Latest News & Features – Page 165
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FCA's $166m for stamping at Sterling Heights
US – The company says its investment in three new press lines will upgrade the 50-year-old facility to meet increased demand. The new lines are currently being installed and are expected to begin production in the fourth quarter of 2015, supplying seven plants in the US, Canada and Mexico. They ...
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A cut above the rest
Milling operations face the challenge of high volume and quality requirements in the automotive industrySupplying machined parts to the automotive industry brings a unique set of challenges, due largely to the combination of high volumes and meticulous quality demands. The problem is exacerbated in milling operations by the prismatic nature ...
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Nissan Kyushu to produce Rogue
Japan – Beginning in spring 2016, the crossover SUV (known as X-Trail in its homeland) will be made by the OEM's subsidiary for export to North America. The production of 100,000 units per year will add to that of the current model in Tennessee and Busan, Korea.The company says it ...
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Olive takes new role at Renault-Nissan
France – The OEM has appointed Jérôme Olive as executive vice-president, Alliance Manufacturing Engineering and Supply Chain Management, effective August 1.Olive, who is currently senior vice-president, Manufacturing and Logistics Europe at Renault, replaces Shohei Kimura, who moves to a new leadership position in manufacturing within the Nissan group. Kimura has ...
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BMW: Achieving Brilliance in China
Anton Heiss, senior vice-president for Technology and Manufacturing, discusses BMW’s manufacturing success in China, where its Tiexi complex can be considered a production benchmarkAMS: It has been stated that Tiexi is the most sustainable vehicle manufacturing plant in China. Is the plant used as a manufacturing benchmark in the region?Anton ...
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Rolls-Royce and Unipart to form JV
UK – The two companies will work on the development and delivery of manufacturing solutions for advanced fixturing and products applicable across a range of manufacturing industries, including automotive.Based on proven and patented Rolls-Royce technology, the newly formed MetLase will provide engineering solutions to applications where precision and speed of ...
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Travel blog: Reborn in Dearborn
For some it would be an almost spiritual experience, but for me yesterday’s visit to Ford at the place where it all began (more or less), was about appreciating the enduring human capacity for innovation; from the first moving assembly lines to the robotised manufacturing methods of the 21st century, ...
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Plastic rear axle component for S-class Mercedes
Germany – ContiTech Vibration Control and BASF say they have developed the world’s first plastic transmission crossbeam for a rear axle subframe. It is being used on the S-class Mercedes-Benz and is made from the engineering plastic Ultramid A3WG10 CR, a special polyamide from BASF which is reinforced and optimised ...
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Great Wall Motors invests in press hardening line
China – AP&T has delivered a complete production line for press hardening to the Chinese OEM at its new plant in Xushui Baoding. The line is currently used to produce A-pillars and B-pillars, but it will also produce other components in the future. At present the components are used for ...
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Travel blog: A tornado in Toledo
What do Toledo and Leipzig have in common? No, it’s not that they both have an ‘e’ (or an 'l') in their name. Nor is it that they’re both European; I’m talking about Toledo in tornado-riven Ohio, not the Spanish city famed for its steel-making since before the birth of ...
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Advanced epoxy solutions for automotive markets
Sicomin says it has developed Top Clear a two component, translucent coating system with a very rapid drying time that allows users to speed up the production cycle, helping automotive parts manufacturers adapt to increased production volumes. The company claims the range is suitable for use on interior car components ...
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Spares and service department
DMG MORI says it is now offering its UK customers a hotline response time of one hour or less and service response times for an engineer on site of 1 day for MORI derived products and 1.4 days for DMG derived products.The company says its service engineers carry test equipment, ...
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First Civic Type R off the line at Honda Swindon
UK – The first production models of the Civic Type R have rolled off the line at the Japanese carmaker’s UK plant. Addressing those gathered for the event, Soichiro Takizawa, managing director at HUM, took the opportunity to thank staff for their continued commitment and hard work.The new Honda Civic ...
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FCA to build Jeep vehicles in India
US – Investing $280m in the company’s manufacturing facility in Ranjangaon, India, will support the production of a new Jeep vehicle and is expected to begin production in the second quarter of 2017. “Today marks an important step as we continue to expand the availability of Jeep products around the ...
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Magna to build cars for JLR
UK - Jaguar Land Rover has agreed a manufacturing partnership with Magna Steyr to build some future vehicles in Graz, Austria. JLR says the aim of this collaboration is to create additional volumes needed to support the company's plans for further growth, as its three UK vehicle plants approach operating ...
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Uwe Hück joins VW supervisory board
Germany – The appointment by Braunschweig Local Court is effective July 1, 2015. Hück succeeds Jürgen Dorn, who has resigned his mandate.Hück is chairman of the General and Group Works Council of Porsche; chairman of the Zuffenhausen / Ludwigsburg / Sachsenheim Works Council; deputy chairman of the Works Council of ...
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ZF TRW makes 60 millionth EPB unit
Germany – The electric park brake (EPB), motor-on-caliper technology, which was developed at TRW’s technical centre in Koblenz, is currently produced in North America and China. It is now in its fifth generation.“ZF TRW was first to market with its EPB system in 2001, which pioneered with Lancia, Audi and ...
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Steel solutions
Producers of steel are developing innovative solutions to meet the vehicle lightweighting challengeOEMs have to strike a balance when selecting the right materials for their vehicles. These materials need to be strong enough to protect passengers in the event of a collision, yet light enough to reduce CO2 emissions and ...
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GM: Chasing Chinese capacity
Phil Kienle, vice-president of Manufacturing for GM International Operations (GMIO and GM China) discusses the production challenges of meeting rising demand in ChinaAMS: How has GM standardised its manufacturing operations globally and is China now operating at a level comparable with GM’s other high-volume production regions?Phil Kienle (PK): When you ...
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Inline cleaning system for machined precision parts
QuattroClean from ACI AG is an inline, fully automated cleaning cell that the company says provides a needs-oriented cleaning step directly between the machining process and measurement step. The system can be integrated into a fully automated production line or used as a stand-alone device, claims the company.Fitted with a ...