Sample Article Review On Automotive Manufacturing Technologies

The automotive industry is an economic backbone of most developed countries like Germany, Korea, Japan and the United States. Likewise, it plays a crucial supportive role in the economies of states like Brazil, Russia, and China. The industry is however faced with overwhelming dynamics in its technologies, supply chain systems, production techniques, marketing, and quality of its products. Possession of cars is a dream of many people world over. The demands are exponentially growing with changing lifestyles and escalating population. The automobile industry is an important source of employment to many people in various countries. For governments, it holds a significant sway in their economic levels of prosperity.
The European Union accounts for 26% of the world’s car production with an annual revenue of 700 billion Euro. It creates over 2 million direct jobs and about 10 million indirect ones. There are 210 production plants across Europe that earns over 75 billion Euro in trade of the industrial exports annually. Germany alone has over 750,000 employees in the motor industry. The industry accounts for about 5% of the Gross Domestic Product of the US economy. It employed 716,900 people in 2011. Direct workers in the automotive industry total around 790000 in Japan. By 2018, the BRICS may move towards 50% share of global vehicle sales. There will also be a convergence of consumer behaviors in Europe, America, and Asia in the market. China has plans to have 30% of market shares.
There are mounting challenges to the growth of this industry. There is the matter of limitations of emissions and the growing public favor of the same. The industry also faces high volatility and low operation of capacities. In addition, there is an unsustainable escalation of consumption of petroleum. To check these challenges, there has been an increased interest in excellent engineering of the vehicles and adoption of both efficient and effective production systems. Initiating robust technological processes is necessary for the growth and survival of the industry. As a result, there are core technologies that have been developed for the future vehicle production.
Battery technology has been enhanced including its manufacturing. Current batteries hold 250 Euro/kWh for a couple of years at a system level. New designs to improve on these are available now. These include pouch, round, and prismatic cells. Round cells are produced at higher production levels. Pouch cells are complex but applicable in automation processes. The cells will have higher life cycle, be affected less by varying climatic conditions and as such improve the efficiency of vehicles. The fuel cell technology is another area of significant interest. Fuel cell vehicles (FCV), fitted with hydrogen as an energy carrier, bring a potential reduction in the dependence on fossil fuels. It also reduces harmful emissions. Nonetheless, a lot of development has to be carried out on the FCV’s as it faces the demerits of costs and durability.
Hybrid lightweight construction is another significant step to improving fuel efficiency of vehicles. When a car has light weight, it also enhances its driving agility. Therefore, lightweight strategies in terms of optimizing efforts and weights triggered by safety constraints and additional entertainment features must be developed. It is dependent on the vehicle segment and volume if it is to be profitable. Materials used will include thermoplastics and organic sheets. Efforts in this technology are concentrated on multi-material understanding such as corrosion, thermal expansion, cycle times shortening, and reduction of material costs. The long-term objective is a function integrated and system-focused lightweight design. BMW is well invested in this technology.
Application of additive engineering has become useful. It is used in tooling, rapid prototyping, production of dies and surface coating. Photonic technologies like the use of lasers are on the rise. Flexible Manufacturing (FM) of body in white is common place. FM is the capability of producing various vehicles on a similar line without unnecessary delays resulting from frequent tool change. Under FM of body in white, there is extensive usage of supervisory computers and robots. Autonomous final assembly lines are necessary to reduce time wastage and improve efficiency. Dozens of defined workstations rowing up in a single fixed route. Remanufacturing and end-of-life vehicles (ELV) recycling helps reduce material costs and is also environmentally sensitive. Car parts that are worn out are remade for selling.
Another important aspect of the automotive industry is in its production management. There is the near-zero downtime production performance that saves time and improves efficiency. Automation machines can achieve even higher productivity, enhanced reliability and absolute quality control. Factories apply intelligent prognostics as opposed to predictive maintenance. A fault is directly pinpointed and handled. In addition, machine immune system avails high potential for exceptional performance and cost-effective production systems. There are decision support tools that assist in service optimization. Advanced lean production system help motivates workers and ensure continuous improvement processes and teamwork are instituted. Global production networks create value to the industry. Design and management of active networks which share crucial information plus risk become of ultimate significance.
The article was satisfactorily written both in terms of content and delivery. The study of the various improvement technologies was not just thought-provoking but also insightful. One great lesson is the fact that automotive industries are putting significant emphasis on reducing the over-reliance on fossil fuels and designing vehicles that are green. It is a piece of exceptional repute and clarity, brief and easy to understand.