TORONTO—Bombardier’s business jet assembly plant here uses a state-of-the-art automated positioning system to move the wing structure into place for joining with the fuselage. The system uses laser-guided measuring to ensure components of the aircraft are joined consistently and perfectly each time.
ALCOA, TN—Advanced Munitions International will invest $553 million to build a new headquarters and ammunition assembly plant here. The facility is expected to create 605 new jobs.
DETROIT—The four-year labor agreement between the UAW and General Motors suffered a setback in early voting Saturday as workers at the Fairfax plant in Kansas City, KS, rejected it by a wide margin, but a strong majority of workers at one of two Lansing, MI, assembly plants approved it.
OTTAWA, OH—Whirlpool’s freezer assembly plant here is an example of having an opportunity and making the most of it. The appliance manufacturer bought the factory in 2009 after its previous owner, W.C. Wood, shut it down and laid off the workforce.
HORICON, WI—Deere & Co. has begun construction of a $35 million project to add 300,000 square feet to its assembly plant here, which makes riding mowers and other products. The expansion is expected to create 50 to 75 jobs.
BUFFALO, NY—SolarCity has pledged to hire another 1,500 workers in the next decade at its solar panel manufacturing plant under construction here. That would be on top of the 3,000 the company hopes to hire when the plant begins production.
DETROIT — General Motors and the United Auto Workers reached a tentative agreement on a new four-year labor deal Sunday, only minutes before a midnight strike deadline.
ANN ARBOR, MI—Robot orders and shipments in North America set new records in the first nine months of 2015, according to Robotic Industries Association. A total of 22,427 robots valued at $1.3 billion were ordered from North American companies in the first nine months of 2015, an increase of 6 percent in units and 9 percent in dollars over the same period in 2014.