Automation – Page 236
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ArticleWireless gap measuring for body construction
The new CALIPRI gap measurement device now uses WiFi, plus it has been redesigned to improve the ergonomics says NextSense. The company claims functionality has also been increased through a software update; derivatives of a car line can now be displayed in one measurement plan, and centrally created plans can ...
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ArticlePre-cleaning & final cleaning of powertrain components
Dürr Ecoclean has replaced the standard 6-axis jointed-arm robot with a proprietary scara manipulator in its new EcoCFlex 3, claiming this offers improved process reliability, quality and energy efficiency in pre-cleaning and final cleaning of powertrain components. The system is available in two sizes; 3M and 3L versions. The scara ...
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ArticleBorgWarner grows at Ramos-Arizpe
Mexico – Requiring 350 new employees over the next two years, the expansion will increase capacity for current products as well as the latest generation of emissions technologies. The facility will produce exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) modules, ignition coils and coolant control valves for passenger cars, minivans and light-duty trucks.“Our ...
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ArticleMelhorando fornecimento de peças
Uma iniciativa de £20m de colaboração no Reino Unido busca inovar, desenvolver e fabricar diversos componentes automotivos; AMS deu uma olhada ao redor da recém-inaugurada linha de montagem da Proving Factory em CoventryCoventryCriando um fornecedor automotivo de nível um a partir do zero em apenas dois anos soa como uma ...
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ArticleGênio do Jaguar?
Um novo motor no Centro de Fabricação em Wolverhampton poderia possibilitar o desejo da JLR de fazer 1m de carros por anoA Jaguar está agora fazendo seus próprios motores, pela primeira vez desde meados de 1990, quando o AJ6, AJ16 e V12 foram aposentados. A nova unidade de £500 milhões, ...
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ArticleJLR’s new engine centre opens doors for Union
UK – The Leeds-based company supplied more than 40 high-speed doors for the OEM’s £500m facility in Wolverhampton, which opened earlier this year. A combination of variously sized Ramdoors, Bulldoors, Matadoors and Picadoors were installed.All the doors are activated by radar motion sensors for fully automated operation, plus active infrared ...
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ArticleProdrive produces composites graduates
UK – The 25 apprentices reached level-two NVQ in composite engineering, after completing what Prodrive claims is the largest composite apprenticeship scheme in the country. The newly qualified individuals are now working at the company’s Milton Keynes factory, on programmes including component manufacture for British sports vehicles and supercars.Prodrive says ...
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ArticleMejorando el suministro de piezas
Una nueva alianza de colaboración de 20 millones de libras pretende innovar, desarrollar y producir diversos componentes de automóvil; AMS pudo visitar la nueva instalación de ensamblado de The Proving Factory' en Coventry Crear un proveedor automotriz de primer nivel desde cero en solo unos años parece una tarea ...
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Article¿El genio de Jaguar?
El nuevo centro de producción de motores podría ayudar a alcanzar el objetivo de JLR de fabricar 1 millón de vehículos al añoJaguar está fabricando ahora sus propios motores por primera vez desde mediados de los 90, cuando se retiraron los modelos AJ6, AJ16 y V12. La nueva instalación ha ...
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ArticleLear, TRW and Expert Tooling grow in Sunderland
UK – The three expansions are being completed at Rainton Bridge Industrial Estate, increasing the local automotive manufacturing workforce by 250. More than 100 jobs will be created at Lear, 130 at TRW and 25 at Expert Tooling.The 3,500 sq. m expansion at Lear, which established its first UK site ...
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ArticleSkoda expands further at Kvasiny
Czech Republic – The plant and surrounding public infrastructure are to be modernised and expanded over the next three years, after the OEM signed a memorandum of cooperation with the government and the Hradec Králové authorities.Skoda will invest 7.2 billion CZK ($298m) in the Kvasiny site by 2018, boosting capacity ...
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ArticleVolvo restructures senior management
Sweden – The OEM has created three new business regions, each led by a senior vice-president (SVP) and member of the executive management team. Each of the three SVPs will have total operational responsibility for his region. Volvo Cars has also established an SVP role for its chief information officer.Encompassing ...
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ArticleGKN Driveline triples Chongqing capacity
China – At a cost of 300m yuan ($48m), the joint venture between GKN HUAYU Driveline Systems (SDS) and China Changan Automobile Group has expanded the plant by 129,000 sq. ft to 258,000 sq. ft, raising its capacity for sideshafts to 2.1m per annum.The expansion, which took one year to ...
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ArticleComposites are coming
This year’s JEC Europe show highlighted the rapid progress of composites development and productionThe automotive industry’s interest in composites shows no sign of waning; March 2015 saw two leading German OEMs positioning themselves to secure their futures with these lightweight materials. Far from resting on its laurels as the only ...
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ArticleAdams joins EC Harris’ automotive division
UK – The built asset and design consultancy company is hoping to benefit from Paul Adams’ 15 years of experience in the sector, during which he has developed relationships with carmakers and taken part in a number of significant projects.Adams joins EC Harris from Turner & Townsend. He previously built ...
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ArticleMercedes marches on
The brand's global production footprint has grown substantially in recent years, including the US and ChinaIn recent years, the manufacturing geography of Mercedes-Benz has expanded in a major way outside Germany; it first moved into the US in the mid-1990s, since when it has also expanded its small operation in ...
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ArticleImproving parts supply
A £20m, collaborative venture in the UK seeks to innovate, develop and manufacture diverse automotive components; AMS took a look around The Proving Factory's newly opened assembly facility in CoventryCreating a tier one automotive supplier from scratch in just a couple of years sounds like a tough task already, but ...
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Article改进零部件供应
英国一家斥资2,000万英镑的合作企业正在寻求创新、开发和制造多种汽车组件的方法；AMS参观了Proving Factory日前在Coventry新开设的装配厂。在几年之内重头开始创建汽车一级供应商听起来已经让人望而却步，但是竟然有人完成了更加匪夷所思的事：首先，从各种设计来源中制造大约20个设备；然后，成为制造高创新产品的小公司，继而转变成支持低碳汽车的制造商，进入行业主流。 这个商务计划，现在已经变成现实，这就是Proving Factory。该企业斥资2,000万英镑，2013年初开始正式启动，从小型英国公司里开发产品创意，然后大量制造 — 每年大约20,000件 — 或者引起成熟的一级供应商的兴趣并接管产品，或者让原来的技术开发者独自继续。事实上，首席执行官Richard Bruges评论说，“整个业务都是要公司走出大门”，对产品也是一样。 Bruges对今年2月份在Coventry（这里是英国汽车行业的传统中心）市郊开设Proving Factory装配厂做出评论。起初与南约克郡Rotherham的制造厂合作，从去年10月份开始运行，并且合作成立汽车制造企业，这可能是世界上独一无二的。 但是一个工厂如何组织开发这样一个未知的领域呢？有一点，他们绝不把自己看成一个仅仅是制造各种产品的机械加工车间。Rotherham组件制造总监Nick Andrew强调说，他们将自己的制造工艺与一个产品开发初期阶段相结合，并进行优化，获得最大的商业成功机会。灵活至极的Factory Rotherham工厂由1,000平方米的温控空间构成，里面有4个生产设备的主要成品：两个加工中心、一个通用研磨机和铣机，加上适当的坐标测量设备。Andrew说，这种组合能产生极大的灵活性，比如，能执行“铣车床类型”操作，还能加工齿轮和螺旋齿。操作的灵活性就需要调节高变异水平的生产量和成熟的产品设计。这是因为要同时要满足OEM客户大量的零部件需求，以及产品的成型操作——不仅是在初始阶段，而且在持续阶段都要如此，因为企业的一个基本目标就是要不断产出新技术开发商和产品。 制造作业过程涉及范围相当广的组件，比如外壳、轴、叶轮、轴承外壳和齿轮。材料主要采用钢，但是也会采用镍合金和铝，最终是使用钛合金。铸铁在这里无用武之地，因为产生的切屑会对机床的冷却液过滤系统造成损坏。 在制造开始之前，所有产品都进入集中分析修整阶段，为量产进行优化处理。Andrew说，对刚开始的6个产品来说，技术开发商进行了一系列的设计回顾研讨，有一套原型零件、一个CAD文件和一个材料清单；材料选择、零部件制造和装配程序都做了仔细检查。他发现，与小公司原型零件打交道有一个共性，就是过分细化材料选择，来保证产品足够给力 — 这样的产品在投入生产之后就会产生负成本。"我们放眼四周，但是没发现比这个更好的"– Nick Andrew, The Proving Factory武装供应商因此，Proving Factory工厂理念的另一个主要特点就是，中央机构会组织一个适当的供应链。由于该企业的合作方是材料供应商 — 塔塔特种钢铁公司，因此，一开始就非常高效。对一系列不相干的产品，从不同的来源进行加强设计与制造，造就了Proving Factory自己的商务模式。Andrew说，在企业规划开始实施时，“我们放眼四周，但是没有发现比这个更好的了。” Andrew强调说，设计审查过程的一个方面就是，每个产品都要经过独一无二的评估；尽管零部件和材料的基本原理都很相似，存在一定程度上的共性，但是我们从没想过要同类化。举例来说，所有的产品都有转轴。但是，我们没想过要将他们安到某一套制造程序上。他肯定地说，“谁也不知道我们能通过设计审查会得到什么。” 这些机器已经是工作中的中流砥柱了。2015年初，Rotherham工厂每星期实施5班制，前置时间是5个星期。此外，为了在持续发展中有足够的技术人员，就收了很多学徒，导致有一打的经理和机床工人都超员；此刻，有8名学徒已经入行第二年，有5名学徒是第一年。 Coverntry的工厂的起步要比Rotherham晚些，但是Converntry的工厂在全世界范围内处于前段。据营运总监Simon Danks说，“我们在这里还要接收来自原始设备制造商的订单，因此，我们需要在一开始就与技术开发商建立联系。”实现每一个创意 在Conventry有一个非常重要的资源，就是主要装配区域旁边的一个貌不惊人的小屋，被人们称作“产品实现中心”。Danks说，这里就是为某个产品开发装配程序的地方，让产品为了能够进行量产，获得足够的可靠性和效率。他指出，技术开发商本身很可能对一大堆原型进行“试验水平”的装配。这就需要Proving Factory人力资源与技术开发者的合作介入：“我们喜欢他们的人过来，这样我们就能知道他们所遇到的问题。” 这种方法会一直持续到创意投入到生产中。Danks说，来自一家开创产品的技术开发商的4名员工，在颁发通行证之后进入大楼，得到与Proving Factory员工同等的待遇。他说，“我们在大楼里设计了一个合作工作空间。”因为开发商并不一定具备汽车业的经历，所以需要很多Proving Factory的人员来这么做。Danks本人曾在汽车保险杠制造公司Concentric，以及汽车制造商与贸易协会(SMMT)工作过。Conventry的主要操作区域将最终分为一系列装配单元，每个都分得少量产品，产品拥有相同的基本技术特性。单元和产品的数量取决于技术开发商的需要，产品已经改进，进入制造阶段。一旦计划全面投产开工，就可以随时一次生产两位数的产品。目前，有3家技术开发商被公认为走在最前端。 他们是：Bladon Jets，该公司已经开发了一个微型气涡轮机，可以作为电动车的増程发动机，这有可能会冲击第三世界国家的发电机设备；Flybrid Automotive，公司拥有以飞轮为基础的动能回收系统；以及Magnomatics，开发了一个能持续变换的磁力传动系统，称为Magsplit，以及一个电动车概念。Magnomatics公司首席执行官David Latimer对“为制造而设计的回馈”评价说“非常强大”，这项技术已经帮助公司与3家原始设备制造商签订合同。 然而，Danks承认说，The Proving Factory的产量永远不会走向投资自动化装配设备，与许多一级供应商相比，人工操作更占优势。虽然如此，他还是说，自动化也许会成为服务“保护程序”的一个方法，比如，在处理磁性原件时，或者需要重复性高精确操作的地方，人工操作可能会占劣势。 另一个与广泛行业惯例有明显差距的是，Conventry装配生产的各种不同产品。这不是不可避免，但是对整个企业来说是本质的、固有的，因此，这就要求尽可能确定能在产品领域普及的主要科技。其中一个就是线圈绕组。Danks说，“我们必须决定是否要购买现成的线圈，还是我们自己完成。” 在进步的道路上Danks认为，工厂总体来说可定需要重要的厂内工程资源。因此，公司正要补充26名员工，全年的重点就是招兵买马，引进“研究生水平”的新人。
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ArticleGM cuts back its Russian operations
Russia – In the year it was supposed to be making 230,000 vehicles, GM Auto in St Petersburg will idle by mid-2015. The contract assembly of Chevrolet vehicles at GAZ will be discontinued around the same time, while the Opel brand will leave the market by December. GM says it ...
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WebinarA cost-efficient solution to car body engineering: martensitic cold forming grades.
If you are responsible for car body safety details, SSAB understands your need to reduce weight in a cost-efficient way. SSAB has a depth of experience working with martensitic steel grades. The webinar focused on common questions such as: How can the use of martensitic steel grades help cost-efficiency? ...