{"id":69150,"date":"2024-10-12T15:24:01","date_gmt":"2024-10-12T13:24:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comau.com\/?page_id=69150"},"modified":"2024-10-12T15:24:01","modified_gmt":"2024-10-12T13:24:01","slug":"comaus-flexible-solutions-drive-jmc-fords-high-end-pickup-manufacturing","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.comau.com\/en\/about-us\/success-stories\/comaus-flexible-solutions-drive-jmc-fords-high-end-pickup-manufacturing\/","title":{"rendered":"Comau\u2019s flexible solutions drive JMC Ford\u2019s high-end pickup manufacturing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The gradual lifting of restrictions in major Chinese cities has led to an increased demand for pickup trucks that excel on city roads as well as off-road terrains. This change in consumer preferences has contributed to a significant boost in pickup sales, and JMC Ford has responded by introducing premium pickup models that blend the ruggedness of traditional trucks with the comfort and safety features sought by urban consumers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jiangling Motors Corporation (JMC), a prominent player in China\u2019s automotive industry and a key strategic partner of Ford, is renowned for its innovation and steadfast dedication to quality. Committed to producing premium pickups that meet the highest standards of excellence and reliability, JMC Ford needed to enhance its production capabilities to meet the growing demand for pickups. They turned to Comau for support, tasking the automation leader with designing and developing state-of-the-art Body-in-White solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cOur goal was to create a more efficient, reliable, and flexible production line for the rapidly expanding pickup truck market, and we have achieved impressive outcomes. Partnering with Comau marks an important milestone in our journey toward manufacturing excellence. Their innovative approach and commitment to quality provide us with a solid foundation, paving the way for future advancement and continued success.\u201d<\/em><\/em><\/p>\nMa Jian, JMC Ford Head of Manufacturing Engineering<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The Challenge<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 2021, JMC Ford established a new production line at its Xiaolan plant in Jiangxi province to manufacture high-end pickup trucks for the Chinese market. Unlike typical passenger vehicles, pickups are produced in smaller volumes, necessitating a highly flexible production line capable of accommodating various models and configurations. JMC Ford\u2019s decision to leverage this new line to better address the market\u2019s demand for diversified and personalized products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Production precision was crucial, as each weld and component required meticulous positioning to ensure the final product\u2019s structural integrity and safety. Moreover, as demand for high-end pickups surged, enhancing production efficiency became essential to reduce cycle times and increase output. This required ongoing optimization of production processes and the adoption of advanced automation technologies to most effectively meet market demands.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The Solution<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To tackle these challenges, Comau engineers designed and implemented an advanced body assembly line that significantly enhances the flexibility and efficiency of high-end pickup truck manufacturing. By replacing the traditional combination of welding guns and grippers with an integrated system incorporating both welding and tightening guns, the need for frequent tool changes was minimized. This upgrade not only increased the production line\u2019s flexibility and efficiency but has also reduced equipment investment and maintenance costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, Comau developed a flexible and removable fixture loading table that can be easily reconfigured for different assembly tasks and parts. This design reduces line changeover times and tooling investment, optimizes workflow, and improves product quality. The comprehensive manufacturing solution also features Comau\u2019s OpenGate system, which ensures geometrical accuracy while granting the inherent flexibility to handle multiple model configurations and an aggressive average switching cycle time of 50 seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comau\u2019s body-in-white welding solution integrates advanced technologies to improve welding accuracy and stability. The use of in-line pallet measurement technology ensures calibration accuracy within 0.05mm for each pallet, guaranteeing reliability and uniformity throughout the production line. Furthermore, adhesive vision inspection technology provides real-time monitoring of the adhesive application process, ensuring consistent and precise adhesive dispensing, which in turn enhances the quality of the application. The deployment of vision-guided body side picking technology allows robots to precisely locate and pick side components, thereby increasing picking accuracy and consistency. Lastly, precision cart vision guidance technology ensures that carts deliver parts to exact positions with an accuracy of up to 0.1mm during the loading process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To meet the high demands of production efficiency, both the mainline and the floor line are equipped with high-speed roller beds and trolley conveyor systems, which enable fast transport and precise positioning of workpieces. The roller bed\u2019s transport speed reaches up to 100 meters per minute\u2014twice as fast as traditional shuttle systems. The use of traveling fixtures eliminates the need for base-plate fixtures, which in turn streamlines the processes and enhances precision in workpiece positioning during transport, thus shortening production cycles. This innovative conveying method also reduces dependence on manual intervention, minimizing errors and delays caused by human factors, and further boosting overall production line efficiency.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The Results<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Comau\u2019s highly flexible welding automation solution for pickup trucks includes both the mainline and the floor line, ensuring strong reliability and durability of the finished vehicles. The production line supports 3+1 multi-vehicle co-production, with a throughput of 25 JPH (jobs per hour) and an annual capacity of 125,000 units. Once in mass production, the line will accommodate the manufacturing of JMC Ford\u2019s new pickup truck brand Da Dao<\/em> (Avenue) and Ford\u2019s first pickup truck model introduced to the Chinese market, the Ranger<\/em>. And because this advanced solution achieves a high level of automation and flexibility, it fully addresses the current production needs while laying a solid foundation for future expansion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The gradual lifting of restrictions in major Chinese cities has led to an increased demand for pickup trucks that excel on city roads as well as off-road terrains. This change in consumer preferences has contributed to a significant boost in pickup sales, and JMC Ford has responded by introducing premium pickup models that blend the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":69162,"parent":54,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-69150","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nComau deploys hybrid transmission assembly lines for Hycet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Comau designed and developed a high-speed, automated manufacturing solution to ensure efficient and scalable transmission assembly lines\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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