All Maintenance articles – Page 19
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ArticleAn innovative EMS approach
Flexibility and cost savings are just two advantages of the latest Siemens monorail technology, writes Nora Schuler, vertical market manager with Siemens automotiveThe Indian automotive market is undergoing a process of transformation that is seeing the average age of car buyers in the country fall year on year. Rapid urbanisation ...
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ArticleA lift to prosperity
The next-generation KUKA robots aim to meet the boom in demand and help fuel the growth of the manufacturing industry in ChinaLast year, KUKA established a new robot assembly plant in Shanghai, making it the company’s second production base outside Germany. This plant will supply products of world-class quality in ...
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ArticleIntegrating electrification
OEMs face the challenge of assimilating a growing number of electric vehicles and assemblies into their production operations. Volkswagen and Renault have each taken the plunge with the e-up! and the ZoeFive kilometres from the heart of the Slovakian capital, on the north bank of the Danube, is the Volkswagen ...
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ArticleLDT: GM's Delta force
As GM splashes the cash across North America, AMS goes to see $583m worth of improvements to the OEM’s newest factory in the region – including a new bodyshop capable of mixed-material joining methodsLansing Delta Township (LDT) in Michigan is General Motors’ newest plant in North America, opened in 2006 ...
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Webinar
ABB Robotics Webinar: Remote services and the Internet of Things, services and people
This webinar presented the impact the Internet of Things will have on the way systems are managed, strategies are coordinated and how services are delivered. A short presentation was followed by the opportunity to ask questions.We covered:–ABB Robotics' vision for the Internet of Things, Services and PeopleThe major trends in ...
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ArticleHow vehicle-makers can be ever green
With OEM energy-efficiency programmes now well established, the drive to find extra savings is challengingEnergy-efficiency and sustainability targets are nothing new; automotive manufacturers have not only been setting them for years, they have also made significant progress towards meeting them. But how can OEMs continue to make energy savings when ...
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ArticleAn innovative EMS approach
Flexibility and cost savings are just two advantages of the latest Siemens monorail technology, writes Thorsten Riemer, EMS product manager at SiemensThe Chinese automotive market has the highest volume of any single country and continues to grow at a steady rate. Since 2009, more vehicles have been produced in China ...
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ArticleFCA's Jeep juggernaut
As the Toledo plant strives to top North America's output table, after taking second place last year, AMS tours its new bodyshop, metrology centre, and upgraded paint and assembly areas for the Jeep CherokeeIn this article:A butterfly bodyshopProgress in the paintshopAdaptations in assemblyFacts about FCA US Toledo“How do you unlock ...
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ArticleSkoda plants restart after shutdown
Czech Republic – Mladá Boleslav, Kvasiny and Vrchlabí are again running at full capacity after a two- to three-week break for optimisation and expansion. Amid a range of adaptations, the main focus was the planned production conversion at Kvasiny.In order to accommodate a production increase at Kvasiny to 280,000 units ...
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ArticleTwo-wheeler troubles
Restrictions in urban areas and a lack of brand clarity are threatening China’s two-wheeler dominanceThe once-mighty Chinese motorcycle industry is close to losing its title of the world’s biggest, as restrictions on sales bite at home and it fails to create memorable brands with which to expand abroad. The industry ...
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ArticleMobile terminal allows real-time changes
Rockwell Automation claims its new Allen-Bradley MobileView tethered operator interface gives plant and industrial personnel the freedom to take a machine’s human-machine interface (HMI) with them to make real-time adjustments to out-of-view applications.This new interface is suitable for maintenance tasks, machine setup or calibration activities, and other HMI applications that ...
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ArticleBBAC: Engine production pioneer
Frank Proksch, senior manager cylinder head machining, talks about the high-quality manufacturing at Mercedes' first passenger-car engine plant outside Germany, which opened in 2013AMS: Beijing was Mercedes’ first powertrain plant outside Germany for passenger cars. So are you pursuing a 'build-where-you-sell' strategy, and how much of the production is for ...
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ArticleTravel blog: What’s GM chancing in Lansing?
“It’s the soccer moms – first they had to have minivans, now it’s SUVs.” So said the driver taking me to and from GM Lansing Delta Township, about an hour-and-a-half west of Detroit. Interestingly, his knowledge of market demand extended to which car models get stolen most often in Michigan, ...
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ArticleGM pours $245m into Orion factory
US – The investment will support a new vehicle programme described by the OEM as “unlike any in the plant’s 32-year history”. The facility in Michigan has received $962m since it reopened in 2010 after being idled. GM did not give details, except to say that 300 personnel will be ...
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ArticleKonecranes supplies lifting systems to JLR
UK – The company has installed a range of hoist and crane lifting solutions at the OEM’s new Engine Manufacturing Centre (EMC) at Wolverhampton. Konecranes will also conduct on-site planned service and maintenance using its 40-strong technical team, based within 20 miles of the facility.Konecranes has supplied 150 systems with ...
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ArticleFRP gel coat systems for composite manufacturing
Graco says its fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) gel coat system is suitable for molded fibre-reinforced plastics such as those used in automotive applications. The company claims its gel coat system proportioner has been optimised for ratio stability and control components and long-lasting seals offer reduced maintenance, increasing overall uptime.The RS gel ...
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ArticleQuality hotspots in welding
The latest technology developments are boosting the quality control and monitoring of joining processesResistance spot welding is the most commonly applied process for joining thin metal sheet in automotive body structures, with a typical family car containing up to 5,000 spot welds. However, one aspect of the spot-welding process that ...
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ArticleWelding plays its part
Besides BIW, many component welding operations are in need of improvements in productivity and quality It is the archetypal image of automotive manufacturing: a huddle of robots working frantically around a body-in-white (BIW) on its conveyor track. However, every vehicle contains a myriad of sub-structures, closures and individual components that ...
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ArticleTesla contracts Eisenmann at Fremont
US – According to the Germany-based supplier, the deal to build a new paintshop at Tesla’s growing plant in California runs into “nine figures” and is the most valuable in its history. Eisenmann will provide two fully automated paint lines, one for car bodies and one for components such as ...
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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 ...