22.05.2018 FCA BRAZIL USING "VIRTUAL REALITY" TO HONE THE PRODUCTION PROCESS

FIAT CHRYSLER AUTOMOVEIS BRAZIL - VIRTUAL REALITY PRODUCTION LINE

 
FIAT CHRYSLER AUTOMOVEIS BRAZIL - VIRTUAL REALITY PRODUCTION LINE

 
FIAT CHRYSLER AUTOMOVEIS BRAZIL - VIRTUAL REALITY PRODUCTION LINE

With each new vehicle launch, a revolution happens on the factory floor with new processes and technologies being incorporated into production lines. In order to keep up with these transformations, Fiat Chrysler Automóveis Brasil (FCA) now ensures that new vehicle assembly takes place, first, in the virtual environment.

In these new ‘production’ spaces, the tools instead are the 3D glasses, joysticks and the projector screen. The goal is to create interactive and immersive digital models to test every stage of the car's assembly process.

A virtual line, identical to the real one, is created, facilitating the decision making of FCA’s multidisciplinary teams with the focus being placed on the quality of the processes of the manufacturing, as well as the logistics aspect and the ergonomics of the operators.

"Among the innovations of Industry 4.0 is the concept of ‘Digital Twin’, that is, where it is possible to create and test processes before they are physically installed," explains Fabio Pugliese, specialist in Manufacturing Engineering at FCA.

One of the software used is the IC.IDO, which has been developed by French supplier ESI. FCA was the first company in the automotive sector in Brazil to use IC.IDO applied to manufacturing.

"With this solution, it is possible to map all the movements and the posture of the operators in the execution of activities like, for example, the assembly of a light", says Eric Baier, an FCA expert in Virtual Simulation.

Among the advantages of the tool is highlight the collaborative simulation. In virtual reality rooms, professionals from different areas are collaborate, integrating Product Engineering and Manufacturing Engineering to identify opportunities for improvement, either directly in the product or in the production process.

"[For the] Fiat Cronos, the tool was used in several simulations, such as in the panel assembly,” Baier says.

At the Fiat Automotive factory in Betim, Minas Gerais, the virtual reality room is integrated with ‘Manufacturing 2020’, a laboratory created to test new technologies covered by ‘Industry 4.0’, created after an investment of around R$1 million.

"This value was recovered within eight months of operation of the room," says Pugliese.

Already at the new Jeep Automotive factory in Goiana, Pernambuco, which opened just a couple of years ago and is regarded as one of FCA’s most advanced facilities worldwide, the solution was applied to validate the production lines for the Jeep Renegade, Jeep Compass and Fiat Toro.

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Photos: Fiat Chrysler Automóveis / © 2018 Interfuture Media/Italiaspeed