WASHINGTON—The Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation announced that its quarterly index of manufacturing activity advanced to 58 in June from 56 in March. It was the second straight quarterly advance after 10 consecutive quarterly declines. For the past 15 quarters, the index has remained above the threshold of 50, the dividing line separating contraction and expansion.
ROCHESTER, NY—Disposable flatware maker Trellis Earth Products is moving its manufacturing operations from China to upstate New York, where it will create 189 jobs. The company will break ground on an $8 million, 80,000-square-foot facility here later this summer.
SOCIAL CIRCLE, GA—The Goodyear tire factory here was raided early Wednesday morning by local law enforcement in search of possible drug activity and illegal immigrants working at the facility.
BEIJING—Chinese manufacturers are increasingly investing in robotics to overcome the challenges of rising labor costs and fierce competition from emerging nations in South and Southeast Asia.
CARLSBAD, CA—Systems integrator Automation GT has built a multistation automated assembly system to make syringes. Designed for use in a Class 10,000 clean room, the system includes robots, vision systems and dispensing equipment.
STONY BROOK, NY—Before the faucet maker RSS Manufacturing & Phylrich installed a machine-tending robot, processing 1,500 units on a tube bender using manual labor would take three days. With the robot, the same job takes four hours.
RSS