Latest News & Features – Page 207
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ArticleZF building new plant in Pune
India – The site will unite the company’s Car Powertrain and Commercial Vehicle Technology business units, as well as ZF Services, at a single location. The plant will also be the headquarters of the engineering and administration of ZF India.At a cost of Rs 150 crore ($27m), construction of the ...
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ArticleSkoda reaches 11m units at Mladá Boleslav
Czech Republic – The company’s main facility has been extensively modernised and expanded over the past three years, with the addition of a new bodyshop, a fully automated paintshop and a press line. The capacity of production Line 1 has increased from 800 to 1,200 vehicles per day; the 11millionth ...
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ArticleHonda hits 20m mark for American production
US – The cumulative total for the OEM’s four plants in the region came with the 10 millionth vehicle produced at Marysville, Ohio, which was the company’s first automotive plant in the US, starting production of the Honda Accord in 1982.Honda produced a record 1,309,917 vehicles in 2013, representing an ...
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ArticleMercedes-Benz adds third shift at Kecskemét
Hungary – The OEM will introduce the extra shift in May, increasing production capacity for its compact cars. The move follows a similar development at Rastatt, Germany, towards the end of 2012. Last year, both plants worked numerous extra Saturday shifts in order to keep up with demand. “Most recently, ...
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ArticleChrysler's new leading light for Powertrain
US – With immediate effect, Jeffrey Lux will take responsibility for the design, development and release of all transmission and driveline systems for the OEM, as well as supporting efforts to co-ordinate Powertrain activities on a global basis.Lux joins Chrysler from GM, where he has held a series of engineering ...
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ArticleBoyer to care for safety at GM
US – Following a spate of recalls, General Motors CEO Mary Barra has created the new position of vice-president, Global Vehicle Safety. Jeff Boyer will bear responsibility for the safety development of GM vehicle safety systems, confirmation and validation of safety performance and post-sale activities including recalls.Boyer will report to ...
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Tech Mahindra to provide Volvo’s IT
Sweden – The provider of connected solutions will supply end-to-end IT infrastructure support and services for the carmaker not only in its domestic market but in China and Belgium, covering factories, R&D facilities, offices, dealerships and a global data centre. This will include 4,000 factory devices, 2,800 servers and 30,000 ...
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ArticlePPG expands in San Juan del Rio
Mexico – The coatings supplier is investing $27m to expand its manufacturing facility with four new buildings amounting to 100,000 sq. ft of production and laboratory space. The additional capacity will enable PPG to meet increased demand from automotive OEMs as well as other industrial customers in the country.Groundbreaking has ...
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VW reorganises international production
Germany – The Group will build a new plant at Września in Poland to make the Volkswagen Crafter from 2016; the Volkswagen Tiguan will be assembled at Hanover in addition to Wolfsburg from 2016; and the next generation of the Porsche Panamera will be produced entirely at Leipzig, rather than ...
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ArticleNew process & technology centre for customers
Heru and Schuler have installed a servo press line in Lennestadt to provide tryout processes for forming dies. The new process and technology centre, ProTec, opened by the press and die manufacturers, is intended to enable clients to optimise their production processes in advance of final installation of equipment and ...
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ArticleAlcoa expands aluminium wheels plant
Hungary – The manufacturer is investing $13m at its site in Székesfehérvár to double the output of its Dura-Bright EVO surface-treated product, while the Hungarian Government will contribute 1 billion forints ($4.5m) through its regional economic development initiative. Construction work began in January this year and completion is expected in ...
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ArticleA digital factory model
The creation of a single digital model of your factory, together with the integration of 3D to existing 2D capability, will help you to understand equipment clashes and space constraints before going into production. This will add leverage to existing 2D legacy datasets and knowledge to improve your design efficiency, ...
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ArticleTurning less Japanese
As Nissan looks increasingly beyond its home market, AMS reviews its global production footprintAlthough Nissan is one of the most recognisably Japanese automotive brands, it is also one of the most outward-looking and is actively engaged in reducing its dependency on its home market. The vehicle-maker actually has three brands: ...
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ArticleChrysler expands at Sterling Heights
US – With the launch of the Chrysler 200, the vehicle-maker has in-sourced several key processes, added new content and implemented World Class Manufacturing (WCM). The workforce at the Michigan facility has increased by 800 to 2,800, more than double the complement in 2009.Recent investments totalling nearly $1 billion have ...
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ArticleAAT begins new Mazda3 production
Thailand – Known as Mazda Adela in Japan, the new model is being manufactured by AutoAlliance Thailand (AAT) for the local market, ahead of the sales launch this month.Masamichi Kogai, president of Mazda, described AAT as “one of Mazda’s most important production facilities in terms of the future growth of ...
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ArticleScania to supply Austrian public organisations
Austria – The OEM will deliver 485 trucks over a three-year period ending in March 2017, for use by cities, organisations and operators such as ASFINAG. The agreement with public procurement organisation Bundesbeschaffungs (BBG) is worth €65m ($91m).The order covers a variety of truck types including winter service vehicles, refuse ...
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ArticleHuntsman supplies resin for BMW i3
Europe – The epoxy resin has been specified by the vehicle-maker for the manufacture of structural composite parts for its all-electric vehicle in volume production. Huntsman materials will be used for the side frame as well as other composite components which are assembled to form the ‘life module’ or passenger ...
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ArticleJCB relocates compaction equipment production
UK/India – Following a strategic review which will close the company’s Gatersleben site in Germany, manufacture of all walk-behind models plus VMT160 and VMT260 Tandem Rollers will go to the JCB Attachments factory in Uttoxeter, UK. Production of the 403 Wheeled Loading Shovel will also be returned to the JCB ...
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ArticleQuick change tooling system
A new quick-change tool system that reduces the labour and time required for tooling changeover on tube bending machines has been designed by AddisonMckee. The company claims that “part to part” tool changes with either single or multi-stack tooling can be accomplished by one person in under 10 minutes. A ...
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ArticleNew laser workstation
SIC Marking has launched the XL- Box, a new laser marker designed for the marking and traceability of components. It is equipped with a fibre laser source doped with Ytterbium which, the company says, allows light or deep marking of alphanumeric codes- barcode and 2D Data Matrix codes, on all ...