Devising a bespoke solution for Jaguar Land Rover
- Automotive
- 18th April 2024
The Brief
At the highly successful and high production Jaguar Land Rover plant at Solihull, V Installations were tasked with devising a bumper delivery system to transport the finished bumpers from the bumper manufacturer delivery vehicles to the point of fit at the centre of the main vehicle assembly line, ensuring that the pair of bumpers arrive at the point of fit at the same time as the vehicle they are designated for. This needed to be achieved without crossing or compromising the already very busy other delivery routes and walkways.
Our Approach
Bumper Point of Fit
With order placement in February 2014, installation commenced during the second quarter of 2014 and production launch achieved in August 2014.
The first obstacle was of course offloading the 28 pairs of bumpers from the delivery vehicle, V Installations achieved this by kitting out the delivery vehicles with their own 24-volt on-board, heavy duty powered roller conveyors with associated safety stops and clamping mechanisms and PLC control system.
Conveyorised Trailer
As the trailer’s new dedicated delivery dock was on the exterior of the Assembly Block, a route was established to the centre of the Final Assembly 1 facility where the bumper fit process was to be carried out. To achieve this, the innovative solution of utilising the roof void was established.
Conveyors in Roof Space
The delivery system incorporates a false lorry system, nine off elevators and approximately 420 linear metres of roller conveyor/turn tables. Providing not only a “just in time” (JIT) delivery system designed to incorporate the bumper buffer storage system.
To meet the demands of a multiple derivative assembly hall, it was imperative to maintain a constant gap between the bumpers as they travelled through the system as any reduction in this gap had the potential to cause bumper damage.This challenge was overcome by V Installations’ unique “indexing” system utilising “gap check” sensors at every index position, therefore maintaining the correct spacing and damage-free bumpers.
The conveyor system utilises polyurethane coated rollers, four SF30 precision bearings and two self-aligning universal joints at all of its transfer points, therefore maintaining a smooth transition at all 90-degree or 180-degree transfers.
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The Results
In conclusion, V Installations successfully and unobtrusively delivers one pair of bumpers to the point of fit at final assembly every 1.46 minutes without compromising any of the other more antiquated/traditional delivery systems.
Start your project with us today
V Installations are experts in providing solutions for mechanical handling projects in the automotive sector, from specialised, purpose-built unit applications, to re-organisation and/or refurbishment of customers’ existing systems.
We can deliver a wide range of automotive mechanical handling solutions such as this one, developing improved, integrated and bespoke solutions to suit individual customer aspirations.
Within the last 5 years, V Installations have implemented a wide range of solutions within the automotive industry, including 2480 powered roller beds, 124 drop section/elevators, 60 shuttles, 320 side transfer systems and much more.
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