All Quality articles – Page 12
-
Article
Extreme flexibility is essential
KUKA offers numerous solutions that are helping vehicle manufacturers to tackle several challenges The automotive industry is undergoing the biggest transformation in its history. Megatrends such as digitisation, autonomous driving and e-mobility have significant implications not only for manufacturers but also for suppliers. What is required are smart production ...
-
Article
Advanced 3D metrology for car body
GOM has worked on improving the speed and accuracy of its latest generation of optical 3D coordinate measuring machinesThe automotive industry has undergone many changes over recent years, and new technologies are influencing production processes with the aim of making manufacturing more efficient. The implementation of robotics on the assembly ...
-
Article
The perfect weld
Fronius sheds light on how data documentation can improve industrial welding processes in automotive productionIn the increasingly digitalised and interconnected automotive OEM and supplier industries, one factor that is playing a growing role is the efficient acquisition and processing of the data generated in production. This enables manufacturers to optimise ...
-
Article
New door latch design to improve quality and cabin
Magna claims to have recently developed the Comfort+ door latch to improve both the feel of a car’s door when opening and closing, and the quietness of the cabin.The company says this design turns sliding friction into rolling friction within the mechanics of the door latch, which reduces the efforts ...
-
Article
Fact, not fiction
Mike Farish reports on a sci-fi inspired additive technique that’s gaining interest with automotive manufacturers New items of technology often get hyped as being like something from science fiction, but in the case of one of the most innovative and unusual additive techniques now on the market, continuous liquid interface ...
-
Article
Compact welding robot
Claimed to be designed for manufacturers with compact floor spaces, but managing large workpieces, Fanuc says its ARCMate 100iD/10L is suitable for high-batch production lines where the quality and function of the weld are critical. The company says this robot has capacity for 10kg of additional tooling, such as welding ...
-
Article
Leading a winning team
Nick Holt talks to Ford Craiova’s award-winning engine plant manager, Jo Payne, about the facility’s award-winning enginesJo Payne is no stranger to accolades, having been crowned winner in the manufacturing category of this year’s Autocar Great British Women in the Car Industry awards. She also won the award back in ...
-
Article
Time for an upgrade
As Toyota shapes up its global manufacturing network to build the new vehicle platform, Nick Holt visits the OEM’s Valenciennes facility to see the progress being madeTo meet the challenge of rapidly changing markets and segment volatility, the development and adoption of common, modular vehicle platforms is now a familiar ...
-
Article
Porsche and Schuler build press shop
Germany - The two companies have announced that they will work work together to construct a ‘Smart Press Shop’ as part of a new joint venture, the location of which is yet to be revealed. Both Porsche and Schuler will invest a double-digit million euro amount in the project. “Porsche ...
-
Article
Laser methods to support e-mobility
Frank Gäbler and Dr Jürgen Uebbing of Coherent Rofin discuss the various use for lasers when building electric vehicles Compared to gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles, electrified vehicles are in their relative infancy, with metals and metal components being deployed in novel ways in order to increase range and improve ...
-
Article
Quality is everything
Volkswagen uses Zeiss AIMax digital-optical 3D sensor technology at its plant in WrzesniaFollowing a site analysis in 2013, Volkswagen decided to construct a new factory in Wrzesnia, Poland, to assemble the Crafter van. The speed at which this enormous factory – one kilometre long and 400 meters wide – was ...
-
Article
Guiding lights for a smarter paintshop
System experts at Dürr have developed a digital maintenance assistant designed to keep automotive paintshops in full effect With its digital@Dürr concept, Dürr is delivering an important smart factory module. In future, the company will be supporting customers in maintaining painting and sealing robots using a digital maintenance assistant. With ...
-
Article
Welcoming arms for Kirchhoff
Dermot Healy speaks to CMM programmer James Mitchell about working with Faro Technologies at the Kirchhoff Automotive plant in Lansing, MichiganKirchhoff Automotive is one of the leading global suppliers of body structures, sub-assemblies and stamped products to major automotive manufacturers. Working closely with manufacturers from an early design stage the ...
-
Article
Welcome to Naperville
With the increasing use of schwartz’s roller hearth furnaces for press-hardening in North America, a relocation helps the US subsidiary to meet demand The globally active schwartz Group, the world market leader* in heat-treatment equipment for press-hardening, has evolved into a key supplier to the automotive industry. In order to ...
-
Article
Industrial balancing goes e-mobility
As EV makers develop smart-factories, efficient and flexible automation solution for balancing e-drives is at the top of the list, writes Schenck-USA’s Tarek El-Sawaf Increasingly better range and output values of electric power units and, above all, the more stringent environmental regulations for internal combustion engines are increasing the demand ...
-
Article
The $83,330 article
To combat the dread and burden of unplanned stoppages, ABB explores the potential of machine learning, advanced analytics and connected services In an average large automotive factory, the cost of unplanned downtime can exceed $1 million an hour. This means in the five minutes it will take to read this ...
-
Article
On the plus side
Dermot Healy speaks to Daryush Arabnia, COO of Geico, about the new Ctrl + PAINT vehicle body quality scanning system, the latest element in the Smart Paintshop ConceptYou launched the new initiative Ctrl + PAINT in June 2018 at the 2018 SURCAR Conference in Detroit. Can you tell us about ...
-
Article
Oxsilan expectations
Engineers from GM’s Orion plant in Michigan describe a successful conversion to a thin-film pretreatment from Chemetall The Surface Treatment global business unit of the Coatings division of BASF, operating under the Chemetall brand, sets out the story of the highly successful conversion and launch to full production of Oxsilan ...
-
Article
How to outrun the competition
Precision engineering and manufacturing technology specialist Renishaw is poised to support North American customers in tackling a new breed of production challenges Shorter product lifecycles and growing product mix require flexible machining and measurement solutions, which is why Renishaw’s technologies are increasingly being applied to support productive automotive manufacturing. Auto ...
-
Article
Ford announces manufacturing lead
US - Bruce Hettle, Ford's group vice president of manufacturing and labor affairs, is due to retire on 1 October, and will be replaced by Gary Johnson. In this role, Johnson will manage the operations of 67 assembly, stamping and powertrain production plants across the world."Under Bruce’s leadership, Ford has ...