PHILADELPHIA—Philadelphia-area manufacturers reported slight increases in business activity in March, according to the latest data from the Federal Reserve Bank here.

DETROIT—GM is planning to invest about $332 million at four of its U.S. powertrain assembly plants to produce new engines and transmissions.

MOBILE, AL—Airbus is looking to hire a manager of health, safety and environment for its new assembly plant under construction here.

BERLIN—Festo Corp. has invented a pneumatic conveyor belt that uses wave action to transport objects in a targeted manner and sort them at the same time.

HENDERSON, KY—Faucet manufacturer Sunspring America Inc. is investing $1.2 million to expand its assembly plant here and add up to 15 new jobs over the next three years.

TORONTO—The Canadian Auto Workers has temporarily suspended negotiations with GM over a new contract for hourly workers at the carmaker’s CAMI assembly plant.

DEARBORN, MI—Ford Motor Co. will expand its 3-Wet paint process to four more plants across three continents in 2013. The high-solids, solvent-borne process applies three layers of paint, including primer, base coat and clear coat, while each layer is still wet.

FORT COLLINS, CO—In an unprecedented package of tax incentives and fee waivers, the city of Fort Collins has offered aerospace supplier Woodward Inc. approximately $23 million to expand its corporate headquarters and assembly plant here.

NEW YORK—Business conditions for New York manufacturers continued to improve modestly in March, according to the latest data from the New York Federal Reserve.

LANCASTER, CA—Chinese automaker Build Your Dreams (BYD) will begin constructing a new assembly plant here next month to produce electric buses.