Ford opens new Advanced Manufacturing Centre – to make 3D-printed parts for new Shelby Mustang GT500

Ford opens new Advanced Manufacturing Centre – to make 3D-printed parts for new Shelby Mustang GT500

Ford has announced that the next Shelby Mustang GT500, one that’s due to debut next month at the 2019 North American International Auto Show, will be fitted with two 3D-printed brake parts. The F-150 Raptor built for China will also include a 3D-printed interior part, and these parts will be developed and produced at the Blue Oval’s new Advanced Manufacturing Centre in Redford, Michigan.

The US$45 million (RM187.7 million) facility houses a variety of state-of-the-art development and manufacturing technologies. Three-dimensional parts printing is one of such techs, and the Redford plant features 23 3D printing machines. This allows Ford engineers to develop applications with different materials – from sand to nylon powder to carbon. One application currently under development has the potential to save the company more than US$2 million (RM8.34 million).

As 3D printing becomes more affordable, 3D parts will become more prevalent. The technology is also said to help employees improve vehicle quality. For example, the assembly line at the Michigan Assembly Plant, which Ford uses to build the Ranger, uses five different 3D-printed tools. This shaves weeks off the tight timelines and ensures quality workmanship.

Ford is currently identifying ways to save time and money, including how to 3D print replacement parts to keep lines running instead of waiting for parts that can take weeks to be fabricated.

Ford’s president of global operations, Joe Hinrichs said: “More than 100 years ago, Ford created the moving assembly line, forever changing how vehicles would be mass-produced. Today, we are reinventing tomorrow’s assembly line – tapping technologies once only dreamed of on the big screen – to increase our manufacturing efficiency and quality.”

Besides 3D printing, there’s also augmented and virtual reality, robotics, digital manufacturing and more. The AR and VR tech allows Ford manufacturing teams to work collaboratively – in real time – in plants around the world. For example, if a vehicle is intended to be produced globally, teams can work together to design optimal manufacturing workstations for all continents. Approximately 100 experts work at the development hub for cutting-edge manufacturing technologies.

Ford opens new Advanced Manufacturing Centre – to make 3D-printed parts for new Shelby Mustang GT500

Another complementary technology is the use of collaborative robots, or cobots, as Ford calls it. These smaller robots can work safely alongside people, without protective cages. Cobots at Ford’s Livonia Transmission Plant can easily perform a job that’s ergonomically difficult for human employees, some taking up to one hour at a time.

Cobots also help Ford reduce costs by eliminating the need for expensive safety cages that larger robots require for safety reasons. Utilising cobots in the Advanced Manufacturing Centre allows the company to identify and address potential production issues before the cobots are installed in plants.

“While we are increasing our use of collaborative robots, we strongly believe there is a need for both people and robots,” said Hinrichs. “People are better at doing certain jobs, while robots are able to perform certain tasks, including those that are ergonomically taxing for people.”

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Matthew H Tong

An ardent believer that fun cars need not be fast and fast cars may not always be fun. Matt advocates the purity and simplicity of manually swapping cogs while coping in silence of its impending doom. Matt's not hot. Never hot.

 
 

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