ABB technology empowers China’s breakthrough in heavy-duty truck production
Beijing, China, February 26, 2009 – ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, recently announced China’s first large scale robot-powered fully automated press line for auto production, built by the China National Heavy Duty Truck Corp. (SINOTRUK) has successfully launched in Shandong Province. The commissioning of the automatic press line, supported by ABB technology, marks a significant breakthrough in China’s heavy truck production, improving the overall vehicle production of China’s auto industry as well as enhancing the competitiveness of China’s heavy trucks on the international market.
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| China’s first fully automated heavy truck press line | |
The production line’s seven ABB press robots, boasting for the first time ABB’s latest software including the StampView visual guided alignment system and line supervisors StampMaster, have enabled the automaker to become fully automated, resulting in a remarkable improvement in efficiency, quality and yield rate. The press line will be used for the production of HOWO-A7, an independently developed new generation heavy-duty truck with best in class technology and performance. As SINOTRUK’s featured 2009 model, HOWO-A7 is expected to be exported to overseas markets.
Tormod Gunleiksrud, head of ABB Robotics Division China, said, “This is China’s first production line to apply a number of ABB’s cutting edge robotic technologies. It will improve SINOTRUK’s performance and efficiency in vehicle manufacturing and help to consolidate the market leadership of its new generation of trucks. The cooperation with SINOTRUK is also a breakthrough for the ABB robotics business in China — our auto press solutions have extended the business coverage from sedan to truck manufacturing.”
Yan Wenjun, General Manager of the SINOTRUK Truck Company, commented, “The commissioning of this automatic press line empowered by ABB’s leading technology will guarantee a great improvement in quality of the large cover parts in HOWO-A7 trucks. With the adoption of ABB’s advanced equipment, the press line will redefine the industrial benchmark of heavy truck manufacturing and allow SINOTRUK to more closely meet global standards in heavy truck production.”
Boasting a number of ABB’s latest technologies, the press line features state-of-the-art standards in terms of system complication, ease of use and design concept. The automatic feeding system consists of seven ABB IRB6660 robots, a model specifically designed by ABB for press automation with a rigid design capable of improving production pace, enhancing performance accuracy, minimizing operation failure and realizing a 15% improvement in productivity compared with the previous standard Robot solutions. The robotic solution will alleviate stress on factory operators and greatly improve speed and capacity.
The system also unveils ABB’s StampView (SMV) system for collecting panel images and pinpointing panel position within the press to guarantee molding quality. SMV operates at high speed, capable of finishing imaging, data analysis and transmission within an extremely short period to ensure low failure and high accuracy. At the same time, SMV is also easy to configure and maintain.
In addition, ABB’s unique StampMaster system (SMS) and StampWare system (SMW) are also employed on the press line to improve automation while lowering the demand on operators. SMS is ABB’s unique distance monitor software, developed specifically to serve administrators and operators. SMS can seamlessly integrate with the enterprise ERP system to facilitate functions like order placement, output statistics, formulation management, fault monitoring and diagnosis to realize corporate information management. SMW is optimizer software for field operators, enabling the translation of the complicated robotic programming language into graphic programming so as to simplify and visualize the relevant operation procedures. It will guide the operators without robotic programming capabilities through the program configuration so they can quickly master the necessary operating skills.
ABB is the world’s only supplier to provide complete and integrated press solutions, including mechanical equipment, line monitoring equipment, destacking and racking, blank oiling and washing, press refurbishing, press servo technology and die change systems. In April 2006, ABB relocated its global Robotics headquarters to Shanghai and remains the only multinational company producing industrial robots in China. To date, ABB has installed over 650 press lines around the world and has established a press automation technical lead center in China.
Located in Jinan, Shandong Province, China National Heavy Truck Corp. is the nation’s industrial center of heavy truck and production base of heavy-duty automobiles. In recent years, SINOTRUK has successfully launched the STYLER heavy truck manufacturing project and the joint manufacturing project for Volvo trucks, as well as independently developed the world-class next generation HOWO heavy vehicles. SINOTRUK has become China’s largest heavy truck maker.
ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 120,000 people. ABB has a full range of business activities in China, including R&D, manufacturing, sales and services, with 15,000 employees, 27 joint ventures and wholly owned companies, and an extensive sales and service network across 60 cities. To find out more about ABB in China, visit
www.abb.com.cn.