Just got back from a tour of the assembly plant at JLR Solihull.
Saw the Velar and F-Pace production from start to finish. Amazing that they are made simultaneously along the exact same production lines throughout. They're basically made from the same base and the gazillion robots that work in one model one way and the other another way, one after another when putting the panels together.
From the front to about 60% along the base, it's made of aluminium and thereafter the back end is steel. Apparently this gives the perfect weight balance.
They're making about 75 cars an hour which are a mixture of Velars and F-Paces. The factory works from Mon-Fri, 6 til 6 so someone can do the math on that to work out here many they're building daily/weekly.
It takes 3 days to complete the Velar from start to finish, a day assembly and 2 days checking/QC/finishing, etc. One of the the final assembly lines where the doors, boots, lettering, etc. are fitted have Velars, F-Paces and RR Sports all running through together. The operatives are all trained to assemble these different vehicles without any change in line set up. All parts were brought up in totes and they were obsessed about cleanliness, dust protection and contamination.
I've been to many factories in my life, mostly in Asia where there is a huge amount of manual labour, but this was the first car assembly plant. The robotics were awesome - reminded me of the "loader" in Aliens.... unfortunately, a slightly tomboyish but still sexy voice didn't shout "Where d'yu wannit?" suggestively when the panels were moved!!!!
I still shouted "Bay 12 please..." though!
I saw some comments on here claiming the factory was chaos with parts and packaging strewn all over place. I have to say from my experience this is completely Fake News!!! The plant was spotless, highly organised with heaps of automation for the initial construction stage with aircraft manufacturing rivert placing technology adopted for ultimate precision and countless cameras deployed to spot tooling wear and tear. Health and safety was apparent throughout the plant.
Their robots were introduced around 2010 but you get the feeling they have only mastered their use more recently such was their excitement at the continuity and accuracy of their output and recognition of effiency gains and cost savings.
In a classic Tory bashing Labour claim, they have actually increased employment since the robots have been deployed, not decreased. That backed up by their impressive sales growth which is partly down to the huge improvement in quality that the automation has helped bring about. There are approx 10,500 workers at Solihull, 2,500 of which handle the logistics and 8,000 doing the assembly.
There were process diagrams and schematics outlining their objectives and productivity targets written all over the walls with above eye level monitors providing visibility of production progress all the way along.
Some really nice touches in terms of highlighting to the operatives the importance of their work and the collective output that they are all working towards.
They keep next to no stock at the plant and no actual manufacturing takes place. It's all about precision assembly and JIT parts being brought in around the clock, which include things like doors and bumpers that arrive at the factory in a 6-8 hour window. We saw lorry loads with Velar doors and dashboards being brought in. Many JIT OEMs make and store parts in facilities around Solihull.
Morale at the plant looked extremely high, you can tell the sense of pride in the work being done and the enthusiasm in producing such an exciting new car.
Another thing I noticed on here were comments about the lining up of closures such as the boot and doors - here they were applying a laser checking systemwhich measures the gaps in between the closures to ensure they were set correctly. There were operatives applying wands by hand a bit like an airport Customs official checks you body for metal objects.
No beeps when we were there!!!
After the tour we had a drive around to see some finished stock. We passed an area called the "squeaks and rattles" car park where vehicles are driven over various road terrain to check any problems in the cabin.
Then we had a look at the stock waiting to get on transporters - quite a few of which were destined for overseas as they were LHDs.
Overall, it's an extremely impressive set up and it made me feel rather proud to be putting my commitment into a British designed product made with pride and built by British, European and many other nationalities that make up the workforce.
Just the two centres we walked around cost £1.2bn investment which apparently Tata have been very happy to provide.
I'm not surprised when you see there sales figures. They sold 840,000 cars last year and their target is to surpass 1 million within the next year. Jaguar sales alone grew by 68% last year, largely due to the XE and F-Pace models.
Finally, I spent much of my time looking at all the different colours to hopefully reaffirm my decision in ordering Indus Silver with a Black Roof....
I wasn't disappointed!
Roll on delivery I say.
Saw the Velar and F-Pace production from start to finish. Amazing that they are made simultaneously along the exact same production lines throughout. They're basically made from the same base and the gazillion robots that work in one model one way and the other another way, one after another when putting the panels together.
From the front to about 60% along the base, it's made of aluminium and thereafter the back end is steel. Apparently this gives the perfect weight balance.
They're making about 75 cars an hour which are a mixture of Velars and F-Paces. The factory works from Mon-Fri, 6 til 6 so someone can do the math on that to work out here many they're building daily/weekly.
It takes 3 days to complete the Velar from start to finish, a day assembly and 2 days checking/QC/finishing, etc. One of the the final assembly lines where the doors, boots, lettering, etc. are fitted have Velars, F-Paces and RR Sports all running through together. The operatives are all trained to assemble these different vehicles without any change in line set up. All parts were brought up in totes and they were obsessed about cleanliness, dust protection and contamination.
I've been to many factories in my life, mostly in Asia where there is a huge amount of manual labour, but this was the first car assembly plant. The robotics were awesome - reminded me of the "loader" in Aliens.... unfortunately, a slightly tomboyish but still sexy voice didn't shout "Where d'yu wannit?" suggestively when the panels were moved!!!!
I still shouted "Bay 12 please..." though!
I saw some comments on here claiming the factory was chaos with parts and packaging strewn all over place. I have to say from my experience this is completely Fake News!!! The plant was spotless, highly organised with heaps of automation for the initial construction stage with aircraft manufacturing rivert placing technology adopted for ultimate precision and countless cameras deployed to spot tooling wear and tear. Health and safety was apparent throughout the plant.
Their robots were introduced around 2010 but you get the feeling they have only mastered their use more recently such was their excitement at the continuity and accuracy of their output and recognition of effiency gains and cost savings.
In a classic Tory bashing Labour claim, they have actually increased employment since the robots have been deployed, not decreased. That backed up by their impressive sales growth which is partly down to the huge improvement in quality that the automation has helped bring about. There are approx 10,500 workers at Solihull, 2,500 of which handle the logistics and 8,000 doing the assembly.
There were process diagrams and schematics outlining their objectives and productivity targets written all over the walls with above eye level monitors providing visibility of production progress all the way along.
Some really nice touches in terms of highlighting to the operatives the importance of their work and the collective output that they are all working towards.
They keep next to no stock at the plant and no actual manufacturing takes place. It's all about precision assembly and JIT parts being brought in around the clock, which include things like doors and bumpers that arrive at the factory in a 6-8 hour window. We saw lorry loads with Velar doors and dashboards being brought in. Many JIT OEMs make and store parts in facilities around Solihull.
Morale at the plant looked extremely high, you can tell the sense of pride in the work being done and the enthusiasm in producing such an exciting new car.
Another thing I noticed on here were comments about the lining up of closures such as the boot and doors - here they were applying a laser checking systemwhich measures the gaps in between the closures to ensure they were set correctly. There were operatives applying wands by hand a bit like an airport Customs official checks you body for metal objects.
No beeps when we were there!!!
After the tour we had a drive around to see some finished stock. We passed an area called the "squeaks and rattles" car park where vehicles are driven over various road terrain to check any problems in the cabin.
Then we had a look at the stock waiting to get on transporters - quite a few of which were destined for overseas as they were LHDs.
Overall, it's an extremely impressive set up and it made me feel rather proud to be putting my commitment into a British designed product made with pride and built by British, European and many other nationalities that make up the workforce.
Just the two centres we walked around cost £1.2bn investment which apparently Tata have been very happy to provide.
I'm not surprised when you see there sales figures. They sold 840,000 cars last year and their target is to surpass 1 million within the next year. Jaguar sales alone grew by 68% last year, largely due to the XE and F-Pace models.
Finally, I spent much of my time looking at all the different colours to hopefully reaffirm my decision in ordering Indus Silver with a Black Roof....
I wasn't disappointed!
Roll on delivery I say.
