DONGGUAN, CHINA—The Changying Precision Technology Co., which focuses on producing mobile phones and automated production lines, used to employ around 650 employees. Today, it has about 60 employees as a result of replacing nearly 90 percent of its human workforce with machines.
DETROIT——Ford Motor Co. last month announced that it was canceling plans to build a $1.6-billion small-car assembly plant in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. But, the automaker is still going ahead with plans to open two other new plants in the country: a $1.1-billion engine plant in Chihuahua, and a $1.2-billion transmission facility in Guanajuato. Both are planned to become operational later this year, supplying engines and transmissions for the US, South America, Europe and Asia.
WASHINGTON, DC——A Border Adjustment Tax sounds innocuous, but executives of major retailers warn that a 20 percent import tax would punish American consumers by raising the prices of electronics and other goods manufactured abroad.
JACKSON, MN—About 100 employees at AGCO’s agricultural equipment factory here are using Google Glass to perform quality checks and access assembly instructions.
DURHAM, NC—Manufacturing jobs at automotive suppliers have risen nearly 19 percent in the United States since 2012, according to a study released today by the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA). More than 871,000 Americans are directly employed by the automotive parts manufacturing industry. This number, which is up from 734,000 in 2012, represents 2.9 percent of total U.S. jobs and 2.4 percent of U.S. gross domestic product.
AUBURN HILLS, MI—ABB Robotics is planning to invest $9.1 million in new equipment and expansion of its North American headquarters facility here. The investment is expected to create 40 jobs.
DAYTON, TN—La-Z-Boy Inc. plans to invest approximately $26 million over a three-year period in its assembly plant here. The facility, which won ASSEMBLY magazine’s 2013 Assembly Plant of the year, employs some 1,400 people.
MUNCIE, IN--President Donald Trump focused a large part of his campaign on the fragile state of American manufacturing, vowing to bring those lost jobs back stateside. However, a new Ball State University study suggests that outsourcing accounts for only a small fraction of the 5 million manufacturing job cuts in the past 16 years.
MESA, AZ--Apple Inc. is seeking permission to conduct high-tech manufacturing and to build data-center server gear in a facility here, according to a notice published last week by the US federal government. A notification published in the Federal Register on Jan. 16 said Apple was looking for approval from the Foreign-Trade Zones Board to produce "finished products" in a special zone that exempts it from customs duty payments.
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