With KTR doubling its Michigan City footprint and the Crane microreactor bringing no manufacturing work to Indiana, where should we actually be looking to capture supply chain dollars instead of just watching from the sidelines?

Start with KTR's hydraulic component line rather than its wind coupling business, since the coupling side carries real substitution risk from direct-drive turbines and the hydraulic side doesn't. The Crane reactor itself offers nothing locally, fueling and refueling both happen at Radiant's Oak Ridge, Tennessee factory, so don't plan around any local content there.

Wabash National isn't expected to add shifts at its Goshen plant until at least the second half of 2027, but Hyundai Translead just added a third shift in Illinois. Which one should guide our own planning?

Treat Hyundai Translead's decision to staff up now as the stronger indicator. A competitor committing to a full shift ahead of ACT Research's 2028 production forecast says more about where trailer demand is actually headed than an idled plant with no announced restart date.

If Cummins' Columbus Engine Plant BEV grant depends on DOE funding that could get canceled, independent of what the stock price suggests, what should we do about similar federal commitments in our own supply base?

Pull a list of any federally backed capital projects in your supplier network tied to IRA-era DOE grants and confirm their funding status directly. The DOE has already canceled hundreds of these grants in 2026, and a rating agency's buy or hold call tells you nothing about that risk.

Manufacturing News TEG Daily

October 25, 2026 · Martin · LaPorte · Bartholomew

Navy's Crane Indiana Microreactor Deal, Cummins' Rating Reversal, and Wabash National's Idle Goshen Plant

The Crane Indiana microreactor deal brings zero local jobs, and Cummins, KTR, and Wabash National all make news Indiana manufacturers need this week.

Daniel BurkePublished every day

The Navy named California startup Radiant Industries as builder of record for a Crane Indiana microreactor project on October 20, a deal that brings the state its first power reactor of any kind and zero manufacturing jobs to go with it. The same week, Wall Street Zen reversed its own eight-day-old downgrade of Columbus-based Cummins, KTR Corporation filed for a $15 million expansion in Michigan City, and Hyundai Translead added a third round of hiring in Illinois while Wabash National's Goshen, Indiana trailer plant sits idle. Here is what each one means for your plant floor this week.

01Martin

Navy's Crane Indiana Microreactor Brings Zero Manufacturing Jobs to the State

The Department of the Navy selected Radiant Industries on October 20 to build the Kaleidos microreactor at Naval Support Activity Crane in Martin County, the Navy's first shore-based power reactor since it shut down a trouble-plagued unit in Antarctica in 1972. The 1-megawatt reactor ships inside a 35-foot container, weighs about 70 tons, runs on TRISO fuel and helium cooling, and is built to run five years between refuelings.

For the huddle: If the reactor arrives factory-fueled and goes back to Tennessee for refueling, is there any realistic entry point for an Indiana supplier into the TRISO fuel, helium-cooling, or microreactor-container supply chain, or does this stay a pure power-purchase deal with zero local manufacturing upside?

SourcesThe Navy is putting a 70-ton reactor that ships in a 35-foot container and runs five years on one load of fuel on an Indiana weapons base, its first power reactor on land since Antarctica, and the only one built is still inside an Idaho test dome (autonocion.com)

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02LaPorte

KTR Corporation Plans $15 Million Expansion in Michigan City

KTR Corporation, the U.S. arm of German coupling maker KTR Kupplungstechnik, is consolidating its North American headquarters and manufacturing into a new 78,000-square-foot facility on 22 acres along CR 400 North in Michigan City. The La Porte County Board of Zoning Appeals approved the special use variance this past Tuesday.

For the huddle: Given KTR's wind-coupling exposure to the direct-drive shift, should we be asking Eric Stachowiak or EDCMC whether hydraulic components or couplings are driving the majority of the new 78,000-square-foot buildout before assuming this is a straightforward capacity story?

SourcesMichigan City Manufacturer Planning Expansion (hometownnewsnow.com)

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03Statewide

Cummins Gets Whipsawed by Its Own Rating Agency in Eight Days

Wall Street Zen upgraded Columbus-based Cummins from hold back to buy on Sunday, eight days after downgrading the stock from buy to hold on October 17. The reversal landed amid a wave of price-target cuts from Citigroup, Barclays, Truist, JPMorgan and Bank of America, and shares opened Friday at $517.64, below both the 50-day and 200-day moving averages.

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04Statewide

Audi's $4.2 Billion Georgia Plant Opens a Tariff-Exemption Window

President Trump announced Saturday at a Perry, Georgia rally that Audi will build its first U.S. plant near Macon, a $4.2 billion commitment to produce 200,000 vehicles a year and roughly 4,500 jobs, with construction starting in 2027 and production in the early 2030s. The announcement reads less like a growth story and more like a tariff-exemption certification.

For the huddle: Do any of our existing Tier 1 relationships run through Volkswagen Group's Chattanooga plant, and if so, should we be positioning for a Georgia logistics footprint now, before the Macon supply chain locks in around 2028?

SourcesTrump Announces Audi’s First-Ever U.S. Factory in Georgia as Tariffs Bite (newsday.com)

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05Statewide

Hyundai Translead Adds 1,250 Jobs While Wabash National's Goshen Plant Sits Idle

Hyundai Translead announced Thursday it is adding 1,250 jobs on top of the 2,500 it committed in March, bringing its total commitment in Will County, Illinois to 3,750 jobs and $600 million across two new semi-trailer factories near Joliet. Governor J.B. Pritzker's office called it the largest manufacturing job commitment in recent Illinois history, and the state is funding a new training academy at Joliet Junior College that will double the school's welding capacity.

For the huddle: If Hyundai Translead is confident enough in trailer demand to add a third shift in Illinois right now, what does that tell us about the realistic timeline for Wabash's Goshen plant to restore jobs, and should we be planning around a 2027 recovery or a longer freight downturn?

Sources3,750 new manufacturing jobs backed by tax credits announced for Hyundai (aol.co.uk)

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