Low-Volume Vehicle Production By Manufacturing, Engineering, and Technology Group Center for Automotive Research January 2006 Sponsored by American Plastics Council ASC, Inc. Dana Corporation Diversified Tooling Company KUKA Flexible Production Systems McKinsey Consulting TATA Consulting United Tooling Coalition The statements, findings, and conclusions herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the project sponsor. Acknowledgements As with any project, this report is the result of many people contributing in a number of ways. The authors of this report would like to thank Emilio Brahmst and Chris Gulis who spent many long hours researching, documenting and detailing manufacturing technologies and manufacturing processes. Mr. Gulis is responsible for the Corvette Z06 case study and contributions to several other case studies. He also analyzed many of the assembly and tooling facilities for this project. Karen Esper contributed greatly by creating and formatting the document. Her expertise and patience were critical to the project’s success. Ray Miller also contributed research and performed overall project maintenance. The authors also thank Ernst & Young, and their funding of this project through the Automotive Industry of the Future program at CAR. Their generous grant has been an important part of the research CAR has produced in recent years. Finally, we would like to thank the members of the Low-Volume Vehicle Consortium who took time to guide the authors. The members of this consortium have very strong opinions, and a great knowledge of low-volume vehicle production. Without their knowledge, this report would not have been possible. While all members offered value to the effort, the authors would especially like to thank John Basso (Diversified Tooling Co.) , Mike Powers (Dow Automotive, through participation in the APC), Glenn Mercer (McKinsey & Co), Todd Smit (ASC), and John Waraniak (TATA Consultancy) for their guidance on this project. These consortium members showed great insight—and support for this project. The authors are greatly appreciative. Dr. Jay Baron Director, Manufacturing Engineering and Technology, and President, CAR Brett C. Smith, Assistant Director, Manufacturing Engineering and Technology, CAR i © Center for Automotive Research 2006 Table of Contents I. STRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS..............................................................................................................12 II. LOW-VOLUME OPPORTUNITY FRAMEWORK ..................................................................................15 A. DECISION FACTORS FOR LOW-VOLUME VEHICLE MANUFACTURING.........................................................16 III. LOW-VOLUME VEHICLE MANUFACTURING PATHWAYS.............................................................20 A. IN-HOUSE FLEXIBLE BODY ASSEMBLY.......................................................................................................20 B. INTEGRATOR OPERATED FLEXIBLE BODY ASSEMBLY................................................................................32 C. COACHBUILDER MODEL.............................................................................................................................37 D. INTEGRATOR-OPERATED LOW-COST TOOLING (AND ASSEMBLY) MODEL.................................................38 E. POST PRODUCTION VEHICLE ALTERATION MODEL ....................................................................................40 IV. CASE STUDIES..............................................................................................................................................42 A. INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................42 B. GM SSR.....................................................................................................................................................42 C. CORVETTE Z06...........................................................................................................................................44 D. SCION .........................................................................................................................................................46 E. MATERIALS AS AN ENABLER FOR LOW-VOLUME .......................................................................................47 F. GM – SOLSTICE..........................................................................................................................................50 V. PART FABRICATION TOOLING ..............................................................................................................53 A. INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................53 B. SHELL TOOLING .........................................................................................................................................53 C. LIQUID IMPACT FORMING...........................................................................................................................54 D. HYDROFORMING (SHEET)...........................................................................................................................54 E. ALUMINUM MOLDS ....................................................................................................................................55 F. LAMINATED TOOLS ....................................................................................................................................56 G. QUICK PLASTIC FORMING ..........................................................................................................................56 H. ROLL FORMING ..........................................................................................................................................56 I. LEAN DIES..................................................................................................................................................58 J. TANDEM MOLDS ........................................................................................................................................59 K. DIRECT METAL TECHNOLOGIES .................................................................................................................59 L. FLEXIBLE HEMMING (ROLLER HEMMING)..................................................................................................59 M. MULTI-SPINDLE MACHINING CENTER........................................................................................................60 VI. CONCLUSIONS (AND NEXT STEPS)........................................................................................................61 VII. APPENDIX: LOW-VOLUME MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGIES................................................63 A. SHELL TOOLING TECHNOLOGY ..................................................................................................................63 B. LIQUID IMPACT FORMING...........................................................................................................................67 C. HYDROFORMING (SHEET)...........................................................................................................................69 D. ALUMINUM MOLDS ....................................................................................................................................72 E. LAMINATED TOOLS ....................................................................................................................................73 F. QUICK PLASTIC FORMING ..........................................................................................................................78 G. ROLL-FORMING..........................................................................................................................................80 H. LEAN DIES..................................................................................................................................................83 I. DIRECT METAL TECHNOLOGIES .................................................................................................................87 J. FLEXIBLE ASSEMBLY .................................................................................................................................90 K. SPRAY METAL ............................................................................................................................................94 L. FLEXIBLE HEMMING (ROLLER HEMMING)..................................................................................................96 M. TANDEM MOLD ..........................................................................................................................................99 N. MULTI-SPINDLE MACHINING CENTER......................................................................................................101 ii © Center for Automotive Research 2006 List of Figures FIGURE 1 – CONSORTIUM MEMBERS ..............................................................................................................................9 FIGURE 2 – PRODUCT DIFFERENTIATION & ASSEMBLY INTEGRATION .........................................................................13 FIGURE 3 – LOW-VOLUME PRODUCTION OPPORTUNITY FRAMEWORK ........................................................................15 FIGURE 4 – INTELLIGENT FLEXIBLE BODY LINE PALLET..............................................................................................23