Kraft Heinz Halts Work on Separation, and M&A Wave Builds: So That Happened

Editor’s note: Welcome to So That Happened, our editors’ takes on things going on in the manufacturing world that deserve some extra attention. This will appear regularly in the Member’s Only section of the site.

METAL, Purdue Forge Workforce Development Partnership 

The Metallurgical Engineering Trades Apprenticeship & Learning (METAL) program has announced a partnership with Purdue University engineering programs to strengthen workforce development opportunities in the metalworking and manufacturing industries. 

Purdue’s Engineering Technology Program and School of Materials Engineering will implement METAL’s curriculum through online training, in-person boot camps and specialized training. 

“The METAL program will leverage Purdue’s uniquely integrated Smart Foundry, embedding Industry 4.0 capabilities such as digital twins, advanced sensing, data analytics, robotics and AI directly into the foundry environment,” says Ragu Athinarayanan, professor of smart manufacturing and industrial informatics. “This positions Purdue as a living laboratory where metalcasting expertise and next-generation digital manufacturing technologies come together to advance productivity, sustainability and workforce readiness.” 

The partnership will create academic credit pathways for students, as well as noncredit pathways that can be applied to industry certifications and apprenticeships. 

The Purdue programs will also offer workshops, host outreach events and partner with local schools to inspire K-12 students to pursue metallurgical careers. 

“The METAL program will expand and update our capabilities across investment casting and automated foundries to bring unique training opportunities to students, job seekers and industrial partners alike,” says Michael Titus, associate professor of materials engineering. 

—Anna Smith

Robots On the Rise Again

Don’t give up on the rise of your robot overlords. Units ordered and sales numbers are rising, according to data released last week by the Association for Advancing Automation (A3). 

Robot orders in Q4 2025 totaled over 10,000 robots worth $579 million. For 2025 as a whole, almost 37,000 robots worth $2.25 billion were sold, a 6.6% increase in units and 10.1% increase in revenue from 2024. 

Demand from non-automotive industries drove this growth, though more automotive OEMs continued robot investments than the previous year. General industries like food and consumer goods, semiconductors and electronics, and life sciences also contributed to last year’s growth.

Cobots represented 28.6% of all robots ordered in Q4 2025, according to A3’s data, a 14.7% share of quarterly revenue at $85 million. For 2025 as a whole, cobots represented 19.6% of total robots ordered and 10.7% of total revenue at $241 million.

“We’re seeing increasing adoption across sectors, especially in general industry applications and at automotive OEMs, as manufacturers look to automation to address workforce shortages, manage reshoring initiatives, and boost productivity,” says Alex Shikany, Executive Vice President at A3.

—Dennis Scimeca

The M&A Wave Builds

Shall we consider this an indicator that the economy will do more than OK this year and next?

The research team at EY Parthenon has updated its 2026 forecast of U.S. merger-and-acquisition activity to be 8% above last year, when deal volume was up 15% from 2024. EY Parthenon’s previous prediction was for growth of 3%—which was a bit more cautious than overall sentiment—but Chief Economist Greg Daco said Feb. 10 that “firmer U.S. GDP growth, resilient corporate profits, and supportive financial conditions” are giving C-suites the confidence to commit to deals.

The eye-popping stat: Since September, the share of U.S. CEOs telling EY Parthenon that they plan to pursue M&A in the next 12 months has jumped from 35% to 62%. That’s a strategic warning shot across the bow of leadership teams more inclined to hold station.

“Acquirers are prioritizing deals that defend margins, secure critical inputs and reduce excessive dependencies,” Daco and his team wrote. “Vertical integration has therefore emerged as a central theme across sectors, alongside portfolio reshaping to reinforce resilience and pricing power.”

Private-equity firms are playing a significant role in this building M&A wave, including in the manufacturing sector. Chicago-based Shore Capital Partners is looking to build on its momentum and last week announced that it has closed its second fund focused on industrials with more than $400 million capital commitments.

“We’re seeing sustained tailwinds across sub-categories,” Managing Partner Justin Ishbia said in a release that said Shore’s focus leans more toward the infrastructure side of manufacturing. “This fund allows us to be an even more intentional, long-term partner to founders and management teams — investing in operational excellence, leadership development, and scalable infrastructure to build businesses faster with less risk.”

—Geert De Lombaerde

Kraft Heinz Pauses Split 

Kraft Heinz Co. has paused its plan to split into two independent companies, the food manufacturer announced Feb. 11. 

“Since joining the company, I have seen that the opportunity is larger than expected and that many of our challenges are fixable and within our control,” said CEO Steve Cahillane, who joined Kraft Heinz at the beginning of the year. 

“My number one priority is returning the business to profitable growth, which will require ensuring all resources are fully focused on the execution of our operating plan. As a result, we believe it is prudent to pause work related to the separation and we will no longer incur related dis-synergies this year,” he said in a statement. 

Kraft Heinz announced its plan to separate into two publicly traded companies in September 2025. Cahillane initially joined the company to serve as CEO until the separation was complete, at which time he would become CEO of one of the spin-offs, Global Taste Elevation Co. Cahillane joined Kraft Heinz from Kellanova, where he been president and CEO until its purchase by Mars Inc. 

Kraft Heinz Co. announced the separation stop during its 2025 fourth-quarter and full-year financial results. Net sales for the year were down 3.5% year over year to $24.9 billion, with an operating loss of $4.7 billion due largely to increased non-cash impairment charges, the company said. 

The manufacturer also announced it would invest $600 million across marketing, sales, and research and development.

—Jill Jusko

European CFOs Aren’t as Glowy as Their U.S. Counterparts: 2026 Outlook

How are chief financial officers feeling about business conditions and the overall economy? It depends on whom you ask—and where they’re located. 

Deloitte’s North American CFO Confidence Score rose to 6.6 in Q4 of 2025, the highest score since the pandemic recovery in late 2021. Cost management clocked in as the top internal risk and the economy as the top external risk.

Among U.S. CFOs, the Federal Reserve of Richmond found that overall CFO optimism in Q4 2025, while dipping slightly from the previous quarter to 60%, was still higher overall in 2025 than any previous year since 2020.

Meanwhile, through a more European lens, CFOs in an international survey by Stuttgart, Germany-based management consultancy Horvath were less bullish. Forty percent “expect economic conditions to deteriorate further” in 2026, and positive outlooks were down one-third to 14% from the beginning of 2025. 

The 240 international CFOs in the Horvath survey ranked tariff volatility, shifts in trade agreements and supply-chain threats as their top worries. Fifty-five percent counted the Trump administration’s economic policy as a risk; only 10% saw it as an opportunity. Still, more than a third of these companies were planning expansion in the U.S.

—Laura Putre