BOONVILLE, MO—Kawasaki Motors has opened a new assembly plant here. The plant currently has one assembly line, but expects to add a second in July and two more next fall. Even with one assembly line, the plant employs some 80 people and turns out 1,200 engines for lawnmowers and other equipment per day.

TOKYO—Kawasaki Heavy Industries is aiming to achieve carbon neutrality at its domestic factories and offices in 2030 by using electricity generated by a 100-megawatt hydrogen-fueled power plant it plans to build.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, IL—Automation equipment manufacturer Omron Automation Americas has opened a new proof-of-concept center near the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, where integrators and manufacturers can develop and test automation before assembly-line implementation.

MOLINE, IL—Union workers at Deere & Co. would get wage increases of 10 percent in the first year and 5 percent each in the third and fifth years under a tentative contract reached between the farm-equipment maker and the United Auto Workers union.

CARLSBAD, CA—Machine Builder and integrator MiQ Partners is expanding its production space here by 17,000 square feet to meet the increasing automation needs of west coast manufacturers in many industries.

MOLINE, IL—More than 10,000 workers at 14 different Deere & Co. locations are on strike after the United Auto Workers union said it was unable to reach a new contract with the tractor company.

MOLINE, IL—United Auto Workers union members appear to be heading closer to a strike Oct. 12 after rejecting a contract offer from Deere & Co. over the weekend that would have given at least 5 percent raises to staff that build John Deere tractors and other equipment.