EVANSVILLE, IN—Systems integrator Evana Automation recently received a contract from a Tier 1 automotive supplier to provide a multistation system to assemble and test a lane departure warning system.
LONG BEACH, CA—Mercedes-Benz has leased the long-vacant former Boeing aircraft manufacturing facility here. The luxury carmaker has yet to reveal its plans for the site.
DEARBORN, MI—Ford is introducing a new technology that promises to decrease costs and delivery time for manufacturing sheet metal parts. Under the process, a piece of sheet metal is clamped around its edges and formed into a 3D shape by two stylus-type tools working together on opposite sides of the sheet.
WASHINGTON—The purchasing managers index for manufacturing rose to 50.9 in June, up 1.9 points from May. According to the Institute for Supply Management, a PMI reading above 50 indicates expansion, while one below reflects contraction.
SWAN ISLAND, OR—Union workers at Daimler’s truck assembly plant here have gone on strike after rejecting a $1.30 per hour pay raise. The union had been seeking a $1.95 increase.
In The Great Gatsby, the central character is captivated by a green navigational beacon off in the distance that gives him eternal hope. Although Jay Gatsby wasn’t thinking about assembly lines, manufacturing has a similar green light and assemblers are equally optimistic these days.