Automation – Page 113
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ArticleGaining PACE!
Groupe PSA’s acquisition of GM’s loss-making European operations raised a few eyebrows. Ian Henry looks at the plan to turn around the Opel/Vauxhall brandsAfter several months of due diligence, the deal was completed on August 1, 2017. Come early November, a new strategy, PACE!, was announced. Having been making a ...
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ArticleA little goes a long way
Gareth Price visits Groupe PSA's plant at Mangualde, Portugal – a factory with a famous 2CV heritage but a secure LCV futureEarlier this year, Groupe PSA announced its plant in Mangualde, northern Portugal, would take on a third shift for its Peugeot Partner and Citroën Berlingo production lines. The move ...
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Article
四两拨千斤
Gareth Price采访葡萄牙曼瓜尔德PSA集团工厂 — 一家拥继承了2CV传统却拓展轻型商用车未来的工厂今年早些时候。PSA公司宣布，在葡萄牙北部曼瓜尔德工厂的Peugeot Partner和Citroën Berlingo生产线上增加第三班。这是因为市场对轻型商用车的需求非常强大。2017年，曼瓜尔德工厂制造了大约53,000辆汽车（比之前12个月增长了7.8%），从而使集团的总产量达到476,500辆汽车 — 成为PSA轻型商用车生产史上的创记录的一年。曼瓜尔德原来的计划是到2018年底为止增加第三班生产，但是计划发生了变化，而且已经开始实行。曼瓜尔德工厂厂长José Maria Castro Covelo说，“因此2017年是B9车型生产最后一年 — 今年我们推出K9汽车。我们没想过去年是B9汽车表现最好的一年，完全超出了我们的预期。”本来PSA比戈工厂（位于曼瓜尔德以北280公里，跨越了西班牙边境）会一直生产该车，但是后来决定在曼瓜尔德生产，因此产量就比较大。新的版本目前一斤刚进入预销售生产阶段。据Covelo称，10月份率先在法国和德国销售，从明年1月份开始就逐步进入各大市场。"PSA 的生产距离客户更近，而且小规模工厂的数量也在增加。曼瓜尔德成为这些工厂学习的模板" - José Maria Castro Covelo, PSA小规模专家团队曼瓜尔德的生产寿终正寝，因为工厂的规模较小，而且距离比戈非常近。比戈工厂算是该地区的老大哥，年产量超过400,000辆。马德里C4 Cactus生产线是PSA集团在伊比利亚工业区里第三大生产基地。曼瓜尔德在集团中的作用就是让整体实力倒退50年。该厂在1990年的时候开始生产2CV，标记性建筑就是工厂周围有一个特殊设计的运行环线。毗邻的环线是为Citroën DS设计的，在当地名称是Boca de Sapo（青蛙嘴）。这里有一个全尺寸花岗岩雕塑，纪念曼瓜尔德从1966年到1975年间生产的车型。自二十世纪九十年代以来，轻型商用车就是工厂的支柱。目前生产的车型主要是EMP2紧凑型厢式货车，生产量一直很高，产品非常成功。转型生产新款K9车型，工厂就能自给自足了，而且有机会发挥更大的作用。Covelo说，“对目前的B9汽车而言，我们得到比戈大约50个车型，但是对K9来说，我们是首次生产后门。”除了原有的电焊和MIG焊接技术之外，曼瓜尔德新车体将使用激光焊接术，对于这个规模产量的工厂来说，此举非同凡响。Covelo解释说，“我们采用激光焊接。通常来说，激光焊接需要一个大型的封闭式驾驶舱。这种驾驶舱需要200-300万欧元（约合230-34-万美元），但是我非常自豪地说，我们的测试方案不仅是创新性的，而且比普通的方案成本还要低。”由于曼瓜尔德工厂是“集团旗下最小的工厂”，因此被认为是价值链上最有用的技术保温箱，Covelo非常引以为豪。他说，“这是曼瓜尔德工厂的基因所在 — 我们创造了他，而且节约了一半的成本。这是曼瓜尔德的一个而重要特点。”工厂与公司关系名密切而广泛，而且自从轻型商用车时代开启以来，为公司做出了很大贡献。Covelo还出，曼瓜尔德工厂过去非常艰难，集团里也没有参考，因为每个小时生产12-15辆汽车，这个数量是在太少。Covelo非常自豪地说，“今天，公司已经发生了巨大变化。自过去的四五年里，PSA逐步实现全球化，我们的生产距离客户越来越近，而且我们的小规模工厂越来越多。这些工厂都已曼瓜尔德作为模板。曼瓜尔德成为集团里小规模生产的代表，而且我们得到很多专家帮助，他们是来学习的，也是来改进我们的方案。”协作与转型工厂的改进与发展，要感谢与葡萄牙政府与学术机构的合作，以及工业4.0技术。曼瓜尔德2020规划就是要采用冲压线自动化存储技术，机器视觉质量管理，协作机器人，以及自动导引车全套装备系统。Covelo对该计划评论称：“我们去年在制定曼瓜尔德2020规划的时候，首先做的就是认定工厂里的工业建筑。物流占据两层，都是非成品装备。我们的头一枪就是改进工业建筑。“另一点就是K9，这是一个现代化新平台，在不就得将来就能满足混合动力、电动车的需求。”Covelo认为曼瓜尔德2020规划是工厂的重要转变，而且他对这种快速流程非常乐观，这主要基于工厂长期以来的实力。有人常说四两拨千斤。进入基础设施与技术转型阶段之后，曼瓜尔德团队在LCV领域风生水起。他们完美诠释了改进工厂经营以及PSA集团的成功历程。
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ArticleTesla 'on track' with 3 production
The mass production of electric vehicles (EVs) could have enormous impacts on the automotive industry. With economies of scale comes cost reduction - and the high upfront price of models currently on the market has been slated as one of the most influential factors on their low uptake to date.Tesla ...
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ArticleVW starts assembly in Kigali
Rwanda - The OEM has unveiled plans to expand its activities in Africa. As well as launching an app-based car- and ride-sharing scheme, it has started assembling the latest generations of its Polo and Passat models at a facility in Kigali - Rwanda's capital city."Rwanda has great potential," noted Thomas ...
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ArticleRobot mounted ultrasonics
Telsonic says its ultrasonic modules and systems are designed to be applied in a number of ways. The company offers the example of mounting a Telsonic converter and sonotrode arrangement to a robot wrist.The robot-mounted system incorporates ambient and chilled air-cooling to allow repetitive welding on polymer materials and says ...
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ArticleUniversal compliance compensator
The new U1-050 Universal Compliance Compensator from ATI Industrial Automation is said to combine a variety of features making it adaptable to tasks such as automated assembly, bin picking, loading and unloading machines and robotic finishing.The company claims the unit’s mechanism is suitable for high-endurance applications and offers simultaneous X-Y ...
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ArticleSimulation-driven design software
Altair has released its Inspire 2018 simulation-driven design software. The company says features of this new version include generating optimised lattice and mixed solid structures, visualising simulation results in 3D and exporting lattice designs in .stl file format for 3D printing.Other new features include design for additive manufacturing with overhang ...
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ArticleCooper Standard builds rubber facility
Mexico - The company has started building a new rubber mixing facility in Aguascalientes. The plant represents an investment of US$11m, covers an area of 100,000 sq. ft, and will employ around 100 people when operating at full capacity."The opening of our new in-house mixing facility in Mexico is an ...
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Article
Manipulation of heavy workpieces
Roemheld says the articulated arms on its new Centrick manipulator allow workpieces of any shape weighing up to 2 tonnes to be continuously rotated and tilted by up to 90°.The company claims this latest addition to the Modulog range is ergonomic and space saving, and it moves components close to ...
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ArticleAAM builds new powertrain plant
Spain - American Axle & Manufacturing (AAM) has started construction of a new 15,000 sq.m facility in Viladecans - a town located 20km southwest of Barcelona. The company says it will house the production of powertrain components for several car makers, such as Renault, BMW, Daimler, Porsche, Audi and Ford.“As ...
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ArticleBandsaw for additive manufacturing
The KASTOwin amc automatic bandsaw has been designed to increase productivity in the additive manufacturing sector, claims Kasto. The company says this saw incorporates a 180° turning device that allows 3D-printed parts on their build platform to be inverted so that the components fall into a container after they have ...
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ArticleThe best of our Ability
A solution portfolio for automating and digitising paint lines, ABB Ability solutions for paint provide car manufacturers with a leaner operation with greater precision and earlier fault detectionToday’s automotive production is characterised by short product life cycles as well as a multitude of models and variants, which are manufactured on ...
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ArticleStay in control
Manufacturers face many risks – safety hazards, poor quality, disrupted cycles – leading to loss in time, money and reputationThroughout the years, automotive manufacturers and integrators were introduced to numerous systems to reduce risk, ensure quality, operate at high production levels, and reduce costs while maximising return on investment and ...
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ArticleTwo-stage, VCR connecting rod
The FEV Group and Hilite International are partnering to develop and manufacture a two-stage, variable compression ratio (VCR) connecting rod. The partners say the goal of this collaboration is to leverage synergies in the development of the product and devise a cost-efficient solution for serial production.The VCR technology meets the ...
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ArticleLight curing adhesive for hard to bond plastics
Panacol says it has developed a new light curing adhesive (Vitralit UV 4802) for the purpose of bonding high temperature resistant thermoplastics, such as Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) with other non-compatible materials.The company says this light curing adhesive based on acrylate resin, which it’s claimed offers excellent adhesion to many plastics such ...
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ArticleNew compact robot series
Fanuc says its compact, general purpose robots are suited to smaller, narrow work spaces and top-mount applications. The company claims its M10iD/12 model is an easy-to-install robot solution for factories and production lines, particularly those with limited floor space.Features include hollow arm, wrist and body, which allow cables and hose ...
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ArticleWater based cleaning systems
For water-based part cleaning processes, Ecoclean says it offers an extensive range of both standard cleaning systems and customer-specific designs. The company’s EcoCflex 3 features the Scara manipulator, which it says has been developed specifically for use in cleaning equipment, replacing the conventional adapted six-axis articulated arm robot. Made with ...
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ArticleGantry-type machining centre
The DMU 340 Gantry has a one-piece, thermo-symmetrical EN-GJS-600 cast iron machine bed featuring cooling for rigidity and accuracy, claims DMG Mori. Working volume is 3,400 x 2,800 x 1,250mm, expandable to 6,000mm in the X-axis and 1,500mm in Z.The company claims the standard machine version with 4,400 x 2,700mm ...
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ArticleReady to roll
The design and manufacturing of tyres is changing with the introduction of new processes. Michael Nash reportsTyre manufacturing processes have been relatively standardised across the automotive industry for many years. Chemicals are mixed with natural rubber to form numerous components, which are then pieced together on a drum before being ...