm QuEra.
Meanwhile, demand for AI skills surged, with AI-related job postings on the rise. Over 80% of Boston businesses are actively adopting or testing AI internally, and 85% plan to scale their efforts.
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AND NOW SOME OPERATIONS NEWS |
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This Operations Update is provided with support from: |
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The State of Manufacturing |
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In June, the New Orders Index contracted for the fifth consecutive month, falling to 46.4%, down from 47.6% in May.
In contrast, the Production Index saw a sharp rise, indicating a return to growth.
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When procurement is engaged early in the engineering process, it frees engineers to focus on innovation and design quality. This early alignment enables procurement to source critical components with the right specifications, at the best possible cost and lead time—reducing the risk of delays and budget overruns.
The collaboration drives cost efficiency through strategic supplier negotiations and value engineering, ensures quality by prequalifying vendors and managing inspections, and mitigates supply chain disruptions.
By working in tandem, procurement and engineering move beyond siloed functions to form a unified engine that accelerates project timelines, fosters supplier-led innovation, and delivers stronger overall outcomes.
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Explore the M&A deals closed in June, a month that saw a marked uptick in deal-making compared to May’s slowdown.
Snyk, the Boston-based developer security platform acquires AI security pioneer Invariant Labs, marking a strategic move into the next generation of AI safeguards.
Pickle Robot, a Cambridge startup specializing in autonomous robots for unloading trucks and containers, announced Fred Hopke as its new Vice President of Engineering. The company also announced plans to hire 50 additional engineers over the next four months to support its growth.
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FORGE has been awarded $120,000 by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) through its Innovation Ecosystem Program.
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The US Department of Energy has announced the canceling of $3.7 billion in funding across 24 energy and industrial projects, including an $86.9 million federal award previously granted to Somerville-based low-carbon cement maker Sublime Systems. |
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In our June survey, we asked "What is the most critical skill gap in your organization's current manufacturing workforce?"
It was a tight race, but engineering and design (mechanical, electrical, industrial) emerged as the top concern, cited by 22.2% of respondents. Close behind were advanced technical skills, such as robotics, automation, and AI integration, at 20%.
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As products grow more complex and timelines tighten, engineering teams can no longer operate in silos. Cross-functional collaboration with procurement, operations, product, finance, and other teams is becoming essential to drive both innovation and speed.
So we'd like to know:
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| What’s the biggest benefit from closer engineering and cross-functional collaboration? |
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China is developing robotic guards designed to intercept and shove away suspicious objects in space. JustLikeGuardDogs
(Source: Fast Company)
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This AI-powered startup studio plans to launch 100,000 companies a year — really! OneEvery5Minutes
(Source: Tech Crunch)
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