BUFFALO, WV—Toyota will invest $400 million in its assembly plant here over the next four years.

TORONTO—Unifor has selected General Motors as the company with which it will set a pattern for negotiating new labor contracts with the Detroit Three automakers. The Canadian union’s current contracts with the companies expire Sept. 19.

DEARBORN, MI—Ford plans to eventually shift all North American small-car production from the U.S. to Mexico, CEO Mark Fields told investors last week, even though the company’s production investments in Mexico have become a lightning rod for controversy in the presidential election.

Welding of one sort or another has been the No. 1 application for industrial robots almost since the technology was invented.

Quality and innovation have been the name of the game at Club Car ever since the company was founded in 1958. Today, the company produces 40 base models of golf, utility and transportation vehicles.

Ideally, every component in a plastic assembly would be made from the same material. However, cost, functional and aesthetic requirements often dictate that a mix of materials be used.

Multistation automated assembly systems are a wonder to behold. A well-designed system can mass-produce hundreds of assemblies per minute with minimal human intervention.

When an assembly press supplier meets with a manufacturer to discuss its next purchase, both parties focus on one question: Which type and model of press is best for the current application? Mike Brieschke, vice president of sales at Aries Engineering Corp., recalls how two such meetings in 2006 with automotive OEMs led the supplier to ask itself another question: Which type of press is best for the future of assembly?

Walk through any automotive plant, and there’s a good chance you’ll see lift assists in use for product assembly. Common lift assists include large or small hoists, air balancers, extension arms and end-effectors (clamp, hook, vacuum, magnet, etc.).

Magnetic materials may not be well-known by the general public, but many of the world’s leading manufacturers would be in trouble without them.