I. Preparations and Raw Material Control
1) Order and Production Plan Issuance: Relying on the independently developed intelligent manufacturing platform, integrate order requirements, inventory status, process standards and other information to formulate a pull-type production plan, realize full-process digital control of order allocation and process scheduling, ensure accurate matching between production and orders, and shorten the order delivery cycle by more than 14%
2) Raw Material Procurement and Inspection: The core raw materials are mainly high-strength steel plates, and core components such as engines, gearboxes, and axles are also purchased (some are independently produced). All raw materials must pass strict quality inspection, focusing on checking indicators such as material and strength. Unqualified raw materials are strictly prohibited from entering the factory to ensure product quality from the source .
3) Raw Material Pretreatment: Perform pretreatment such as derusting, polishing, and cutting on steel plates and other raw materials to remove surface impurities and oxide layers, ensuring the stability of subsequent stamping and welding processes. At the same time, cut raw materials according to production needs to prepare for the production of various components .
II. Core Production Processes
Stamping Process: Component Forming Processing
1) Adopt internationally advanced automated stamping production lines equipped with large-scale stamping equipment, which can realize full-process automated production from raw materials to finished parts without manual intervention .
2) According to the component design drawings, send the pretreated steel plates into the stamping die, and perform multiple stampings through the press to complete the forming of core components such as cab shells, frame longitudinal beams, and doors. Among them, the frame longitudinal beams can be formed in one stamping to improve production efficiency .
3) After stamping, perform deburring and dimensional inspection on the components to ensure that the component precision meets the design standards. Unqualified components are reworked or scrapped to ensure the fit of subsequent assembly.
Welding Process: Body and Frame Assembly Forming
1) Component Positioning: Send the stamped cab components and frame components into the welding workshop, and perform precise positioning through special fixtures to ensure assembly precision. The assembly precision of key parts is controlled within ±1 mm .
2) Automated Welding: Adopt 223 intelligent welding robots to realize full automation of welding, gluing and other processes. It only takes 3-4.5 seconds for a robot to weld one welding spot, and a cab has a total of 3,000 welding spots, with a welding spot automation rate of 100% .
3) Flexible Production: Innovatively combine AGV flexible transportation with robotic flexible welding, which can realize the co-production of 75 cab models on three platforms: New Huanghe, Howo TX, and Shandeka, meeting the needs of multi-variety and small-batch customization .
4) Process Control and Inspection: The entire welding workshop has 38 processes, and it only takes 2.5 hours to produce a complete cab from parts. The workshop's "smart brain" (central control system) real-time monitors the production process, responsible for equipment control and quality monitoring. At the same time, a small number of workers (only 5 people for two production lines) are arranged for equipment management and abnormal handling, realizing 100% error prevention in the production process.
Painting Process: Anti-corrosion and Appearance Beautification
The painting process not only improves the appearance texture of the truck, but more importantly, realizes body anti-corrosion and extends the service life of the vehicle, adopting an environmentally friendly and efficient automated painting process.
1) Pretreatment: Send the welded cab and frame into the painting workshop, and perform degreasing, phosphating, water washing and other processes in turn to remove surface oil and impurities, enhance paint adhesion, and prepare for subsequent painting .
2) Electrophoretic Coating: Adopt cathodic electrophoresis process to perform full immersion electrophoresis on the body and frame, forming a uniform anti-corrosion primer layer, which can effectively resist corrosion, improve body durability, and the coating effect meets the standard of passenger cars.
3) Mid-coat and Top-coat Spraying: Adopt internationally advanced water-based paint spraying process, which is environmentally friendly, energy-saving and has uniform color. The mid-coat and top-coat are sprayed by automated spraying robots, and different colors and logos can be sprayed according to order requirements. After spraying, it is sent to the drying room for high-temperature drying to ensure that the paint surface is smooth and not easy to fall off .
4) Painting Inspection: After drying, conduct appearance inspection on the body paint surface to check for sagging, color difference, scratches and other problems. Unqualified products are reworked and repaired to ensure that the painting quality meets the standards .
Final Assembly Process: Complete Vehicle Assembly and Integration
1) Component Distribution: Realize automated component distribution through 166 AGV trolleys. The AGV trolleys can carry nearly 10 tons, automatically identify routes, avoid obstacles, and wirelessly charge while moving, flexibly completing material transmission at each workstation. At the same time, relying on the "air three-dimensional logistics system", it automatically dispatches cabs of different colors and models to meet customized needs .
2) Chassis Assembly: First, perform chassis assembly on the final assembly line, and install core components such as axles, suspensions, engines, gearboxes, drive shafts, braking systems, and fuel systems in turn. The assembly of all components is strictly carried out in accordance with process standards to ensure firm connection and stable performance .
3) Cab Assembly and Installation: Complete the assembly of internal components of the cab, including seats, steering wheels, instruments, wiring harnesses, air conditioners, etc., on a separate assembly line. Then, accurately control the cab to be installed on the chassis through a remote control, and complete the fastening of connection points. The entire process is smooth .
4) Other Component Assembly: Install external components such as wheels, tires, lights, bumpers, and rearview mirrors in turn, as well as the connection of various pipelines and lines, ensuring that all components of the vehicle are complete and functional. The final assembly workshop has more than 300 processes, and each process is completed within 5 minutes to achieve efficient collaboration .
5) Flexible Compatibility: The final assembly line is the first intelligent flexible final assembly line in China, which can realize the co-production of multi-energy models such as diesel, natural gas, and hydrogen. The daily output of the two lines reaches 300 units, which is equivalent to two vehicles rolling off the production line every 5 minutes .
III. Inspection and Commissioning Link
1) Static Inspection: Check the vehicle appearance and component assembly, verify whether the paint surface, welds, connection parts, etc. meet the standards; detect whether each pipeline and line are unobstructed and firmly connected; check whether the internal functions of the cab and instrument display are normal.
2) Dynamic Inspection: Drive the vehicle into the test track for no-load and full-load test drives, test core indicators such as engine power, gearbox shifting, braking performance, steering performance, and suspension stability, ensuring that the vehicle runs smoothly, operates flexibly, and brakes reliably .
3) Special Inspection: Conduct special inspections for different models (such as new energy heavy trucks), and conduct comprehensive inspections on the vehicle's environmental protection indicators and safety performance to ensure compliance with international quality standards and relevant certification requirements.
4) Rework and Repair: Timely rework and repair the problems found in the inspection, and conduct inspection again after repair until all indicators are qualified, ensuring the quality of each vehicle leaving the factory .
IV. Warehousing Link
1) Vehicle Cleaning and Marking: Fully clean the qualified vehicles to remove dust and stains generated during the production process, and paste relevant documents such as vehicle logos, nameplates, and certificates of conformity, and complete the entry and filing of vehicle information
2) Warehousing Management: Send the qualified vehicles to the finished product warehouse, conduct inventory management through a digital system, update inventory information in real time, and realize the full life cycle traceability of the vehicles .
V. Core Characteristics of the Production Process
1) High Intelligence Level: Intelligent equipment such as robots, AGV trolleys, and central control systems are used throughout the process. The automation rate of core processes such as welding, stamping, and painting reaches 100%, which greatly improves production efficiency and increases per capita production efficiency by 15% .
2) Flexible Production: It can realize the co-production of multi-platform, multi-model, and multi-energy models, meeting the needs of customized and small-batch orders, and adapting to the diverse needs of the market .
3) Full-process Control: Through the intelligent manufacturing platform, integrate six modules including planning, production, process, and quality, realize transparent and digital management of the entire production process, and the qualification rate of key processes reaches 100% .
4) Efficient and Energy-saving: Adopt environmentally friendly and energy-saving technologies such as water-based paint, photovoltaic power supply, and wireless charging AGVs, and optimize production rhythm to achieve cost reduction, efficiency improvement and green manufacturing simultaneously.