Greenleaf Corporation, a company involved in developing cutting tool technology and ceramic materials has named two new executives for the company’s management team. Jim Kyper is the newly appointed secretary and general counsel, while Bernie McConnell is the company’s executive vice president-commercial.

The free DesignSpark Mechanical by RS Components now comes with two new optional premium modules that extend the functionality of the 3D direct modelling software and enhance users’ 3D design experience.

The Roller Solutions tooling by Mate Precision Tooling help increase productivity of thick turret punch presses. Enabling high speed machining, the tools can work a wide range of materials including stainless steel, mild steel and aluminium.

ACI AG’s quattroClean is an inline and fully-automated innovative cleaning cell for component surfaces to ensure product quality, cost-efficiency and precision in measurement during machining. The system can be integrated between the machining process and measurement steps of a fully-automated production line or used as a stand-alone device.

The September China Steel Sentiment Index (CSSI) recorded a 0.45 increase from August’s 55.19 to 55.64 points out of a possible 100.

RS Components has recently announced the launch of its DesignSpark Electrical, a software that targets electrical design engineers and other electrical professionals who are not already using electrical CAD tools.

Information provider Platts has announced that its China steel reinforcement bar (rebar) price assessment reports will now be published daily instead of weekly as it was previously.

For July 2015, the total value of Japanese machine tool orders was 129.94 billion yen (US$1.07 billion), down 4.5 percent from June. This marked a decrease in total orders for the second consecutive month.

Oil prices for 27 August, Thursday, jumped more than 10 percent—the largest one-day gain recorded since 2009. Analysts attribute this jump to resurgent global stock markets, a reaction to the rebound of China’s main stock index.

Taiwanese president Ma Ying-Jeou has announced the government’s plans to invest NT$36 billion (US$1.11 billion) on promoting Productivity 4.0 over the next nine years so as to enhance the country’s industrial structure and global standing.