COLUMBIA, SC—Kobelco Construction Machinery Co. Ltd. will build a $41 million assembly plant here to make hydraulic excavators, creating 131 new jobs.

BOWLING GREEN, KY—Chevrolet is bringing back its exclusive Engine Build Experience for Corvette Z06 customers, who will get the opportunity to assemble the car’s 650-hp supercharged LT4 engine by themselves.

HOUSTON—Daikin Industries Ltd., a manufacturer of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning equipment, is planning to build a new $417 million assembly plant here.

WALKER, MI—Irwin Seating Co. will spend $1.9 million to expand its assembly plant here. The company makes seating for theaters, auditoriums and other venues.

DETROIT—General Motors engineers are planning to use material from diapers to simulate snow in tests of vehicular heating systems.

TOKYO—Toyota’s North American manufacturing facilities saved 93.3 million gallons of water in 2014.

NORWICH, UK—The advent of collaborative robots on the assembly line is raising fresh safety questions for manufacturers. Here are some measures that engineers can take to avoid robot-related accidents.

SEOUL, South Korea—Hyundai Motor is planning to invest $73 billion worldwide over the next four years to develop new vehicles, expand its production capacity and build a new headquarters.

DETROIT—A federal judge in Michigan has dismissed a suit filed last summer by Ford Motor Co. hourly employees who alleged that the United Auto Workers had breached a duty of fair representation.

TULSA, OK—Muncie Power Products Inc. could create 100 new jobs here over the next three to five years. The company makes mobile power equipment for the trucking industry.