The need to reduce vehicle weight has spawned myriad new technologies for assembling aluminum, high-strength steel and other materials. These new technologies include self-piercing rivets, flow-drilling screws and friction-stir spot welding.
Seating is something that most people never think about when they get behind the wheel. But, it plays an important role in overall customer satisfaction.
BUFFALO, NY—Panasonic Corp. expects to invest more than $260 million in an assembly plant here to make photovoltaic cells and modules for Tesla Motors Inc.
SPARTANBURG, SC—Automotive supplier Magna International will build a new, $29 million, 230,000-square-foot assembly plant here to make seats for BMW. Scheduled to open in June 2017, the facility is expected to employ 480 people in the next four years.
EVANSVILLE, IN—Systems integrator Preh IMA Automation (PIA) Evansville Inc. is building a semiautomatic assembly line for a manufacturer of automotive electronics. The assembly line, which will be delivered in early 2017, assembles, populates and tests automotive fuse boxes.
MUNICH, Germany—BMW is planning to invest more than $536 million on new car technologies over the next 10 years via its i Ventures division. The automaker will use the money to back startups working on areas such as autonomous driving and digitalization.
CASA GRANDE, AZ—Lucid Motors, a start-up manufacturer of high-end electric vehicles, will spend $700 million to build a new assembly plant here. The factory is expected to create 2,000 jobs in the next six years.
Overall, 2016 has been a pretty good year for U.S. manufacturing. In every industry covered by ASSEMBLY magazine, manufacturers were investing in people, plants and equipment.
Quick change is a popular type of magic in which performers appear in entirely different costumes within just a few seconds. It’s an act that takes tremendous skill and lots of practice to perfect.