SAN DIEGO-French manufacturer Soitec will build a new factory here to assemble photovoltaic modules. MORE

STERLING, VA-Communications equipment manufacturer DTECH Labs has doubled the size of its assembly plant here. MORE

EASTFORD, CT-Lean manufacturing techniques have enabled aerospace supplier Whitcraft to boost quality and respond to customers more quickly. MORE

FLEMINGTON, NJ-Magna-Power Electronics, a manufacturer of high-power programmable DC power supplies, broke ground on a 29,000 square-foot expansion of its assembly plant here. MORE

TONAWANDA, NY-Parts shortages resulting from the aftermath of the natural disaster in Japan have forced GM to temporarily halt production at its engine plant in Tonawanda, NY, and its truck plant in Shreveport, LA. MORE

NEW RIVER VALLEY, VA-Volvo Trucks North America and the UAW reached a tentative Friday on a new five-year contract covering some 1,300 workers at the company’s assembly plant here. MORE

SEATTLE-Boeing’s new 747-8 passenger jet made its first flight on Sunday, becoming the largest passenger jet to ever hit the skies. MORE

CHICAGO-Robotics supplier Robotiq is introducing a dexterous gripper that gives robots “hand-like” capabilities to manipulate a wide variety of parts, detect a grip and control pressure on a given part. MORE

WARRENVILLE, IL-Navistar International will decide by the summer whether to restart an idled assembly plant in Ontario, Canada. Industrywide, production of heavy-duty trucks is expected to increase by 58 percent this year. MORE

LAWRENCE, MA-Solectria Renewables is opening an expansion of its assembly plant here. The company manufactures photovoltaic inverters and will boost production at the facility in the coming weeks. MORE