We Are Creating the "Factory of the Future" by Today!

27.07.2020News From Ford

Güven Özyurt Ford Otosan Lideri

"The best way to predict the future is to create it." - Peter Drucker

We took another significant step in our progress towards the "Factory of the Future" target, supported by Industry 4.0 and Advanced Production Technology Processes.

Our Yeniköy Assembly and Production Planning teams removed the line edge stocks with the Trim 2 Line Kitting (Vehicle Based Material Dispatch) project they realized and ensured that the parts were matched sequentially to the vehicle with full automation.

As you know, assembly workshops in the automotive industry are the working areas with the highest human density. In traditional systems, parts are kept as stock in certain amounts at the edge of the line and dispatched to the edge of the line as needed. This situation causes both the need for inventory at the edge of the line and the constant movement of the production operator between the line and that part stock in order to do her/his job. The time spent during this movement is among the processes that do not add value to production and the customer.

Now we are changing this flow. The reason for this is the increasing variety of vehicles and parts. In the future, we will nearly be manufacturing unique vehicles for almost every customer. On the one hand, changing customer expectations and technological trends, on the other hand, environmental factors; require that the transmission systems with conventional internal combustion engines and electrically driven systems existing together in the coming period.

With this project which is 100% Ford Otosan design with a payback period of two and a half years; part groups specially prepared for each vehicle are loaded on specially designed wheel stands for the project at the pick to light supported alignment area, automatically dispatched by AGVs (autonomous carrier vehicle) to the edge of the line, thus resulting in 28% of the supply rate reduction.

Wheeled stands next to the line are positioned next to the vehicle on the moving line and move together with the vehicle on the line. As our operators can reach the parts, they will attach to the vehicle from a distance of 1 meter at most, we eliminate inefficiencies caused by walking and carrying parts. Wheeled stands that are emptied at the end of the production line also automatically get out of the line and return to the alignment area with the help of AGV. This entire cycle is completed automatically, without human contact. In this sense, it stands out as the first kitting application with a fully automatic cycle within Ford Otosan.

The naturally directed AGVs used in this system are the first to ensure the delivery of parts on time by communicating with the production line. Ergonomics and work safety risks such as walking, carrying parts, and bending are also reduced with the removal of line side stocks. In addition, by converting the equipment in the field to wireless, a significant improvement in industrial hygiene (quiet factory) performance was achieved.

With our project where the mechanical, electrical, and software infrastructure was designed and commissioned with our company's own resources, we had the chance to experience our zero-side stock vision targeted at our factories in the future. On this occasion, I should state that our AGVs designed by us will start working soon.

In all projects that we realized with the vision of becoming Turkey's most precious and preferred industrial corporation, we provide significant support to the development of our human resource as well as our domestic business partners. In this context, I would like to thank my valuable colleagues for working with devotion at every stage from design to commissioning and IROB, Cansın İnovasyon, and Kalesan firms that worked with us in the project.