The press and stamping plant has started mounting the Erfurt stamping press with a power of 800 tonnes which was previously demounted in the small batch shop, then modernized and removed to the press site of the cab details stamping and welding shop. This is the place where cab details will be made for K5 heavy trucks.
A cut-to-length line is being modernized at the blank production shop now. Blanks will be delivered fr om there to the press site wh ere four IHI press machines which has been working for more than 40 years will soon be modernized. Now they are filled with up-to-date elements – experts repaired the mechanical part, completely replaced the electrical part, the control system is electronic, with sensing units on the console. There will soon be another new press to stamp small details from the tape with a power of 250 tonnes.
According to Yaroslav Vasilenko, Foreman of the Cab Details Stamping and Welding, die blocks the acceptance of which is to start in May differ from those used at the Press and Stamping Plant. "Standard components are used in their construction to the maximum extent. Such an approach is now used by the world's top producers. This is why it's very important for us to establish a maintenance process," he explained. "We are currently developing processes to serve die tooling, but the most effective usage of tools and equipment can be achieved thanks to such information technologies as a digital certificate of die blocks, a Manufacturing Execution System (MES). Included in the control process, they will read all necessary characteristics from the machines and signal that scheduled maintenance is needed to avoid emergency downtime when the preset threshold values of this or that element are reached.
There will soon be welding machines at the renewed site. Resistance welders to weld nuts on parts have already arrived at the plant. Their installation is scheduled for May immediately after all utility lines are laid. And four robots to manufacture crossbars of dash panels are expected to arrive only in September.
All items of 130 types will be checked in special laboratories which will also appear next to the shop. The geometry of parts and units will be measured contact-free in one of them, the weld quality will be checked in another one.
The stamping process will start to be debugged in June, and this autumn it is planned to deliver the first 200 sets of parts made at the press and stamping plant to the cab frame plant. It's planned to start serial deliveries of products from 2019.