WORLD OF TEST
EXTRA LARGE PRESS STARTS PRODUCTION AT NISSAN
Production has started on Nissan’s extra-large press at its manufacturing plant in Sunderland. The £37mproject has taken just over 18months to complete, since groundwas brokenmid-way through 2015. Once at full capacity, itwill be capable of stamping 2.5million panels a yearwith a force in excess of 5,200 tonnes. An official ceremonywas held
at the newfacility,which also celebrated themilestone of nine million cars built at the plant since production began in 1986. Nissan’s divisional vice- president, European manufacturing, Kevin Fitzpatrick, said: “The newpress is a fantastic piece of cutting edge technologywhich sets up the next generation of production at Nissan Sunderland Plant. “Reaching ninemillion cars is
also a tremendous achievement for the plant. The vehicleswe make have come a longway fromthe first Nissan Bluebird to roll off the line.” More than 10mhigh,with
foundations deeper than 6.5m, the giant facilitywill press body sides and other panels for vehicles built in Sunderland, including the Qashqai and Juke
The new press can stamp out 2.5 million panels a year and is part of Nissan’s £640m ongoing UK investment
crossovers, the Nissan LEAF electric vehicle and the two Infinitimodels, Q30 and QX30. The newpress line and panel
storage area required a building extension totalling 6,780m2
up space on site above 362,000m2
, taking the total built , the equivalent of
more than 50 football pitches. The newXL press, the first of
its type in the Renault-Nissan Alliance,will be the biggest at Sunderland and joins the existing seven press lines. In addition to the company’s
£3bn annual injection into the British economy through
suppliers, services and wages, the new press forms part of the £650mongoing investment in new facilities and future models in Sunderland, which has taken the total capital investment by Nissan in the plant since it opened to beyond £4bn.
3D PRINTED CAR PARTS PUSH CUSTOMISATION
Ford is testing 3D printing of large-scale car parts using the Stratasys Infinite Build 3D printer, thought to be the first automotive company to trial this technology with Stratasys. Sources say the company is currently exploring potential applications for future production vehicles. 3D printing large car parts,
such as spoilers, could offer customers greater vehicle personalisation opportunities or specialised parts for racing cars. Parts that are 3D printed can be lighter in weight
than their traditionally manufactured counterparts andmay help improve fuel efficiency. A 3D-printed spoiler, for
instance,may have half the weight of itsmetal-cast equivalent. Though 3D printing is not yet
fast enough for high-volume productionmanufacturing, it is amore cost-efficient way to produce parts only needed at low volumes. The new 3D print systemis
3D printed parts are often lighter than traditionally made equivalents 4 /// Environmental Engineering /// April 2017
located at Ford’s Research and Innovation Center in Dearborn.
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