SPARTANBURG, SC—Workers at BMW’s automotive assembly plant here are testing an electromechanical exoskeletal vest designed to reduce muscular strain related to performing overhead work.

BOWLING GREEN, KY—General Motors Corp. will invest $290 million in its Corvette assembly plant here to fund a series of upgrades at the facility.

ANN ARBOR, MI—Foxconn vice president Chia Day has won 2016 Engelberger Robotics Award for automating electronics assembly at the contract manufacturer’s electronics factories in China.

The United Auto Workers said Wednesday an unfair labor practice strike will be held beginning Monday against Sakthi Automotive Group USA, an India-based automotive supplier of safety components that recently expanded in Detroit.

RENTON, WA—Boeing has added a new robotic system to its 737 factory here to automate the process of drilling holes and installing bolts in wing spars.

LOS ANGELES—The Obama Administration will locate its ninth U.S. manufacturing hub here. The Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute will bring together a consortium of nearly 200 partners from across academia, industry and nonprofits to spur advances in smart sensors and digital process controls to improve the efficiency of U.S. manufacturing.

MUNICH—Some 248,000 industrial robots were purchased worldwide in 2015, a record high and a 12 percent increase from 2014. Global sales of robots have increased four-fold since 2009.

PHOENIX—Dexcom is building a new assembly plant here to produce glucose monitoring devices. The 180,000-square-foot is expected to begin operation in 2017 and employ more than 500 people.

TOLEDO, OH—Dana Holding Corp. is planning to open a $70 million axle assembly plant here. The factory will employ at least 300 people and will make axles for the next generation of Jeep Wranglers.

FLINT, MI—GM plans to move some production of light-duty pickups next year from Silao, Mexico, to its assembly plant here.