Halewood Uncovered
Ed Evans visits JLR’S Halewood assembly plant to see how production twins, Evoque and Discovery Sport, are built
Exclusive access behind the scenes at the factory that builds Range Rover Evoque and Discovery Sport
DISCOVERY SPORT is the latest vehicle to be built at Jaguar Land Rover’s body and assembly plant at Halewood in Merseyside, just a few minutes drive from Liverpool’s historic river frontage. It shares the production facilities with Range Rover Evoque, which has been built here since 2011, but this plant has been assembling cars since 1963 when Ford Motor Company began building the Ford Anglia. In 1969, I visited this plant as a young engineering student to see Ford Corsairs rolling off the production line, and I remember being astounded to learn the plant built 1000 cars each week. Today, JLR are turning out almost that number of Discovery Sports and Evoques in a single day.
Against the engineering complexity of these modern Land Rovers, the current production figures are achieved through sophisticated production systems, split-second timing of material and parts supply, a workforce that is focused on efficiency with quality, and the latest developments in production machinery.
Yet, as we walked through the first-stage press shop, I was aware that at least one mammoth steel press would have been there pumping out Ford Corsair panels back in 1969. Built by Vickers in the North East and exported to Ford in Detroit, this press was subsequently shipped back to the UK when Halewood opened, and continues to stamp out body panels 24 hours per day.
This, and the many other presses are supplied with rolls of steel from the South Wales steel plants and sheets of aluminium from France. Our tour guide points out batches of sheet steel cut to size with two strangely shaped small holes and asks me (via an intercom and headset amid the din of the presses) if I can guess what they are. I’ve no idea, and I’m amazed to learn these are Evoque body sides incorporating the door frames – the two small holes will be the door apertures after the presses have stretched and shaped the steel. I’m immediately conscious of the engineering work that goes into specifying the characteristics of the steel and the way it will behave in the presses to emerge apparently much larger but retaining the required thickness and strength everywhere it is needed. It’s a taster of the engineering science that prevails during the whole build process.
We walk on, down the indoor roadways between the presses. We pass huge press tools (or dies) stacked high. These are the dies which form the shape of the steel panels, and are loaded into the press to produce whichever body part is required. Despite weighing between 10 and 50 tonnes, they can be changed in just 17 minutes to allow the press to produce a different component.
Alongside us, conveyors carry body parts from the presses, weaving through the maze of machinery toward a group of robots ready to weld them into a larger assembly. The robots work together in ‘cells’, assembling and welding parts, then collectively welding their sub-assemblies on a jig to produce a major body component. The robots originally worked on the Jaguar X-type and were re-programmed for Evoque in 2011.
Framing Station
The robotic machines we’ve been watching have assembled panels into complete sides for Discovery Sport and Evoque, and these are now being conveyed to meet up with floor pan and front bulkhead assemblies produced by other robotic cells. Each floor pan assembly is momentarily halted on the conveyor as more automated machinery collects a body side and presents it to the floor pan. Low down, the machine bends metal tabs to temporarily hold the sides to the floor, and away goes the assembly to the Framing Station. Here, the loosely fitted floorpan and sides are jig-clamped together while robotic welders fuse the assembly together to produce a basic, but now recognisable, body shell.
We’re almost ready to start building the body shells into finished vehicles, but first, numerous copper-coated studs are fitted all around the body to secure internal components. This stage reveals our first experience of the rigid quality checks that have been happening in the background ever since the rolls of steel entered the press shop, as each body shell is scrutinised by 120 computerised cameras measuring the position of each of the copper coated studs.
Testing to destruction
We move to the Cladding Line where the bodies are about to start the complex process of being built into finished cars. But this is also the stage where the quality team will
randomly select a body for evaluation and spend seven days stripping it apart to check the integrity of the 4500 welds and 4000 rivets, plus studs, adhesives and sealants that have been employed in producing the car so far. This happens 12 times per year on both Discovery Sport and Evoque.
While these basic bodies are being constructed, other robot cells have been building doors. Now, the doors are meeting the bodies, and assembly staff are fine-tuning the door shut faces using orbital sanders to achieve a perfect fit – despite automation, an element of building by hand still survives. When the door fit is perfected, the vehicle bodies move on to the Customer Focus Line where they are scrutinised for any imperfections left over from the build process, such as marks from welding sparks or machine handling, before being conveyed to the painting shop.
Every vehicle is a one-off
For obvious safety reasons we cannot follow the bodies through the paintshop, but we see them emerging in their various colours, each painted according to the customer’s order. Some are single tone, others have a contrasting roof, others are in special celebration colours. Each has now become an individual vehicle and, from here on, each will be built precisely to its customer’s specification.
The robotic paint sprayers, which automatically self-clean themselves to spray the next car in a different colour, have produced a perfect job. The vehicles we’re seeing now entered the paint process eight hours ago, and there can be up to 285 bodies going through the paint process at any one time. This whole production process is a huge and super-fast concern, with a completed car driving off the end of the line every 90 seconds.
The doors are now removed from the painted bodies and diverted to their own assembly station to be fitted with internal equipment, yet each door remains coded to its original body and will eventually be reunited with it. Removing the doors at this stage gives assembly staff maximum access for fitting interior components, while also minimising the risk of accidental damage.
Building to order
We seem to have dispensed with the noise, sparks and rush as the newly-painted body shells join the assembly lines to be built into real cars. Here, the pace seems slower; the assembly is no longer being done by machines, but by people in a relaxed and careful manner as the vehicles calmly inch their way along the lines from one work station to the next. This appearance is the result of a meticulously planned production process, immaculate timing as components reach their particular car at the very moment they are to be fitted, and skilled staff who work together and solve issues together to ensure the line’s momentum.
Each car now has its unique build sheet fixed to its support cradle, giving every detail of the build specification including all requirements requested by the customer, plus the car’s country of destination. We see cars being built for America, Australia, Italy and Brazil, in addition to UK vehicles, of course.
The cars are now clearly identifiable as Evoques and Discovery Sports, moving down the lines at walking speed, supported on cradles which are suspended and powered overhead. The specific components are arriving at the line just as the recipient vehicle is approaching.
We’re now on Line 4 where the Land Rover and Range Rover model badges have been fitted and the interior is largely complete with trim, carpets and centre consoles in place. Most parts are fitted by hand, but some major components, such as the complete dashboard assembly, are presented on the extended arm of a machine which locks to the cradle to fit the dashboard precisely into position.
The vehicles are cradled towards Line 5 where brake lines, underside heat shields and fuel tanks are bolted into place. The builders are securing the components using an array of pre-set torque wrenches, one for each job and colour coded for quick and positive identification. Engineers regularly check the calibration of the tools and randomly check the vehicles’ fasteners for correct torque.
Power and Drivetrain
While the bodies are being built up, operators on Line 6 are assembling drive-line components shipped in from Solihul and engines from JLR’S new engine plant at Wolverhampton where a new Ingenium engine leaves the production line every 39 seconds. Operators here are
building all combinations of two-wheel drive, four-wheel drive, nine-speed auto and six-speed manual transmissions, coupled with three diesel engine variants and two petrol engines to produce a bespoke drive train to each customer’s specification.
As these completed drivetrains move toward the production line on their own conveyor, the oncoming vehicle bodies are lifted high in their cradles before descending over their allocated drivetrains. Each drivetrain is raised by a cradle which locks to the vehicle underbody while operators locate the suspension struts and bolt the assembly in place. Thanks to perfect synchronisation, each body now has the complete intended drivetrain combination as it serenely moves along the line to complete the mechanical build.
Completing the systems
As the combined body/drivetrain units move toward Line 7, complete exhaust systems are laid out along the production line ready to be bolted on as each vehicle floats past in its cradle. Now the brake lines are being completed, the customer-requested road wheels are fitted, and each car’s specific steering wheel is installed. Here, checks are made of safety-critical fasteners using colour-coded torque wrenches which, via Bluetooth connection, will automatically halt the line if anything is amiss. Brake lines are re-checked before fluids, including brake fluid and coolant, are added and bled automatically by machine, engine oil having already been fitted at the engine plant before shipping.
With the vehicles now almost completed, a conveyor returns the painted and fully assembled doors, each to their original vehicle, and they are carefully refitted and set to perfection.
Configuration and Testing
The hardware is complete, and each vehicle’s electronic control units are already installed, connected and ready to work with each other to control the multiple electronic systems in unison. Now there is software to download according to the vehicle’s ultimate destination where commands and information need to be presented to the driver and service technicians in their native language. Satellite navigation and infotainment systems need to be configured according to each customer’s requirements – in all, there is a choice of over 80 software systems that can be downloaded into the vehicles here.
As we reach the end of Line 10, fuel is added to each vehicle’s tank and, after a full paperwork check, the engine is started up for the first time. Each car is now driven onto the ‘rumble strip’ to fully settle the suspension before being subjected to a four-wheel alignment check. With drivetrain and suspension integrity confirmed, the cars move onto one of five rolling road stations. Here they are tested to 70 mph as a precursor to driving out of the building for a full track test which checks for NVH (noise, vibration, harshness) followed by a squeak test and a water test to confirm the vehicle is quiet and fully weatherproof.
There’s more quality testing to come as the vehicles return indoors to the Customer Acceptance line. We’re almost at the end of the production cycle and it’s rare that issues would arise here but, if any concerns are noted, the affected vehicle would be sent to the re-work department for detail points to be addressed. Otherwise, each car is now fully built, tested and ready to go, but there is still one hurdle: the World Class Product Audit where random vehicles are selected for fine detail checks of construction, and dynamic tests to check every system works to perfection.
World supplier
The newbuilds, now wearing protective coverings over bonnet, steering wheel and seats, begin their maiden drive from the assembly plant just a short way to marshaling yards. Within 24 hours they will be be transported by road to the UK and Europe, and by rail to Liverpool, Southampton and Tilbury for deep-sea shipping to the rest of the world – 200,000 vehicles per year to over 170 countries, and each car will be tracked during its journey, allowing JLR to let anxious dealers and customers know precisely when their cars will arrive. Thanks to: Andy Harrison, our tour guide; Mike Burton, Jointing Engineer; Neil Roscoe, Senior Communications Officer