Well known for its engineering expertise, The EDAG Group develops vehicles and production systems for auto manufacturers all over the world. In conjunction with FFT EDAG, its sister company, The EDAG Group also creates complete production facilities for body in white modeling and vehicle assembly.

A European consortium called ACOMPLICE (Affordable Composites for Lightweight Car Structures) recently embarked on a two-year program to develop low-cost materials for mainstream automotive applications.

Compliant mechanisms are jointless, elastic structures that reduce costs and simplify product designs. These single-piece flexible structures elastically deform without joints to produce a desired functionality.

Kids have loved robots and toys for generations. The Rodon Group has decided that now is the perfect time for a robot named Baxter to help pack toys in the company’s highly automated manufacturing facility.

RIVERSIDE, MO—Yanfeng USA Automotive Trim Systems, which supplies parts to General Motors and Chrysler, will build a $45 million assembly plant here. The plant will create 263 new jobs.

ATHENS, TN—HP Pelzer Automotive Systems, which makes interior trim parts, plans to invest $28 million in a new 185,000-square-foot assembly plant here. The facility will create 200 jobs.

It has become fashionable lately for some U.S. companies to tout how they’ve reshored production from overseas. Baldor Electric Co. isn’t one of them—it never left. The company has been manufacturing electric motors, drives, bearings and other motion control products in the United States for decades.

Producers of plastic, rubber and composites use Dynisco Inc. melt-pressure and temperature sensors, controls, and analytical instruments to maximize manufacturing efficiency and productivity. Dynisco has served these customers well for more than 50 years, providing leading-edge technology manufactured to ISO 9000 quality standards.

Fabricating and testing optical components is a very detailed process. It begins by grinding a spherical glass blank using ring tools to create a semifinished lens. Next, the lens’ rough surface is rotated and rubbed against a tool having the desired surface shape.

Aircraft Technologies Inc. makes sinks, toilets and other assemblies for airframe manufacturers, completion centers, and maintenance and repair facilities.