Automation – Page 90
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ArticleHonda closure deals blow to UK
Honda has announced plans to close its Swindon plant at the end of the current model’s production lifecycle in 2021. The statement, which was published on the company’s website, refers to the changing nature of the global auto industry and Honda’s “commitment to electrified cars” as the main reasons behind ...
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ArticleProducción personalizada
James Bakewell informa sobre el uso creciente de piezas de producción aditiva en BMW tanto para la personalización de vehículos como para las aplicaciones de personalización y producción en serieEn 2006, cuando Dominik Rietzel finalizaba su tesis en la universidad su profesor le pregunto si quería realizar un doctorado en ...
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Article
El voto de confianza del modelo Corolla
La renovación y las inversiones en Burnaston permiten a Toyota comenzar con la producción del nuevo Corolla en el Reino Unido a pesar de la inestabilidad del BrexitEl secretario de estado británico para el comercio Greg Clark y el embajador japonés Koji Tsuruoka se sumaron a las autoridades locales, directores ...
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ArticleVW sets out Wolfsburg upgrade
Germany - New bodyshop AGVs, more automated assembly stations and a series of ergonomic measures will feature in a major upgrade at Volkswagen’s Wolfsburg plant Announcing the new programme of improvements at this month’s site symposium, VW said that the changes will improve productivity at the Wolfsburg plant and will ...
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Article
卡罗拉的信心
尽管英国退欧引发了诸多动荡，但丰田Burnaston却进行升级和投资，计划在英国生产新款卡罗拉(Corolla)今年1月，英国商务大臣格雷格·克拉克(Greg Clark)和直言不讳的日本驻英国大使鹤冈浩二(Koji Tsuruoka)与当地政要、商界领袖以及丰田高管一道，正式开始生产全新的丰田花冠(Corolla)。在英国汽车生产取得这一重大进展的同时，围绕英国即将被否决的退欧协议以及这对英国退欧意味着什么的辩论，震动了英国的政治体系。对丰田而言，这意味着它将开始生产一款对其欧洲计划至关重要的新车型。而与此同时，英国汽车生产正可悲地面临前所未有的变化和不确定性。格雷格克拉克(Greg Clark)将这项新投资形容为“(英国)自豪的制造业传统证明”。丰田欧洲总裁约翰范齐尔(Johan van Zyl)对工厂“高素质的员工”赞不绝口，并强调新车型将“在(丰田的)欧洲市场雄心中发挥关键作用”。"英国工厂的几个区域已经升级，以促进卡罗拉的推出，包括铝冲压能力的引入，新的塑料零件喷涂生产线，以及在工厂内安装更多的机器人。"硬退欧负面情绪笼罩着整个行业，因为它很可能导致对成品汽车征收10%的关税，并不可避免地延误经过精细调整的国际供应链。卡罗拉产量中，80%运往欧盟和其他市场。欧盟在这方面有贸易协定,第一季度产量快速增长，丰田很可能在进入生产高峰的时候，面临生产和市场途径中断的问题。这样的发展将该计划蒙上了一层阴影。丰田投资2.4亿英镑，其中的2,100万英镑来自英国政府的拨款。新款卡罗拉是在新的TNGA-C架构上制造的，这也是C-HR(土耳其制造)的基础，目前正在丰田全球各地的工厂推广。该英国工厂的几个区域已经升级，以方便推出卡罗拉，包括铝冲压能力的引入，新的塑料零件喷涂线和安装更多的机器人在整个工厂。预计英国每年将生产大约13万至14万辆汽车，不过英国退欧扰乱是否会影响第一年的产量仍有待观察。至于工厂已升级或有新投资的地区，最近投资的主要结果如下:铝冲压能力在这方面，丰田对其现有的大型冲压生产线进行了大量重大改进，使铝车身部件可以与钢一起冲压。其中最重要的是将印刷机间的搬运设备从磁爪(适用于钢铁而非铝)改为机器人。与此同时，冲床本身及其周围区域也进行了深度清洗和翻新，以防止冲压过程中的灰尘和残留物沉积在铝板上，避免后期喷涂时出现问题。200台高速焊接机器人新款卡罗拉比以前的Auris有更多的焊接点，要求更高结构刚度的新模型。为了达到并保持生产线速度，焊接车间安装了200台新型高速机器人。在生产线下，有更多的机器人进行防潮操作，这种材料也有助于保护车体腐蚀。总共有24个新机器人加入到油漆区，在车身底部、密封和框架蜡上操作。塑料制造业的扩张与欧洲汽车公司不同，日本汽车制造商往往有一些主要的塑料部件、仪表盘和保险杠通常是内部制造的。丰田汽车也不例外，为了便于制造一种新的后门设计，伯纳斯顿的塑料制造大厅也进行了改进。在这扇门的中心是一个新的后门，里面和外面都有塑料面板。这些面板是模具，粘在一起，然后在一个新的自动油漆线在塑料车间;以前的塑料部件大多是手工绘制的。丰田决定采用塑料门结构，以增强造型和空气动力学的好处超过了钢铁。发动机修整和分总成为了生产新款卡罗拉，重新设计了一个发动机分装配区。车间可以提供三种汽油发动机，一个1.8升的混合发动机来自于丰田在北威尔士的Deeside工厂，另外两个(一个1.2升的非混合动力单元和一个2.0升的混合动力单元)来自丰田网络的其他地方。除了这条生产线上的发动机外，主前悬架、散热器和混合变频器的子总成现在都装配在工厂的这个区域，这样整个更大的总成就可以在装配线上的一个点上安装。在之前的模型中，发动机、悬挂系统、散热器和混合动力装置分别安装在装配线上的不同工位。 新款卡罗拉的焊点比Auris多很多，为了保持线速，焊接车间安装了200台新型高速机器人这些制造改进和升级代表着Burnaston工厂发展的最新一步。早在1992年，丰田就开始生产汽车，生产Carina E。在金融危机之前的鼎盛时期，丰田有两条装配线，分别生产Auris(卡罗拉的前身)和Avensis，后者现已完成生产。将Auris的生产分配给Burnaston的决定是在2017年宣布的，此前英国投票决定退出欧盟，但这个市场对该厂的成功至关重要。与所有其它英国汽车制造商一样，丰田一直明确表示，不受限制地进入欧盟市场，以及及时采购零部件的能力，这对工厂的经济健康发展至关重要。自1992年以来，丰田向工厂的投资已经超过27.5亿英镑，丰田向英国的投入是明确的。新模式的成功是否会受到其无法控制的政治事件的阻碍，将在未来几个月决定。汽车厂是非常固定的实体，即使英国硬退欧，该公司也不能简单地拍拍屁股走人，离开英国。从长远来看，一旦英国脱欧后的环境明朗，新模式出现并进行更新换代，英国将在这方面投入更多资金。丰田及其员工将希望，它会支持(或至少不会阻碍)在英国为欧盟生产汽车。只有时间才能证明信仰是否会得到回报。
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ArticleCorolla confidence
Upgrade and investments at Burnaston see Toyota start production of the new Corolla in the UK, despite all the turmoil of Brexit The UK secretary of state for business, Greg Clark, and the straight-taking Japanese ambassador to the UK, Koji Tsuruoka, joined local dignitaries, business leaders and Toyota executives in ...
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ArticleIs Korea set to become a low-cost country?
In what may be a portentous move for the industry, Hyundai has chosen to try to revive its domestic fortunes by opening the first new car factory to be built in Korea for over 20 years; what is intriguing about this move is that the workers in this plant will ...
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ArticleIn our next issue...
Coming soon in our March-April issue… >> The Renault Nissan Mitsubishi Alliance – We report on manufacturing operations as the OEM’s longstanding partnership faces testing times of scandal and corporate upheaval >> Japan – How are Japan’s OEMs faring at home as they intensify supply to their own domestic market? ...
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ArticlePaneles de instrumentos guiados
aLa planta de IAC cerca de Liverpool sustituye la linea de grúas por una flota de vehículos autónomos guiados (AGV) para obtener una mayor flexibilidad a su proceso de ensamblado de paneles de instrumentos Más sobre vehículos autónomos Los vehículos automatizados se abren paso MAN SalzgitterIAC es ...
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ArticleLow heat input welding
The Cold Metal Transfer (CMT) welding process reduces the heat input in comparison to other MIG/MAG processes, claims Fronius. This uses a digital process control, which automatically detects short circuits and then helps to detach the droplet by retracting the wire; during welding, the wire moves forward and is pulled ...
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ArticleNew foam for instrument panels
A new series of systems in its Elastoflex E product group now allows weight reductions and foam densities of around 120g/L without sacrificing any of the material characteristics, claims BASF. Up to 30% of the foam weight is saved, says the company, depending on the component geometry. This Thin-Light system ...
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ArticleProduction resource for e-drive modules
Henkel’s says it offers a range of solutions for the manufacturing of e-drives including Loctite AA 5820, which the company says is suitable to provide a reliable seal of multi-substrates or any flange design of e-drive housings. For stator coil potting applications, it offers a two-component epoxy, Loctite PE 8082, ...
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ArticleIndustrial suction spray gun
The 4100 Xtreme suction spray gun has been developed to paint larger surface areas commonly associate with commercial and general industrial applications, such as machinery, truck chassis and trailers, says Sagola. The gun’s nozzles and needles come in two variants, 1.6 and 1.8 that deliver fine and heavy atomisation respectively ...
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ArticleApp style control for servo press
Schuler says it has designed the control of its new MSP 400 servo press in the style of a smartphone app. The company says the Smart Assist software guides the operator through the setup process, supported using small videos and text modules, and it’s claimed the electronic assistant optimises the ...
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ArticleElectronic actuators
An integrated electromechanical actuator for multi-speed electric axles and an integrated parking lock actuator for ICE, hybrid and electric powertrains have been developed by Schaeffler.The electric axle actuator (EAA) will go into volume production this year and is said to be based on the proven active interlock transmission actuator with ...
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ArticlePneumatic workpiece ejector
The new vario flex pneumatic workpiece ejector allows for the ejector depth to be adjusted flexibly by means of a retaining mechanism, and positioned in the machine exactly as required for the workpiece, claims Hainbuch. It can also be used as a basic end stop for coolant wash or air ...
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ArticlePSA juggles engines and motors
Engine manufacturing facilities around the world are changing. Pressure from governments and changes to legislation are pushing carmakers to develop new internal combustion engines (ICEs), the production of which often requires new assembly lines and equipment. More of these facilities are also starting to ...
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ArticleOutra potência na Ásia
Já consolidado como um centro de produção dinâmico e em rápido crescimento, a indústria automotiva do Sudeste Asiático está encontrando novas oportunidades para o crescimento da produção de veículos híbridos e de baterias Mais sobre a Ásia Desconforto no leste China segue em frente Asia Pacific 2017Duas ...
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ArticleLa otra gran potencia de Asia
La industria automotriz del sudeste asiático, que ya es un centro de fabricación dinámico y de rápido crecimiento, está encontrando nuevas oportunidades gracias al crecimiento de la producción de baterías y vehículos híbridos Más sobre Asia Incertidumbre en oriente China planifica su futuro Asia-Pacífico 2017Dos naciones dominan ...