COOKEVILLE, TN—Integrator and specialty machine builder ATC Automation recently expanded its operations here with a 72,000-square-foot facility focused solely on clean assembly. An open house held May 16-18 to celebrate the new facility drew nearly 700 people, including employees and their families, local chamber of commerce members, customers and supplier representatives. Visitors were able to view more than 25 robots performing their routines, as well as machine assembly operations.
TONAWANDA, NY—General Motors' Tonawanda Engine plant has been chosen to produce next-generation engines for the Chevrolet Silverado, the company's flagship product. GM unveiled updates Monday to its 2019 Silverado 1500, which will be sold in the fall. The truck features updated versions of the 5.3-liter and 6.2-liter gasoline V8 engines.
COLOGNE, Germany—At Ford’s new state-of-the-art Environmental Test Centre at John Andrews Product Development Centre here, the company can simulate a variety of testing conditions on 10 cars simultaneously on an area the size of a football field. It allows for conditions akin to the Sahara desert in December and snow in July, as well as having the capability of generating up to 95 percent humidity.
WILMINGTON, DE—Dickinson High School’s Robotics Laboratory is an incubator where kids learn and use engineering and software skills to work with Lego and Erector Set-like creations they design and build. An outgrowth of the school’s STEM program, the robotics course began in 2010. Only a handful of kids enrolled the first year, but now about 100 of Dickinson’s 600 kids take a robotics class.
WASHINGTON—New orders for U.S.-made goods rose more than expected in March, boosted by strong demand for transportation equipment and a range of other products, but there are signs that business spending on equipment is slowing, the Commerce Department said last week. Factory goods orders rose 1.6 percent, Data for February was revised up to show orders jumping 1.6 percent instead of the previously reported 1.2 percent increase.
TORONTO—Bombardier Inc. has signed a deal to sell its Downsview aircraft assembly plant in Toronto for US$635 million to the Public Sector Pension Investment Board, the company said in a statement last week. Under a lease agreement, Bombardier will continue to operate from the Downsview assembly site for up to 3 years following the closing of the deal, with two optional one-year extension periods.
NORTH KINGSTOWN, RI—State tax breaks, infrastructure spending and job training are helping General Dynamics Electric Boat gain significant submarine construction work for the next several years. President Jeffrey Geiger last week said that the company hopes to create 1,300 new Rhode Island manufacturing jobs over the next decade.
ORION TOWNSHIP, MI—A General Motors Co. manufacturing plant in Metro Detroit that was idled during the Detroit automaker’s federally induced bankruptcy is now one of the keys to GM’s future, reports The Detroit News. Orion Assembly is one of two plants where GM is investing $100 million in total to retool for Cruise AV production. The other is the Brownstown battery assembly plant, where roof modules for the Cruise AV are built.