SANTA CLARA, CA—Andy Grove, the brilliant Hungarian-born former chief executive and chairman of chip-making colossus Intel, and one of Silicon Valley's most revered business leaders, died Monday at the age of 79.

CHIPPEWA FALLS, WI—Cray Inc. plans to invest more than $20 million to build a new assembly plant here.

MOBILE, AL—The first Airbus jet assembled in the United States has flown for the first time. The A321, destined for JetBlue, took off from the Mobile Aeroplex March 21 at 9:36 a.m., performed its test sequences, and landed safely at 1:02 p.m.

CUPERTINO, CA—Apple Inc. has developed a large-scale robotic line to disassemble returned iPhones. The line’s 29 free-standing robotic arms remove SIM card trays, screws, batteries, cameras and other parts for recycling.

EVANSVILLE, IN—Systems integrator Evana Automation has received a contract to design and build an automated assembly and packaging system for a three-piece IV connector. The high-speed system will produce the connectors at a rate of 0.43-second per part.

CHARLOTTE, MI—Spartan Motors will build a new assembly plant at its headquarters here next year—an expansion that’s expected to create an estimated 55 new jobs. The 85,000-square-foot facility will make diesel delivery trucks.

BUFFALO, NY—SolarCity’s sprawling assembly plant here is nearing completion and will soon begin producing some of the most efficient solar panels available commercially. Capable of making 10,000 solar panels a day, or 1 gigawatt of solar capacity a year, it will be the largest solar manufacturing plant in North America and one of the biggest in the world.

STERLING HEIGHTS, MI—Due to low demand for compact cars in the U.S., Fiat Chrysler will keep its assembly plant here idle for another three weeks. FCA initially planned to stop production at the plant, which makes the Chrysler 200, from Feb. 1 to March 15, but the carmaker will now extend the break until April 4.

WIXOM, MI—Acromag Inc., a manufacturer of electronic monitoring and control products, has formed a new electronics manufacturing services division here.

TOULOUSE, France—Airbus is expanding its use of Ubisense RFID systems at its A350 final assembly line here.