MORAINE, OH—GM and Isuzu are looking to hire 150 new workers for their joint-venture DMAX engine assembly plant here to meet increased demand for diesel truck engines.
VONORE, TN—JTEKT Automotive Tennessee, which manufactures steering components, will invest $218.5 million to expand its assembly plant here, creating 50 jobs.
TOKYO—Toyota Motor Corp. will suspend vehicle production in Japan for six days this month due to a shortage of parts. The shortage stems from a Jan. 8 explosion at an Aichi Steel Corp. manufacturing plant.
DETROIT—Working with robotics manufacturer FANUC, networking giant Cisco, and hardware maker Rockwell Automation, GM has installed a “mother brain” at its Lake Orion assembly plant. The system accepts data flowing to and from robots, conveyors, temperature sensors and other devices and sends that information to a cloud network. That enables plant managers and supplier technicians to monitor assembly technology and prevent mishaps.
Accurate and timely performance data is just as important to manufacturers as the latest welding technology, super-strong adhesive or unique-thread fastener.
Transmission manufacturing requires several high-precision tasks. This is not news to Škoda Auto, a Czech automobile manufacturer founded in 1895 as Laurin & Klement.
DEARBORN, MI—Some 52,700 UAW workers will get an average profit-sharing bonus of $9,300 in March, following the Ford Motor Co.’s announcement that it earned a record $7.4 billion profit in 2015.