"Hundreds" of robots possible in £2.5 billion Land Rover programme
"Hundreds" of robots possible in £2.5 billion Land Rover programme
Keywords: Robots, Automotive
Robot suppliers are closely watching developments at Land Rover, the UK division of Ford Motor Company specializing in four-by-four sports utility vehicles.
Ford has ear-marked a £2.5 billion investment programme for new models and manufacturing equipment at Land Rover's Solihull, UK facility. This could lead to a demand for hundreds of new robots.
Land Rover plans to roll out four new models over the next five years as work already starts on the replacement for the current Discovery. This will be followed by a new Defender, a mid-size Range Rover, and the next generation Freelander.
ABB Flexible Automation, Kawasaki and KUKA could be in the frame to supply robots for the next generation Discovery body-in-white programme; all three companies are closely monitoring events to see which way Land Rover and Ford will move.
KUKA supplied over 125 robots for the new Range Rover manufacturing facility now coming on stream – 123 of these are in the body-in-white assembly shop– following a commercial decision by BMW, which owned Land Rover at the time.
This was the first time Land Rover had used KUKA robots in significant numbers; previously, Land Rover purchasing and manufacturing engineering staff have selected ABB Flexible Automation as a preferred robot supplier for former installations in Solihull. ABB may still be a preferred Land Rover supplier.
Meanwhile, the new KUKA robots have required extensive new training programmes for both operators and maintenance staff.
The picture is further clouded because Ford has shown a preference for Kawasaki robots for its Jaguar Cars' manufacturing complexes at both Castle Bromwich and Halewood in the UK where the S-Type and X-Type respectively are produced. Also, Kawasaki robots have been specified for the new X350 aluminium-intensive replacement for the Jaguar XJ saloon that will appear later this year.
It is also possible that Comau, the factory automation division of Fiat,could be in line for work at Solihull. In which case this raises the possibility of a fourth contender as robot supplier. Ford has specified Comau robots for some of its new car programmes.
