CAR MANUFACTURING in Australia was given a boost last Friday with Continental, formally Siemens VDO Automotive in Australia, opening a state-of-the-art cockpit manufacturing plant supplying complete modules to a major vehicle manufacturer’s assembly line.
With an investment exceeding $7 million, the new purpose built Campbellfield plant in Melbourne’s North East, will supply the Ford Motor Company with complete interior cockpit assemblies for the latest model Ford Falcon FG.
The new plant will supply an estimated 70,000 cockpit assemblies per year over the life of the vehicle using the latest ‘Just-in-Sequence’ manufacturing techniques.
Just-in-Sequence technology was pioneered by Continental Australia, firmly establishing it as a leader in this field.
The vehicle manufacturer provides Continental with a broadcast alert time of just 60 minutes to deliver modules to the production line with a cycle time of 63 seconds.
Highly specialised customised equipment within the plant has been built and tested in Australia using the skills of the company’s internal industrial engineering team.
At the official opening Zoran Angelkovski, CEO of Continental, Australia said that after initially employing some 50 people in this new facility, the company sees further employment opportunities with the potential for additional new business in this highly specialised field of manufacturing and assembly.