All Bodyshop articles – Page 9
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ArticleFastening future
Following the lead of their automotive customers, fastening technology specialists are responding to industry demands to find innovation in weight, strength and performanceAs OEMs develop lightweight construction and optimised materials, the challenge for fastening specialists is to provide solutions as small, light and adaptable ideas without compromising on strength. Profil’s ...
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ArticleFord Rouge becomes landfill-free
US – The six facilities at Ford’s Dearborn site in Michigan have joined 68 others worldwide which send zero manufacturing waste to landfill. It is the OEM’s largest landfill-free complex and will save 14m pounds of waste per year.“With 16m sq.ft of factory floor space and approximately 7,000 employees it ...
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Article
Porsche workforce continues to grow
Figures released by Porsche show that the company has increased its workforce by 13% in the past 12 months. The Stuttgart-based car maker says that after nine months of 2016, its team has expanded to 27,115 employees. It’s the latest announcement on a trend which has seen Porsche’s employee headcount ...
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ArticleAt the head of the convoy
Mercedes-Benz’s largest truck plant is piloting new production technologies and transitioning into the lead manufacturing facility for heavy commercial vehiclesGerald Jank, head of Wörth plant and production at Mercedes-Benz Trucks, has much to say about the challenges of producing a huge variety of models in series production while also developing ...
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ArticleColour code
The north corner of Audi’s vast Ingolstadt plant has been transformed into a three-storey, environmental and ergonomic exemplar of the automotive paintshopHandling more than 650 car bodies a day, operations at Audi’s new paintshop at Ingolstadt, Germany, are shared across approximately 200 employees in a three-shift rotation, supported by 54 ...
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ArticleFastening future
Following the lead of their automotive customers, fastening technology specialists are responding to industry demands to find innovation in weight, strength and performanceAs OEMs develop lightweight construction and optimised materials, the challenge for fastening specialists is to provide solutions as small, light and adaptable ideas without compromising on strength. Profil’s ...
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ArticleRevitalising a veteran
VW has been making vehicles at Puebla in Mexico since 1967, but a $1.7 billion investment has added new facilities for the Golf 7 and long-wheelbase Tiguan. AMS takes a look at a vast but still expanding footprintThe automotive industry is a prime example of globalisation; major manufacturers span the ...
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ArticleMazda: Growing in Guanajuato
AMS gives an update on the OEM's recently opened plant at Salamanca, Mexico – its first in North AmericaIn January 2014, Mazda joined the flood of vehicle-makers arriving in Mexico by opening a new plant in Salamanca, Guanajuato – its first independent production site in North America. The idea behind ...
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ArticleInterview: Alfons Dintner, Audi
The company's CEO for Mexico explains how it became the first premium brand with a plant in the countryJoanne Perry (JP): San José Chiapa is Audi’s first factory in Mexico – and North America. Can you elaborate on its significance?Alfons Dintner (AD): This plant is a major building block for ...
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ArticleNissan heads in a new direction
The OEM has been manufacturing vehicles in Mexico since 1966 but the new COMPAS collaboration with Daimler will add premium cars to the line-up by next year. AMS went to check on the progress so farThe rush among carmakers to set up a manufacturing base in Mexico will see no ...
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ArticleKia's brave new world
The South Korean OEM has just opened a state-of-the-art factory at Pesquería in Mexico, but political problems are preventing this first Latin American manufacturing base from reaching its full potentialA sun-scorched hilltop in Monterrey provides the perfect view of Kia Motors’ first Latin American factory: a gleaming white press shop, ...
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ArticleAudi inaugurates San Jose Chiapa plant
Mexico – The factory in the south-central state of Puebla will produce the Q5 SUV for all global markets except China, with an annual capacity of 150,000 vehicles. Audi’s investment in the site exceeds €1 billion ($1.1 billion) and has enabled it to become the first premium carmaker with manufacturing ...
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ArticleBMW Dingolfing prepares for 5 Series
Germany – Production of the seventh-generation vehicle will ramp up by the end of the year, ahead of a market launch in early 2017. An investment of several hundred million euros has enabled the refurbishment of the plant and the construction of additional facilities, including the adaptation of drivetrain installation ...
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ArticleSkid-free flexibility
With the energy savings it brings, the skidless paintshop is proving to be a popular ideaThere are some real heavyweights on the move inside automotive manufacturers’ production facilities: 200kg skids transfer 300kg vehicle bodies from the bodyshop to pretreatment, and on through the entire paintshop. Over 1,200 conveyor components and ...
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ArticleTravel blog: The final frontier with Kia in Pesquería
And for my next mission... Mars! Or Monterrey in Nuevo León, which is similarly arid but uncomfortably hotter. At least I have the benefit of oxygen as I journey to Kia's new factory at Pesquería. I'd heard that Kia had been experiencing problems (Houston!) with this development, but as I ...
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ArticleExercise in efficiency
Toyota’s famed philosophy of constant improvement is well represented at its plant near BengaluruIt’s a given that all automotive manufacturing plants are continuously monitoring costs and efficiency, but at Toyota Kirloskar Motor’s (TKM) Bidadi plant there has been a real sense of urgency revealed in the detail of the operation’s ...
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Article
Exercise in efficiency
Toyota’s famed philosophy of constant improvement is well represented at its plant near BengaluruIt’s a given that all automotive manufacturing plants are continuously monitoring costs and efficiency, but at Toyota Kirloskar Motor’s (TKM) Bidadi plant there has been a real sense of urgency revealed in the detail of the operation’s ...
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ArticlePacifica progress
As FCA US smoothly implements a $744m upgrade at its Windsor plant in Canada, AMS focuses on the new equipment in the paintshop, including innovative oil separation technology and a robotic sealing system“What we were asking the Windsor team to do had never been done before,” said Brian Harlow, vice ...
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ArticleKeeping finishes up to scratch
As vehicle-makers add more innovative materials in body construction and change their production processes to meet new environmental regulations, paint suppliers are striving to match their requirementsThe majority of consumers take them for granted, but exterior coatings have to cover a lot of ground. Ray Schappert, global director of product ...
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ArticleCarry forward
State-of-the-art electrified conveyors contribute to production levels and offer a safer working environment Self-propelled electrified carriers, monorail systems and skillet lines with lifting platforms are state-of-the-art solutions in today’s automotive manufacturing process. Electrification with conductor rail systems has been in common practice for several years, continuously adapting to real-world ...