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.

GM Defense Digs In for Explosive Growth 

Sticking with defense contracting but pivoting from boats to cars: General Motors Corp. Chair and CEO Mary Barra took a few minutes recently to point out that the company’s GM Defense division should start making money on a pre-tax basis this year as it grows to nearly $700 million in sales. 

Speaking during her team’s second-quarter earnings conference call, Barra said the group is gathering momentum with several products, including an infantry vehicle based on the Chevrolet Colorado and battery technology for the next generation of moon landers. Barra’s comments, which came about two months after Ford Motor Co. CEO Jim Farley said Ford was in talks about getting back into the military contracting business (coincidence, we’re pretty sure), also noted that GM is supplying gear to Canada, Qatar, Brazil and other U.S. allies as well as working with Lockheed Martin Corp. and others to build out the defense supply chain. 

The business has big-dollar potential in a rapidly rearming world: Executives think GM Defense can grow at 30% per year for the foreseeable future and over time generate double-digit margins. A big part of that in the near term is a contract to supply infantry squad vehicles that could be worth more than $1 billion. 

—Geert De Lombaerde

Charting a Course for the Shipbuilding Workforce 

The Department of Labor announced on July 27 that it seeks to expand the skilled shipbuilding workforce and pre-apprenticeship opportunities through a partnership with military shipbuilding company Huntington Ingalls Industries. This workforce development initiative includes a proposal to create a career and technical education center for shipbuilding occupations at the San Diego Job Corps Center. 

“Strengthening our maritime talent pipeline has a two-fold benefit,” says Acting Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling. “It gives hope to young men and women enrolled in pre-apprenticeship programs while helping restore America’s maritime workforce and reanimating critical domestic supply chains.” 

The partnership is also considering incorporating the Los Angeles, Inland Empire and Long Beach Job Corps Centers into the plans to expand opportunities to build a skilled talent pipeline. Under this proposal, the San Diego location would become an Advanced Training Transition Hub, where graduates from across the country could receive relocation assistance, complete their training and begin work in the shipbuilding industry. 

The DOL says the Huntington Ingalls partnership advances two executive orders: “Preparing Americans for High-Paying Skilled Trade Jobs of the Future” and “Restoring America’s Maritime Dominance.”

—Anna Smith

Happy Birthday to Make It American

The Make It American certification program launched by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) recently celebrated its first birthday. The program is designed to help the market identify products and manufacturing facilities that have implemented best-in-class processes to meet the domestic content requirements outlined in the 2021 Build America, Buy America Act, or BABA.

As part of the celebration, NEMA announced in June that Schneider Electric earned Make It American certification for each of its 20-plus U.S. manufacturing facilities – its entire domestic manufacturing footprint. “As the first company to certify 20+ U.S. facilities through NEMA’s Make It American program, we’re giving customers independently verified assurance that energy tech powering their projects can meet domestic content requirements,” said Kelly Becker, President of North America Operations, Schneider Electric. “Amid rising energy demand from AI, electrification, and advanced manufacturing, strengthening our U.S. supply chain is critical to helping us meet the moment, and these certifications give our customers the verified confidence they need to meet it too.”

It’s important to note that BABA is not a global standard; rather, the act requires all iron, steel, manufactured products, and construction materials used in federally funded infrastructure projects to be produced in the United States. In sum, BABA applies a domestic content preference across federal financial assistance programs, and the more it catches on, the greater the rollover effect will be on U.S. manufacturing practices.

For contractors and procurement officials working on federal infrastructure projects, the full NEMA Make It American BABA Registry is available online to help identify and locate BABA compliant suppliers and products.

—Thomas Wilk

A Big Boat Update from Brownsville 

The leaders of maritime defense startup Saronic Technologies recently said they’ve chosen the South Texas town of Brownsville to be the home of their ambitious Port Alpha autonomous ship-building hub. The news came after a search that took more than a year and also seriously looked elsewhere along the Gulf Coast. 

The numbers associated with the project are eye-watering: Working with state and local officials, Saronic is aiming to create 10,000 jobs in the next decade via its $3 billion investment that will start with the development of 835 acres and look to build vessels up to 850 foot in length. If things click, Port Alpha could over time grow to encompass nearly 4,400 acres and crank out ships more than 1,200 feet long. 

Construction workers are expected to get down to business later this year and have Port Alpha ready to launch operations in 2028. The project will build on Saronic’s work to date in Franklin, Louisiana, where the company is investing $300 million to start making its 180-foot Marauder. One more big number, Texas-style: CEO Dino Mavrookas and his team in March said they’d raised $1.75 billion from an investor group that valued the four-year-old venture at $9.25 billion, more than double its valuation a year earlier. 

—Geert De Lombaerde

Fairlife Properly Hacked by Ransomware Gang 

On July 16, the Coca-Cola Company disclosed via Form 8-K filing that subsidiary fairlife, a manufacturer known for its ultra-filtered dairy products, experienced a data breach that included unauthorized access to production-related systems.  

This happened “in conjunction with a ransomware event,” i.e., the hackers stole a bunch of data and immediately held it hostage. Product quality and safety were not affected, according to Coca-Cola.  

Fairlife did have to shut down production at all its plants in the United States, however. This should worry you considerably if your cybersecurity hygiene is either weak or not in place at all. 

According to BleepingComputer, on Monday, July 20th, the ransomware gang Anubis claimed responsibility for the breach and said it had stolen about 1 TB worth of data from fairlife’s network and encrypted key parts of fairlife’s systems. 

Unless fairlife entered negotiations by the end of the week, the ransomware gang threatened to release the stolen data. 

Coca-Cola announced on July 27 that the majority of production at all four of fairlife’s facilities in the United States had resumed. The company also confirmed that ransomware was involved and that data was stolen. 

Coca-Cola also states it does not believe this incident has or is likely to have a material impact on the company and reiterated that product quality and safety was not affected. 

—Dennis Scimeca 

Second TransDigm Deal Has a Better Shot at Sticking the Landing 

Aerospace M&A deals are flying high in 2026, with an increase in defense funding in the U.S. and Europe, order backlogs up 23.7% at the beginning of the year and the need to maintain and upgrade existing aircraft with new technology.  

The latest overture to add to the pile: TransDigm Group Inc.’s July 27 announcement of a $1.1 billion deal to acquire Prince & Izant, the Cleveland, Ohio-based manufacturer of highly engineered brazing alloys and specialty applications for components including aircraft engine fuel nozzles and rocket engines.  

TransDigm, also based in Cleveland, is a holding company for businesses that produce specialized precision aerospace components for commercial and military aircraft.  

With approximately 220 employees, P&I has manufacturing facilities in Tinley Park, Illinois; Franksville, Wisconsin; and Bay Shore, New York.  

TransDigm was in the news earlier this month for scrapping a $960 million deal to acquire a rival component maker, Stellant Systems, after the Justice Department threatened to block it. “The acquisition would have left the Department of War with a single source for critical products, increasing supply chain risks and removing the benefits of competition,” stated a release from the DOJ office.  

—Laura Putre

Prom Fashions to Remember, Duck-inspired

Combine the creative minds of inspired students with ordinary rolls of Duck Brand tape and the outcome is prom outfits of originality, craftsmanship and perhaps a little bit of stickiness.