Production line

The factory of Renault Trucks Vénissieux assembles the 6-cylinder engine blocks of 9 and 11L, which are routed to Sweden where the business unit of five brands of the Volvo Group is installed. The “main” engines (engine block, cylinder head, crankshaft, camshaft and crankcase) are performed by the Volvo Group's business units while the supply of other parts (the circuits of oil, gas, electric ...) is from 680 external suppliers.
The Engine of 9 and 11L of all the brands of Volvo Group operates in plant Vénissieux. The plant operates five days a week. The engine factory Vénissieux covers 10,000 m² and engine assembly operations are spread over two production lines, each 15 meters: the line ¾ and the line ¼.
Each piece assembled has a serial and manufacturing number, which is common to all suppliers of Renault Trucks, to ensure the traceability of engines and to facilitate communication between the various stakeholders. This system of EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) also allows the company to gain speed.
The causes of malfunction of an engine due to incorrect assemblage of the pieces can easily be identified and corrected in accordance with the Group's quality policy.
Workers have 3 or 4 roles at the same time in the Assembly line. On the main assembly line, several robots are very important. These robots perform tasks in such quality that it would be impossible to assign this task to a human being. They are checking the robots work very often to make sure their condition.
They use Automatic and Manual Kanban. For instance, when stock is low it automatically launches production.
The production line of the factory splits therefore into four stages: * Basic Line (line ¾): Installation of main parts * Painting engine * Final line (line ¼): Installation of the parts according to the commercial motor * Test cells Taking into account these four steps, the assembly of an engine lasts four hours.

1. The basic assembly line or line ¾
The basic line is also called the line IPV (In Process Verification). On the line ¾, the 30 independent robots automatically detect the type of engine that comes from the line and fit it instantly. The detection by the robot is via a microchip implanted in the motor. The first step of the chain is to screw a High Tag (a technology provided by SIEMENS) on the engine to set this chip containing information related to the sales order.
In the interest of improving working conditions for operators and ensure the stability of engines during robotic operations, the basic line is divided into separated islands and the engine passes to the next island after validation of the operation by automatic machine control laser. Between islands, the motor is carried on a rail.

In parallel with the assembly line is made basic pre-assembly of the cylinder head and valves.
At each station, there are small parts inventory of various kinds. Indicator light system guides the workman who must to follow the lights to make the right pieces in the right order. Similarly, controlling the number of parts to assemble avoids errors especially when installing the cylinder head. During the operation, the machine counts how many pieces (screws) were placed and the engine automatically goes off when the account is good.
The implementation of the camshafts and rockers valve drive follows the mounting of the cylinder head. The valves are controlled by an operator on one of the few islands where the operation is still manual. After this step, the engine is mechanically ready.
The AGC (Automatic Guided Cars) is capable of transporting heavy parts. It is wire-guided carts; a groove has been made in the ground with a grinder to place an optical wire. The AGC moves along the wire with the help of a laser under the vehicle. They advance therefore on their own and can make a complete rotation on its axis. The AGC circuit is preset with downtime for smooth flow. 2. Painting
The process is automated .Painting is done before the addition of the other components of the engine to maintain the authentic pieces added downstream. 3. The final line or line ¼
Operations on the final line are manual. The line is divided into three "bays" and assembly operations here adapt to the type of engine (bus, truck, and boat or craft project) and the customer's order. On this line are assembled successively in the engine fuel system, the electronic circuit and the circuit of the oil, water and air. 4. Testing Engine
At the end of the final line, the engines are transferred into cells of tests to verify the functioning of installed circuits (oil, gas ...) ,the compliance of consumption and the pollution levels emitted from the engine compared to standard range. The production of the engine is launched on the 13th day, following the confirmation of the order.