industry of the future
trucks, buses and aircraft, and it is already one of the largest export categories. BCG forecasts the US will increase exports in transportation equipment to Western Europe and Japan by $3 bil- lion to $9 billion.
With Chrysler becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fiat SpA
in January 2014, the opportunity for other North American manu- facturers to become more familiar with Italian manufacturing and technology is greater than ever. Fiat established its World Class Manufacturing
(WCM)
system in 2006 and brought it to Chrysler in 2009, at the height of the Great Recession and automotive crisis that had threatened to extinguish the American automaker. In 2012, Chrysler also opened a World Class Manufacturing Academy in Warren, MI, that puts advanced manufacturing technology and training on display, with touch screens on the walls, iPads on tables, and plenty of hands- on laboratories. Executives from Fiat and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne have emphasized that advanced manufacturing has played a key role in the company’s turnaround. WCM, they say, has eliminated waste and improved efficiency, safety, logistics and quality. Part of this effort included a major investment in modern
metrology equipment. In fact, Chrysler invested over $100 million to build Metrology Centers at its assembly plants. Each Metrol- ogy Center is housed in 12,000–15,000 square feet (1115–1345 square meters) of space. For example, the center at the Toledo Assembly Complex is 12,400 square feet (1150 square meters)
with one 18 meter, quad-arm horizontal coordinate measuring ma- chines, two 6 meter horizontal dual-arm CMMs, two portable laser trackers with hand-held T-probe, a white light scanner, and laser gages. The Toledo Assembly Metrology Center is staffed with 11 metrology engineers and 19 UAW skilled tradesmen. Program teams now spend up to an hour every week going over dimensional quality data in great detail with top manage- ment, according to James Cole, metrology manager for the Toledo Assembly Complex. They review the status of part quality, BIW geometry, and Engineering Build Objectives, such as gap, flush and closing effort.
“Five years ago, our fit and finish was below average,” said Dr.
Raj Kawlra, director of dimensional strategy and management of Chrysler Group. “To be the future world leaders, we knew that we had to focus on all aspects of quality…vehicles that look good, feel good, sound good, and are reliable.” Marposs, which has been a supplier to Chrysler for more than 30 years, is one Italian company helping North American manufacturers remain competitive. Gary Sicheneder, Manager of New Market Development at Marposs in Auburn Hills, MI, said global competition has companies seeking out innovative prod- ucts to give them an edge. ”We see many examples,” he said, “that the renaissance in North American manufacturing is being driven, in part, by manufacturers seeking to improve quality and productivity and reduce cost by implementing advanced products for measurement, inspection and process control.”
Advanced Technology Improves Quality
One area where advanced manufacturing technology really shines is quality. Operators are increasingly expected to
An ergonomic gauge table layout incorporating 48 Marposs iWave wireless bore gauges has enabled a leading North American automotive supplier to reduce by one-half the time needed for audit inspection of two transmission components.
perform routine sampling inspections in their machining cells. As a result, gauge tables are becoming a common sight in many plants. A typical example built for a domes- tic auto supplier uses 48 different Marposs iWave manual wireless gauges to check 40 different features on a powertrain component and 41 features on its cover, with an average time of 12 to 15 minutes per complete test. The iWave allows multiple variable gaug- ing elements to be interfaced wirelessly to computers and/or electronic displays. The gauging elements themselves can be changed in a few seconds using Marposs’ Starlock system, which requires no tools. With the part fixtured and identified, the system goes into a “Guided Sequence” mode that displays a 3D image of the part
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