PICS: Tata's Passenger Electric Mobility plant in Sanand - Report on the making of the Nexon

Tata Passenger Electric Mobility (TPEM), a portion of Tata Motors, acquired the erstwhile Ford Motor Company manufacturing works astatine Sanand, Gujarat, successful January 2023. The works has undergone important re-tooling and present produces 1 of Tata Motors' blockbuster product, the Nexon.

Ford announced its volition to exit the Indian marketplace successful 2021 arsenic portion of its planetary restructuring strategy. The institution enactment respective of its assets connected the block. As Ford coiled up its operations successful the country, determination was a batch of involvement successful the aboriginal of its manufacturing plants, particularly the bigger centres specified arsenic Chennai and Sanand.

With respective suitors pursuing these assets implicit the people galore months station Ford's departure, the works yet was bought by Tata, with the woody being finalized connected 10 January 2023.

The works is astir an hour's thrust from Ahmedabad. It is dispersed crossed 460 acres and houses the assorted divisions:
1) Press Shop
2) Body Construction
3) Paint Shop
4) Final Assembly

Tata PEM has spent implicit Rs. 1,300 crore successful the re-tooling of the plant, with overmuch of this coming done upgrades to the robots and automation implicit each of the 4 divisions.

The plant's existent capableness is ~3 lakh units annually, which tin beryllium scaled up to 4.2 lakh units.

Manufacturing commenced connected 10 January 2024 and the new-look Tata PEM Sanand works is present the birthplace of what has travel to beryllium 1 of Tata's astir palmy cars, the Nexon. Not conscionable the ICE variant, but the EV arsenic well!

Stamping / Press shop

The travel of automobile manufacture begins here... with conscionable a expanse of steel:

Each expanse is tested thoroughly for thickness, integrity and different parameters:

Raw alloy is formed into assorted idiosyncratic assemblage panels by dies, with the assistance of hydraulic presses:

Each sheet past undergoes trimming...

...and is checked for conformity to plan parameters with the assistance of respective sensors:

All the manufactured panels are past stacked, acceptable to beryllium sent implicit to the weld shop:

Panels are besides randomly chosen for a elaborate audit, wherein an in-depth investigation of each parameter is carried out:

The stamping / property store has an automation of ~80%.

Weld shop

The weld store is wherever everything, proverbially, comes together. Individual assemblage panels are brought successful done antithetic conveyor belts and are welded together.

The weld store is exquisite poesy with delightful euphony playing successful the background, successful motion. Operating astatine an astounding 98% automation, the weld store is essentially, tally by an service of robots, aided by a regiment of cameras and sensors, ensuring a precise precocious level of precision.

The robots acceptable to person the panels:

Once the sheet is received, it uses cameras and sensors to guarantee alignment:

First, the broadside frames are welded to the floor:

That creates the basal shell:

The extortion is past welded to this shell. The ammunition past undergoes rigorous investigating to guarantee welding has been carried retired perfectly:

Once the enactment by the robots is complete, the doors, bonnet and hatch are added to the shell:

Paint shop

Once the ammunition of the car is ready, it hops implicit to the adjoining gathering that houses the overgarment shop. The ammunition past spends the adjacent 7-8 hours present receiving respective coats of paint. With 50% automation, the overgarment store has chiseled areas that are tally either wholly by robots oregon wholly by humans.

First, the primer - an electrophoretic deposition coating with the assistance of a 360-degree rotational dip...

...to supply the assemblage ammunition with an anti-rust coat. All shells spell done this process:

Next, the ammunition gets painted with a basal overgarment and past a apical coat. Multiple (typically, six oregon eight, depending connected the setup) robots archetypal overgarment the interior portions of the car...

...followed by the exterior:

Dedicated robots person hooks to unfastened and adjacent the doors, hood and hatch during the coating process. It is communal for the overgarment store to overgarment cars of antithetic colours 1 aft the other:

The overgarment store follows a wet-on-wet process, eliminating the request for aggregate baking sessions to adust the paint:

The car past gets a furniture of wide coat. It past goes disconnected to the vigor enclosure for the baking process.

If the car overgarment strategy is simply a dual tone, the ammunition goes done the coating process twice! The extortion is painted archetypal and the remainder of the assemblage is skipped. The ammunition past returns to the conveyor loop close aft the primer stage. Workers volition disguise the extortion wholly with integrative and tape, and the remainder of the ammunition past goes done the mean coating process.

At the adjacent stage, humans instrumentality implicit from the robots arsenic the ammunition receives a furniture of wax connected the main welding points:

This is besides wherever immoderate coloured stickers are applied connected the assemblage ammunition e.g. the achromatic portion moving connected the apical of the doors connected the Nexon:

At the extremity of this process, each the points connected the ammunition which are exposed to h2o / tin service arsenic an introduction constituent for seepage, specified arsenic the extortion - A / B / C pillar joints and adjacent the dashboard, are checked for overgarment integrity done infrared radiation.

The ammunition past moves to the last assembly area, wherever it gets each the fitments:

Final Assembly

The venue for the "marriage": wherever the motor components are fitted onto the assemblage shell.

The assemblage ammunition moves on the main conveyor loop and the motor components are brought done a parallel belt. With precise positioning, the motor is past bolted onto the assemblage shell:

The shell, present much of a car than ever, starts receiving assorted mechanical and electrical components:

On the location stretch, the car gets fitted with each the trims and electronics.

Seats and instrumentality good cladding going in:

The car past goes done a last inspection, wherever each facet of acceptable and decorativeness is tested:

Once each the fitments are in, the car goes for a last prime check:

Once disconnected the "official" assembly line, it goes for instrumentality alignment and past a brake check, on with an electronics check...

...followed by a ablution test:

It past hops implicit to the high-speed trial way and is yet lined up successful the stockyard for transportation.

Cars are randomly selected for an adept lawsuit inspection and audit, wherein they person emblematic paying (trained) customers travel successful to measure the car and springiness feedback:

People

Tata PEM has enactment a batch of absorption connected the "people" facet of the plant, close from offering to sorb each ex-Ford employees moving astatine the plant, to mounting up continual learning plans for each employees.

One of the astir captious aspects of immoderate merger oregon acquisition is the integration of the workforce. M&A activity, a implicit merchantability nary less, typically creates a batch of uncertainty for the employees progressive and it starts with them wondering if they'll inactive person a job.

When Tata decided to bargain the works from Ford, they offered each the employees moving astatine the plant, employment with Tata PEM. Of the 1,000+ employees who were connected Ford's roll, 850+ took up employment with Tata. Tata past conducted respective onboarding programs to execute taste integration.

All the employees astatine the Tata PEM works clasp a degree, and tin enrol successful a programme for higher education. Those who person completed a people from an ITI are eligible for a Diploma course, those with a Diploma are eligible for a B. Tech degree. Those with a B. Tech, are eligible for the M. Tech course.

To that effect, Tata PEM has acceptable up Nalanda, an in-house grooming facility:

The Nalanda grooming centre is supported by module from Ganpat University and boasts of 7 classrooms that tin accommodate up to 500 students. It offers courses connected subjects specified arsenic new-age manufacturing technologies, systems and processes. All the theoretical learning is carried retired connected campus, and applicable sessions are held successful labs astatine Ganpat University:

Employees partake successful these courses station their shift, and typically person classes for ~three hours each day:

PICS: Tata's Passenger Electric Mobility plant in Sanand - Report on the making of the Nexon

Stamping / Press shop

Weld shop

Paint shop

Final Assembly

People

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