All Automation articles
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ArticleWork starts on Goodyear’s new automated tyre facility in Luxembourg
Goodyear Tyre & Rubber Company has announced plans to invest $77m in a highly automated facility in Luxembourg.The proprietary production process, named Mercury, being used at the facility will include interconnected workstations that use additive manufacturing to produce on-demand small batches of premium tyres.“Mercury addresses the increasing complexity in the ...
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ArticleVolkswagen OTC: Sea king of the Kassel
[sta_anchor id="1"]In many ways, the heart of Volkswagen Group After Sales – the OEM’s service parts and aftermarket division – is its massive Original Teile (Parts) Centre (OTC) in Baunatal, near Kassel, central Germany. This impressive storage and shipping centre serves destinations across the world, including European dealerships as well ...
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ArticleIFOY Awards announced at Transport Logistics
The winners of the the International Forklift Truck of the Year (IFOY) Awards were announced on the opening night of this year's Transport Logistics trade show in Munich, Germany, this week at a special event held at BMW Welt, the carmaker's customer centre.This year, 11 machines from seven manufacturers made ...
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ArticleMaterials handling: Machines on the move
[in_this_story align="right" border="yes"] Advances in automated technology and robotics have already transformed many aspects of automotive manufacturing, with the sector taking a lead in plant technology and automation investment, from stamping equipment to precision welding robots. In the context of increasing digitalisation, manufacturers are looking to go much further, ...
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ArticleA back-to-the-future approach to connectivity
Resolving the connectivity required in tomorrow’s logistics networks is a challenge. But there’s no need to look to future technology on this score, as a highly appropriate solution is already in our hands. Neil Hamilton is VP business development at Thingstream, a division of mobile company Myriad GroupThe growth ...
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Seat holds second logistics innovation event at Martorell factory
Spanish carmaker Seat held a two-day logistics innovation event last week at its Martorell factory in Spain at which ten suppliers presented the latest in robotic and drone technology for inventory management, handling and delivery to the assembly line.The event, held at the carmaker’s logistics innovation centre at the factory ...
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ArticleSeat: A megatruckload of progress
Seat’s supply chain leaders open up about rail infrastructure, the carmaker’s use of automation and its service parts networkIn this story... Seat's European network Multimodal and connected Aftersales in motionSeat has been emblematic of Spain’s automotive ups and downs over the past decade. It suffered badly during the country’s severe ...
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ArticleHow logistics automation can revolutionise the aftermarket
Automation of logistics processes is the key to an efficient automotive aftermarket supply chain. Tim Fawkes thinks aftermarket services are better managed through good systems and multiple carriersThe availability and distribution of vehicle parts to meet service and installation needs are critical to the aftermarket industry. Rising demand from quicker ...
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It may not be popular, but collaboration is still the only smart option
Despite the rise in populist protectionism so clearly underlined by the UK's recent vote to leave the EU and Donald Trump's surprising US election win, working together remains the only sensible way forwardSupply chain experts will spend 2017 dealing with the aftermath of the protectionist sentiments that helped propel the ...
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ArticleIntelligent logistics supports Bremen output for Mercedes-Benz
Intelligent logistics and a flexible supply chain are being used to underpin the recently launched production of the Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupé at the OEM’s plant in Bremen, Germany, Daimler has claimed – helping to maintain the site as the most complex globally for its number of variants.Markus Schäfer, member of ...
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ArticleSelf-driving vehicles will do more than just reinvent road transport
Autonomous vehicles will do much for road safety but their benefits will extend far beyond this, with particular gains for businesses managing fleets of mobile service engineers...Self-driving vehicles are becoming increasingly popular, with some 10m projected to be hitting the road by 2020, according to BI Intelligence. The most compelling ...
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ArticleBMW’s ‘connected’ logistics: Shaping a self-steering supply chain
BMW’s senior vice-president of logistics, Jürgen Maidl, and other executives talk to Automotive Logistics about the carmaker’s drive towards a decentralised and fully connected logistics flow
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ArticleNissan initiates automated towing system at Oppama plant
Nissan has introduced an intelligent vehicle towing (IVT) system at its Oppama manufacturing plant in Japan that uses a modified, self-driving Leaf electric vehicle to pull a car-carrying trailer.Trials of the system began a year ago and over 1,600 test runs have been carried out since, the OEM has revealed.The ...
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ArticleBMW and logistics automation: from prototype to (augmented) reality
The premium carmaker is taking a step-by-step approach to bringing smarter automation and digital technology into its day-to-day operations, with big plans for the future. BMW’s senior logistics managers are pushing new technology into the carmaker’s supply chain, with a number of pilot projects involving automated guided vehicles (AGVs), robots ...
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ArticleTesla buys automated manufacturing specialist Grohmann
Electric vehicle producer Tesla has agreed to acquire Grohmann Engineering, an automated manufacturing specialist, for an undisclosed sum.Located in Prüm, Germany, Grohmann will be renamed Tesla Grohmann Automation and is expected to design and produce several critical elements of Tesla’s automated manufacturing systems, as the electric car company targets production ...
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ArticleBMW outlines new plans to transform logistics efficiency
Oliver Zipse, the carmaker's board member for production, reveals how it intends to sharply increase the level of automation involved in its production and logistics activities BMW is already testing out self-driving robots and sees great potential to extend their useBMW Group’s top executive for production has outlined plans to ...
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ArticleThe new industrial age – are you prepared?
The impact of automation on society in general and on industry in particular – especially the automotive and logistics sectors – is growing, suggests Dr Julian Francis (pictured)In Britain and all over the Western world, large numbers of people feel the system is no longer working for them. Globalisation has ...
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ArticleTruck platooning: a future benefit for automotive logistics
A recent test of truck platooning has successfully demonstrated the technology’s considerable potential for commercial vehicle fleets... In the first half of 2016, the Netherlands held the presidency of the council of the European Union and during this time, Melanie Schultz van Haegen, minister of infrastructure and environment (which transport ...
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ArticleChina conference: catching up with digital and automation trends
Steve Dyer, from Bain & Company, said China had a long way to go in catching up to the US and European productivityDespite China’s reputation as a manufacturing powerhouse, filling the world’s homes and stores with products ‘made in China’, rising labour and production costs are increasingly a competitive ...