DELANO, MN—Contract manufacturer Solar Plastics LLC says that it is expanding its manufacturing capabilities into Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, and will begin operations at a new plant there by the end of 2021.

HUNTSVILLE, AL—Northrop Grumman Corp. has renovated and opened an assembly facility here to support the U.S. Air Force’s Ground Based Strategic Deterrent program.

PALMDALE, CA—NASA has released a time-lapse video showing the progress Lockheed Martin (LM) has made in building NASA's X-59 QueSST test aircraft at LM's Skunk Works factory here.

ZURICH—Researchers from the Complex Materials Group at ETH Zurich university have developed a lightweight composite material that changes color as soon as it is deformed. The result of this color change, in effect, is the material inspects itself.

FLORHAM PARK, NJ—Emerson is donating regulators to students in the Texas Rocket Engineering Laboratory at The University of Texas for use in its Halycon bipropellant liquid propulsion rocket, hoping to set a new height record.

PARIS—Nine French software companies focused on Industry 4.0 have joined together to create The Industrial Alliance Consortium, designed to help manufacturers efficiently digitalize their factories and build the Industry of the Future.

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.

MASCOUTAH, IL—Boeing will invest $200 million to build a 291,000-square-foot assembly plant here. The project is expected to create 300 jobs.

AMSTERDAM—Stellantis and LG Energy Solution are forming a joint venture to assemble battery cells and modules for North America.

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.