The Ford Sollers plant is located in Naberezhnye Chelny (Republic of Tatarstan). In addition to it, the KamAZ enterprise is located in the city. Until 2011, it produced ssangyong cars and Fiat, and even earlier - "Oka". Now the factory is doing Ford crossovers EcoSport, and in 2015 will be added to them Ford Fiesta. There are three in Russia Ford plant Sollers - two more are located in the special economic zone "Alabuga" and in Vsevolozhsk. The Village visited an enterprise in Naberezhnye Chelny and learned how cars are assembled there.
Ford Sollers
Location: city of Naberezhnye Chelny
Employees: 1 200 people
plant abounds bright colors: yellow welding guns, blue carts, red monorails, orange balancers and hangers, multi-colored wires. It is interesting that an industrial designer was engaged in the design of the space - to create a comfortable atmosphere.
Parts for EcoSport are imported from more than ten countries, but now the localization program is actively working, thanks to which the plant has 50 Russian suppliers. By the end of the year, they want to increase the share of Russian components to 40%. At the same time, not all suppliers can cooperate with Ford Sollers: their production system must meet Ford requirements.
First, on the lines in the welding shop, individual components of the car are welded - engine compartment, front floor, rear floor, underbody and sidewalls. Then the robotic complex forms the body. This process is fully automated. After the geometry is formed, a roof is installed on the body. This is done with a video system. Errors that occur are displayed on the control monitors, and this helps to correct the work.
Every fifth design is checked for compliance with quality standards in the geometry measurement laboratory. They find out if everything is welded correctly. In this room, the air temperature is always kept at +20 degrees to compensate for the seasonal error: in winter, the metal tends to narrow and expand in summer. The measurement takes place on more than 200 points using the mechanical touch method. Permissible deviation from the norm - 1.5 mm. Reports with measurement results go to the welding shop for line correction.
Before painting, the body passes preliminary training in 11 baths. Here, washing, activation, phosphating, cataphoretic priming of the surface, application of anti-noise and seam mastic take place. After that, the body is dried and enters the painting booth, where robots cover it with a secondary primer and color coating. Eight colors are currently used, but their number may vary - depending on dealer orders. After the final polishing, the sparkling body can go further.
Then he goes to belt conveyor to the assembly shop, which consists of three lines- "Trim", "Chassis" and "Final". First, protective covers, soundproofing, engine compartment, cabin bundle harness, airbags, brake pipes, pedals, air conditioning,
IP panel. So that the worker knows which parts to use, a manifest is attached to each machine - a document indicating the type of equipment .
At the second post of the line, the doors are removed. Later, they will descend onto the same car they were taken from. Up to this point, they are supplemented by a power window, electric wire, noise and vibration isolation, panel, speakers, rear-view mirrors and other parts.
There are many women working in the shop. According to the head of the department, it is they who basically become foremen. In general, despite the fact that automotive production It is considered to be difficult and time-consuming; back in 1914, half of the functions did not require physical exertion from people and could be performed equally successfully by both men and women.
At some posts, racks with parts are equipped with burning flashlights - one in each compartment. When a worker picks up a part, he turns off his flashlight so that he doesn't pick it up again by mistake when assembling the same car. Together with people in the workshop, one robot works: it applies glue to the glass. Automation of the process avoids the ingress of an excessive amount of adhesive mass and prevents leakage.
On the "Chassis" line, the body moves along hangers, each of which rises to a certain height - depending on the height of the person who works at each post. Interestingly, the principle of vertical position at work was introduced by Henry Ford exactly 100 years ago: “Raising the working plane to arm height and further fragmenting the working movements ... led to a reduction in working time to 1.33 hours for the chassis,” he wrote in his autobiographical book . On the Chassis-1 line, air conditioning pipes, thermal protection, fuel tank, shock absorbers, filters, logos are glued. The bolts on the bottom of the body are marked after each tightening - so that the worker knows that he not only baited it, but also tightened it. Clients sometimes unknowingly take such markings as a sign of marriage.
An important part of the assembly is the docking of the body with the transmission (at the factory it is called "wedding" or decking). The transmission is supplied by automatic shuttles that move on a floor ring monorail conveyor.
Next comes the installation exhaust system, cardan shaft, final assembly mechanical groups using manipulators for an electronic programmable instrument. Seats, bumpers, wheels, a spare tire are also installed on the Chassis line, connected steering rack. At the end there is a control post - they inspect the body there before sending it to the "Final". Brake, washer and coolant fluids are poured into the car. After that going backdoor trunk and front engine compartment. Headlights are also installed there and doors are attached, and electronics are checked using a scanner. The controller checks the build quality.
Factory employees check electronic systems cars, wheel alignment and headlight beams. Then the car passes dynamic tests on a roll test - it is checked how the engine and gearbox work when accelerating to 110 km / h. At the very end, the door closing speed is tested and paintwork, the resistance of the car to leakage is checked. Then the car goes to the test track, where it takes place Final inspection In action. Then the car leaves for the warehouse of finished products, after which it is sent to dealers.
Photos: Ivan Gushchin
The Mulsanne model, which many at the factory habitually call the code name Kimberley, can generally be considered a sample of custom-made, piece goods. For example, in order to get a solid, in the spirit of the past, body cut, Crewe equipped a separate workshop for the production of its own bodies, where - of course - 11 conscientious robots work hard, but the most jewelry operations, including some types of welding, are still entrusted to a person. Other magicians of the "electrode" manage to provide almost absolute accuracy of docking - an error of 1 mm is already considered a marriage.
About tanning: for stitching one interior, the master needs to make 3800 stitches, which takes (if the stitch is regular, double, and not cruciform) 37 hours. It takes 5 hours and 40 minutes to trim one steering wheel.
However, before falling into the hands of "tailors", the skin undergoes the most thorough check of the furriers. Armed with a crayon and a laser eye, they discard all the scars and scratches left on the skin from thorny bushes, wire, whip, etc. After that, a computer is programmed, which cuts out of each skin maximum amount details, bypassing the marked areas.
The quality of the skin is given Special attention. Bentley only uses bovine leather as it is stronger and larger than cowhide. Bulls come only from Scandinavia or Bavaria, which affects the quality and "clean" smell in their hormones. By the way, 11-12 skins are spent on the upholstery of the Continental GT, and 17-18 on the Mulsanne.
Pasubio Spa is responsible for the way of finishing and painting. They solved the problem of the nasty squeak that used to occur when layers of skin rub against each other, thanks to a new silicone varnish. As for painting, the Italians are ready to choose colors for Bentley that are even beyond the spectral circle. For example, the “Russian” color Beluga has recently replenished the palette. Although the British already boast 24 standard interior color options and 28 standard options for the exterior.
Shakespeare, of course, is right: the rose would retain its sweet smell under another name. But the concept of "tree" in cars should definitely be interpreted differently, since its essence in some models is by no means the same as in others.
Common in lower-ranking engineering, composite "sandwiches" with wood veneer on top, Bentley craftsmen pay back only in sports models, where the force is the light weight of the car and high speeds and not in a solid decor. Another thing is the master's cars: Arnage, Flying Spur, Mulsanne. Here, Crewe's magicians try to use real "solids" of wood, which are then covered with a mirror-symmetrical veneer or, in the English manner, veneer. However, on some details, the ends are left bare on purpose, so that the client can see - everything is natural, no "trickery". It takes 17 sheets of veneer with the same pattern to finish one machine, their total area is 10 m3. It is curious that about a dozen of the same sheets will be stored in the warehouse until the official seller removes the car from the factory registration.
And it may turn out that longer - until the warehouse is full. In 2009, Bentley Motors was forced to sell off its parts and accessories to free up space. More than 55,000 different items got to the unique fair, ranging from nuts to V8 engines. The complete collection of 7 million parts has been stored in 143,000 square feet in Cheshire since 1955.
The impressive shelf life is easily explained: the predominantly manual process of manufacturing each Bentley part is really laborious and long. A veneer is artistically applied to a cut and polished figured bar, varnished in five layers, baked in an oven for three days and, finally, polished, painting over point defects by hand. The production of the entire set of wooden decor elements takes 3 weeks.
In the lexicon of the employees of the Mulliner department, who are responsible for fulfilling the whims of the client, the word "impossible" does not exist at all. For example, the Sultan of Brunei wanted an SUV - they assembled him Bentley Dominator for 3 million pounds, or Queen Elizabeth II wanted to sheathe rear seats fabric instead of leather, and such fabric was found, or the queen asked to change the letter "B" to the family figurine of St. George the Victorious - no problem.
Today, the team from Crewe is actively developing another direction - the creation armored vehicles for clients in Latin America, the Middle East and Russia. Interestingly, eight out of 10 Bentleys are currently sold outside the UK.
The photo below shows the rarest Bentley, made in the 1930s in single copy- "Embiricos". The customer was the Greek racer Andre Embirikos, who lived at that time in Paris. The body for the new car, under the direction of designer Georges Paulin, was built at the Pourtout Carrossier studio and made of duralumin. At the end of 1939, Embiricos sold it to another rider, who took part in three post-war 24-hour races at Le Mans and in 1949 achieved sixth place.
When this car was built, Bentley had a desire to develop the theme of streamlined bodies in their future models. The influence of Bentley Embiricos on post-war models could be traced back to the 1952 R Type Continental or the modern Continental GT.
AvtoVAZ is one of the largest automobile plants in Europe, whose production capacities allow the production of up to 800,000 cars and car kits per year. The birthday of AvtoVAZ is considered July 20, 1966, when the Decree of the USSR government was signed on the construction of a plant in Togliatti for the production of cars. The plant was built in record time: 3 years after the start earthworks the first "penny" came off the assembly line - the legendary VAZ-2101, from which the history of the LADA brand, known to everyone today, began. Today AvtoVAZ produces six main families LADA cars: LADA 4x4, LADA SAMARA, LADA PRIORA, LADA GRANTA, LADA KALINA and LADA LARGUS.
All AVTOVAZ vehicles comply with Euro-4 international standards, and those exported to the EEC countries also comply with Euro-5. About 67 thousand people work at the plant, average age who are 40 years old; approximately 21 thousand people are young people under 30 years old. At the end of 2012, AvtoVAZ will become multi-brand - Nissan Almera and two Renault models will be produced here. The other day, the press service of AvtoVAZ organized an excursion for Togliatti bloggers to the plant, thanks to which you can see this photo review.
01. In the beginning, we went up to the 24th floor of the plant management building and admired the views of the plant and its surroundings from a height. I really had to shoot through the glass, so the quality of the photo is not very good.
02. The plant is huge, it is located on an area of more than 600 hectares, the area of the enterprise buildings is more than 4 million square meters. AVTOVAZ workshops contain tens of thousands of pieces of equipment; length of conveyor lines - 300 km; length of the main conveyor - 1.5 km
03. Cars of workers who arrived at the plant.
04. You can see more about how the plant was built in my historical review here (BRIEF HISTORY OF AVTOVAZ)
05. CHP VAZ - more about it in my photo review here (CHP VAZ)
06. Platforms for commercial vehicles half filled.
07. Cars are selling fast, which indicates the growing popularity of car factory products.
08. Track for testing cars.
09. Avtozavodsky district of Togliatti is visible in the distance.
10. Southern highway.
11. Chapel and fragment scientific and technical center(NTC)
12. Fragment of the technical museum.
13. Igor Yuryevich Burenkov, Director of External Relations of AvtoVAZ (left), briefly spoke about the development of the plant over the past three years and answered questions from bloggers.
15. Here, car body parts are stamped from flat steel sheets. You can get lost without a guide, the workshops are huge.
16. July 14, 2010 AVTOVAZ launched the most modern automatic press line Japanese made Komatsu line. The daily productivity of the line is 11,300 parts, and paired parts can be stamped simultaneously. If it is necessary to reconfigure the press, the replacement of dies can be done in record time - 10-12 minutes (instead of 4-5 hours on old equipment). Line units are completely covered with special sound-absorbing screens, which provides noise reduction up to 85 decibels.
17. The high-speed automatic line "KOMATSU" consists of 5 presses and is designed for the manufacture of large front and view panels: roof, doors, hood, trunk, fenders, sidewalls. Chaser plastic window you can watch the process. Machina is indeed impressively nimble.
18. On this moment roofs are stamped, the worker at the exit checks their quality.
19. Finished parts are sent to the warehouse.
22. Garden of robots - this is how workers poetically call the welding shop of LADA KALINA.
23. Here, out of several dozen body parts the most important and expensive part of the car is formed - the body.
25. Details for the future body of "Kalina" are waiting for their turn.
27. About 350 welding robots are concentrated in the workshop.
28. Now the body is taking shape.
29. Robots weld more and more new parts.
30. Welding lines are configured according to mathematical models, which in turn were created during the design of LADA KALINA. The use of such technologies made it possible to achieve qualitatively new indicators in terms of body geometry.
31. This whole "garden" was created under the license of the famous German company "KUKA". Two types of robots work in a limited area: transporters and welders.
32. To ensure geometry accuracy, finished bodies are randomly selected each shift and tested in a CMM (coordinate measuring machine) chamber. A high-precision device capable of detecting a discrepancy of several microns with the embedded program will be able to identify the problem in a timely manner and issue recommendations for reconfiguring welding equipment.
33. There is also manual welding in the workshop.
34. Then we went to line B0 (read "be zero"). B0 production is the first large-scale joint project between AVTOVAZ and Alliance Renault-Nissan with a production capacity of up to 350 thousand vehicles per year (with a three-shift operation).
35. Now the car "Lada-Largus" (five and seven-seater) is being produced here. The cost is from 350 to 450 thousand, depending on the configuration.
36. While the line is operating at partial capacity, about 100 Largus are assembled here per day.
37. Soon cars under the brands "Nissan" and "Renault" will also be produced here.
39. Silencers for "Largus".
40. Chassis.
41. The interior of "Largus" is large, in my opinion a good car for a large family.
42. We are considering a novelty.
43. In parallel, the conveyor passes, where the Samara is assembled - the 14th and 15th models.
44. Here, of course, everything is simpler, the old equipment is still standing, but over time, everything will be replaced here.
45. Here glasses are installed on the Largus.
46. Do simple models rear side windows glued, the suite has opening windows, like a window leaf.
47. Install bumpers.
48. Headlights are installed here.
49. Screw the wheels.
50. And the almost finished car is moving towards the control point.
51. View of "Largus" in front.
52. Rear view of the Largus.
53. Side view of the Largus.
54. Checkpoint.
56. We pass even further to the assembly shop "Kalina" and "Priora".
57. Passing views.
58. Factory newspaper "Volzhsky autobuilder" on the table.
59. Let's go a little through the assembly shop "Kalin".
60. Information boards for workers.
61. A lot of young people work in the shop.
63. I have the "Kalina" myself, I'm happy with the car. A few small things broke, but nothing serious.
64. Next year, "Kalina" will be updated, both inside and out.
69. Here cars are filled with gasoline, oil and so on.
70. Drivers drive cars to checkpoints.
72. The last stage is the line of final surrender.
73. Here the car passes the last control before release.
75. The car is ready!
76. And in conclusion, a few frames next to the plant management. Monument to Polyakov, the first director of AvtoVAZ.
77. Factory management buildings.
78. And of course group photo for memory: from left to right - Ravil, Valera, Dmitry and me
Thanks to the AvtoVAZ press service and especially to Mikhail for a good tour!
One day at AvtoVAZ
Gorky car factory- one of the largest Russian enterprises. For a very long time I wanted to get to it and take pictures of various workshops, but the administration did not go to the meeting. Yesterday, the prime minister came to the plant, and it turned out for half an hour to go in and take a little picture of one of the shops where the bodies of Gazelle minibuses are completed.
01. The most surprising thing is that the workshop, at first glance, was not particularly prepared for the arrival of the prime minister. The floors were dirty, the snow on the territory was poorly cleaned. Only the evening make-up of the employees gave out a solemn visit. 
02. All the workers on the assembly line, along which the prime minister was supposed to pass, were dressed in branded clean overalls. 
03. Less representative part of the work team. The girl was not supposed to get into the prime minister's field of vision, she was wearing the usual dirty bathrobe, gloves with holes, she even came to work without styling and evening makeup. 
04. We were taken to the workshop, where the assembly of the already welded and painted body takes place. Everything is done by hand. 
05. Gazelle bodies slowly crawl along the conveyor, workers install glass, trim, dashboards, suspension elements, headlights, etc. in them. The only thing that is automated here is the slow movement of bodies around the shop, everything else is done by the hands of hundreds of GAZ workers. 
06. A lot of women. 
07. Each worker has his own post with spare parts that he needs to install on the body. Where other industries have installed computer systems spare parts consumption control, the “terrible cry” system is on gas. "Vasya! I'm out of seals! Let's go faster!" Because of this, the conveyor constantly stops. 
08. Despite the dilapidation of production, very good people work here. 
09. An LED panel with production records hangs above the conveyor. 
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11. A photographer can spend a week here, a very interesting and photogenic production. 
12. Gradually, a truck will turn out of this frame. 
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16. These are the employees who work at GAZ as drivers. 
17. And these are on the conveyor! 
18. And even such ... 
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21. The prime minister should not come here. Workers can let themselves look natural, without branded clothes and with hammers. 
22. Bam-bang! And the Gazelle is ready! 
23. And then Putin arrived with Governor Shantsev. To begin with, he was shown graphs of the rapid growth of production, and then they went through the conveyor. 
24. Dashboard new minibus. I am very sorry that I did not photograph the details of this miracle for you. I have not seen such a disgusting quality of plastic for a long time, it seems that it was cut out with a file. I had no idea that such a panel would be shown at the premiere. Apparently, Putin was a little surprised... 
25. The workers were very pleased with the visit of distinguished guests. 
26. Work got up, everyone watched the prime minister inspect the plant. 
27. “Look, this is an element new suspension, now it has become even stronger! 
28. The prime minister and the governor were accompanied by the management of the plant, security guards and journalists. 
29. Could have touched up the floor. ;) 
30. Yes, Vladimir Vladimirovich, this is a Gazelle. Vladimir Vladimirovich sadly looked at this Nizhny Novgorod miracle. 
31. At some point, Putin became hot in a down jacket, and he decided to take it off. The LifeNews photographer tried to capture this moment. The attempt was quickly stopped by a security officer: “Do you want erotica?! Put away the camera! You don't have to shoot here!" Nobody understood the joke. 
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34. I did not hear what Putin was talking about, but the smile on his face almost did not appear. I don't think he knows what to do with it all. 
35. The premiere was constantly praised, shown something ... 
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39. At the end of the German concern Daimler AG and the Russian automobile manufacturer GAZ Group have signed an agreement to assemble Mercedes-Benz Sprinter minibuses at GAZ. 
40. At this moment, Putin for the first time sincerely smiled. 
41. Signing an agreement on some loans was not so fun. 
Timur Agirov aka timag82 writes: “Another enterprise that I specially visited in Cherkessk is the first private automobile plant in Russia, Derways, which successfully assembles cars Chinese stamps. I offer a photo essay capturing the main moments of the assembly - from unloading containers with CKD kits to loading finished cars in car carriers.
A few words about Derways. The name Derveis is made up of the names of the founders, they are the Derevy brothers, widely known in the republic, and English word"roads". At first, in 2002, it was a small automotive division holding "Mercury", which two years later released an SUV own development"Cowboy". In 2005, the Romanian company APO, which is a chassis supplier, went bankrupt, and the owners reoriented production to assembly Chinese cars. Car kits were produced in China, imported to Russia, assembled and sold here. Now these are the brands Lifan, Khaima, Geely, as well as Great wall hover. Production capacity the factory - 130 thousand cars a year, the company employs at least 1000 people, which is essential for Cherkessk. So let's see what it looks like."
(Total 42 photos)
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1. At the checkpoint. To the right is the administration building. Behind it is a large territory of the plant, 23.5 hectares.
2. Let's go directly to the customs zone and the zone where the containers with the complete set are stored, arriving here by sea from China, Chongqing, where the headquarters of Lifan Industrial Group is located.
3. Vehicle kits are unloaded, something is delivered to the warehouse, something immediately leaves for the welding shop.
4. Let's go to the welding shop.
5. The welding shop consists of three sections - a sub-assembly, the main welding line and a section for hanging and straightening, from where the body is sent for painting (the line is at the end of the hall in the photo).
6. Welding is partly automated, partly manual labor is used.
9. Before we get to the next painting shop, we go through the lock, we are given special clothes.
11. Paint mixing room. Because production is dangerous, it can only be seen through glass.
12. The line for preparing bodies for painting consists of 14 baths, in which each body is first cleaned by immersion in a special solution, then primary primer is applied to it by electroplating, after which the body is washed again.
14. Then the bodies enter the line, where the seams are processed and dried at high temperature.
16. Cleaning the body before painting.
17. 8 Japanese-made painting robots apply enamel. The painting operation takes literally 5 minutes, and 10 seconds are enough to change the paint.
18. The whole process is automated and controlled from outside the spray booth.
19. The paint shop consists of three floors, painting is carried out on the second, in order to lower the car to the first, a special elevator is provided.
22. After painting, the body enters the drying chamber, where it stays for 45 minutes at a temperature of approximately 160 degrees.
23. Then the bodies move to the assembly shop.
25. Before going to the assembly shop, we went into the neighboring rooms, in which another assembly line is being installed.
26. This is how a brand new assembly shop looks like before the installation of equipment in it
28. I took these photos in the summer, at the present time, I think, the equipment has already been installed - from January 2014, Derweiss begins to produce new models, perhaps this will be done here.
29. And this general form to the existing assembly shop.
30. There are two lines, they can produce up to 80 thousand cars a year.
31. Chassis assembly area.
