assembly

The 2012 Ford Focus and Explorer models will have quieter cabins thanks to new laser inspection technology.

Ford today announced it is investing $100 million to install robotic plant laser inspection technology to better attach doors and other large panels to vehicles. A tighter fit equals less cabin noise, Ford said.

The new laser inspection will be used at the at Michigan Assembly Plant and the Saarlouis, Germany, plant, both plants build the 2012 Ford Focus. And then at the Chicago Assembly Plant, which builds the 2012 Ford Explorer.

According to Ford, robots are programmed to recognize any minute deviations … Read more

General Motors today made another announcement regarding allocation of the $2 billion in U.S. plant investment.

The automaker will add 110 jobs and invest $331 million to purchase tooling and equipment and expand the Arlington Assembly Plant.

Currently, the plant's 2,400 hourly and salaried employees make Chevrolet Tahoes, Suburbans, GMC Yukons and Cadillac Escalades.

"This investment will allow us to continue building award-winning full-size SUVs that offer better fuel efficiency than ever before without sacrificing the features and functionality they've come to expect," GM Manufacturing Manager Larry Zahner said Thursday. "We remain committed … Read more

General Motors has taken steps to make the Orion Assembly Plant even more energy efficient including using landfill gas to cut energy costs.

The plant will begin assembling the 2012 Chevrolet Sonic and Buick Verano this fall. With an upgraded paint shop that is heated by natural and landfill gas, the painting process will use half of the energy per vehicle of the one it replaced. The system runs exclusively on landfill gas primarily to generate steam for heating and compressed air for most of the year.

According to GM, both the Sonic and Verano use a new eco paint … Read more

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is pushing harder than ever for government leaders around the world to increase vaccination investments.

In a keynote address yesterday to the 64th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates spoke for nearly half an hour to health ministers from 193 countries about the importance of "seeking good health care for every human being."

"I believe we have the opportunity to make a new future in which global health is the cornerstone of global prosperity," he said.

Gates called on the assembly to make this "the Decade of Vaccines," with some basic goals: eradicate polio early in this decade; build a system capable of delivering vaccines to every child; make five or six new vaccines available to all children around the world. With these investments, Gates said, the world "can save 4 million lives by 2015 and 10 million lives by 2020."

Another challenge Gates cited was lowering the cost of antigenic materials, such as pentavalent, pneumococcus, and rotavirus vaccines. The Gates Foundation is working with vaccine manufacturers to cut prices of those inoculations in half by 2016. Lower costs would be beneficial to many countries around the world that are reeling from budget woes. … Read more

General Motors is investing more than $30 million of investment in its Pontiac Stamping plant to retool and enhance manufacturing equipment, and 290 hourly and salaried jobs at the 79-year-old plant.

The enhancements will include upgrading three conventional press lines already operating at the plant and the installation of two additional presses that are part of the company's stamping consolidation project, GM said today in a press release.

Pontiac Stamping provides parts to the new Chevrolet Sonic and the new Buick Verano, among other products.

"GM continues to invest in our manufacturing operations to ensure we have the … Read more

Ford today celebrated the opening of the most flexible plant the company operates. The Michigan Assembly Plant (MAP) has been designed to build gasoline-powered, battery electric, hybrid electric, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles on the same line. The plant assembles the new Ford Focus, and will begin producing the Focus Electric later this year.

In December, the company announced an investment of $550 million to remodel the assembly plant.

According to a Ford statement, the Wayne, Mich., plant "features an environmentally friendly workplace with flexible manufacturing capability."

"MAP epitomizes the best of what Ford stands for--fuel efficiency, … Read more

By rebranding the Dodge Grand Caravan as the Ram cargo van, or Ram C/V, Chrysler has paved the way to expand in the commercial van segment.

The U.S. automaker has more than 25 years of minivan engineering and promises the Ram C/V will meet the needs for small and large businesses.

The Ram C/V is a Class 1 commercial vehicle that offers a 1,800-lb. cargo payload and up to 3,600 lbs. in towing capability. It also features 16-inch steel wheels, a 160-amp alternator, 20-gallon fuel tank, and it runs on a 3.6-liter Pentastar … Read more

Sky Burger is a casual burger-building arcade game with endearing visuals, surprisingly fun controls, but fairly repetitive gameplay.

Your job is to build burgers to order, one at at time, by positioning a bottom bun (and a teetering, ever-growing tower of ingredients) under a steady, random cascade of pickles, patties, tomatoes, onions, and the like. Burger ingredients fall from the top of the screen, and you can get your proto-burger under them by using either touch or tilt controls: touching and dragging the bun, or tilting left and right. Both have their advantages (tilt keeps your fingers from ever obscuring … Read more

Ford will tap into the power of Wi-Fi by wirelessly sending its Sync in-car software to vehicles as they're built on the assembly line.

Touting itself as the first automaker to use Wi-Fi on the assembly line, Ford said Thursday that the new process will cut out the need to build and store Sync modules for each car, helping to reduce costs, streamline manufacturing, and ultimately improve quality. The process takes advantage of the Sync system's built-in Wi-Fi that Ford added earlier this year.

"Using wireless software installation via Wi-Fi, we can stock just one type of … Read more