DETROIT-Korean auto supplier Hyundai Mobis opened a plant in Detroit today to supply front and rear suspension modules for the Jeep Grand Cherokee. The factory, which cost $23 million, will initially employ 110 workers on one shift. MORE

LONG BEACH, CA-Boeing and its striking C-17 workers have reached a tentative contract agreement that would end the strike that has shut down the assembly facility here for almost a month. MORE

CHATTANOOGA, TN-VW is requiring production workers hired for its new U.S. assembly plant here to go through a fitness program on top of the usual job training, aiming to forge an “industrial athlete” who can lift, grip, bend and push without flagging. MORE

CLEARWATER BEACH, FL-Many manufacturing engineers have to worry about cutting costs and slashing weight. Engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center have to do all that while addressing intense safety and complexity issues, not to mention gravity. Discover the challenges of designing and assembling the next generation of spacecraft-and how they apply to more down-to-earth products-at the Assembly Summit Oct. 18-20 in Clearwater Beach, FL. MORE

LANCASTER, KY-More than 500 people submitted applications Thursday for 35 jobs at the new assembly plant being built by Mine Shields LLC, a manufacturer of mine refuge chambers. MORE

EAST MOLINE, IL-More than 80 years after introducing its first combine, John Deere Harvester Works has rolled its half-millionth self-propelled combine off the assembly line here. The plant employs about 2,400 people. MORE

BEND, OR-Authorities are investigating the cause of an explosion that leveled part of a bullet-manufacturing plant here, shaking the ground and rattling windows several blocks away. No one was hurt in Wednesday’s blast at the Nosler Inc. plant, which makes hunting ammunition. MORE

CLEARWATER BEACH, FL-If “cap & trade” legislation currently before Congress passes, every manufacturer will have to be concerned about its carbon footprint. But what exactly is a carbon footprint and how is it measured? Find out from one of world’s leading experts at the Assembly Summit Oct. 18-20 in Clearwater Beach, FL. MORE

ASHEVILLE, NC-Moog Music will transform four old buildings here into a top-flight manufacturing facility and showroom. The company plans to spend $2.5 million to renovate the structures into offices and assembly lines for synthesizers, guitars and other electronic instruments. The company plans to add 10 to 15 jobs over the next three years. MORE

SANAND, India-Tata Motors inaugurated a factory Wednesday to produce its super-cheap compact Nano car. Production will ramp up in phases to 250,000 cars annually. MORE