The Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa (FMCSA) has invested more than R125-million to upgrade the 3 000 m vehicle conveyor system at its Silverton assembly plant, in Pretoria.
The conveyor system carries vehicles from the plant’s body shop to the paint shop.
The investment forms part of a manufacturing expansion project, which aims to increase the plant’s capacity by 22%, from 27 jobs-per-hour to 33 jobs-per-hour, by January next year.
The plant produces the Ford Ranger pickup and Everest sport utility vehicle for the local and export markets.
The new conveyor system, which began operating earlier this year, optimises the plant’s automated Electro Monorail System Webb conveyor, thereby improving overall production efficiency by reducing stoppages.
Body shop area manager Andreas Bruditz says the new system improves the structural capability of the system by significantly reducing and, in some cases, eliminating interruptions between the two production areas.
“The new conveyor is based on similar systems employed at Ford assembly plants in Europe, using proven technology to maximise production efficiency and capacity.”
An additional benefit of the new system is that the conveyor decouples the body shop from the paint shop, which allows one area to continue work should the other have a stoppage.
The new conveyor has also created a buffer zone between the two areas, which allows for last minute body-panel adjustments and repairs to be made before the vehicles enter the paint shop.