MORRISTOWN, TN—A Belgian company that makes buses and industrial vehicles will invest $47 million to build its first assembly plant here, a move expected to create nearly 640 jobs in five years.
KILDEER, IL—Thanks to reshoring and foreign direct investment, the United States gained more than 170,000 manufacturing jobs in 2017, according to the latest data from the Reshoring Institute.
FREMONT, CA—Tesla Inc. has temporarily suspended production of the Model 3 sedan at its assembly plant here in what the company said on Monday was a planned production pause. It was the second time since February that Tesla has temporarily shut down assembly of the Model 3.
SAN DIEGO--Boeing, through its subsidiary Tapestry Solutions, announced Monday that its Enterprise Sensor Integration (ESI) software platform has gone live at BAE Systems' Nashua, NH, facility. The rollout of Tapestry's ESI is part of BAE Systems' large-scale effort to standardize and automate the infrastructure for its manufacturing operations.
SAN FRANCISCO--The battle for the midsized, middle-class electric car market is revving up as high-tech upstart Tesla scrambles to get its Model 3 out to buyers in the face of strong competition from Detroit mainstay General Motors, reports Seeker. Deliveries of the GM-produced Chevy Bolt have increased significantly, while Tesla continues to deal with persistent production delays.
LANCASTER, CA--Electric vehicle manufacturer BYD announced this week another expansion to its electric bus and battery module factory here. The expansion will add 100,000 square feet to the facility when it comes online at the end of June. It will be used to store parts and components for BYD’s products, freeing up manufacturing space and allowing for better use of the space in its primary manufacturing building.
LONG BEACH, CA--Last Sunday night, Elon Musk shared a photo of the tooling that will be used to make carbon-fiber composites for the SpaceX Big Falcon Rocket (BFR) spaceship, reports Ars Technica. SpaceX intends to manufacture the BFR components near its Hawthorne, CA, headquarters for easy shipping to test sites and launch pads.
BIRMINGHAM, AL--Alabama’s auto sector has taken off in the past 20 years. From next to nothing, it has become the fifth-largest state for auto manufacturing, fueled by German and Asian carmakers, and it's growing. With new jobs coming, analysts expect Alabama to move up in state auto manufacturing rankings in coming years.
WASHINGTON--The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, reported Monday that its manufacturing index slipped to 59.3 last month from February's reading of 60.8, which had been the highest since 2004. Any score above 50 signals growth.
NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, U.K.—Engineers at Newcastle University here are studying how the 3D vision used by praying mantises could lead to simpler visual processing systems in robots. They recently equipped insects with miniature glasses that were temporarily glued on with beeswax.
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