With five consecutive President’s Health and Safety awards, FBS Chennai based IMG Powertrain Manufacturing Engineering’ s journey of excellence has been astounding.
The team earned its latest accolade for its work on the ‘Zero Ergo issues’ project at Ford’s new PHEV battery assembly plant in Silverton, South Africa – a project that helps make working on new battery packs for the upcoming Ranger PHEV pickup easier for line operators.
While many tasks on a production line can be automated, there are many others that require a human touch. Battery packs are large, making access awkward for line operators who must reach into the inner sections of the battery pack to make critical quality and safety checks.
Using Virtual Reality (VR), simulation and other digital tools with manufacturing engineering departments at FBS Chennai, the team discovered that by using a traditional conveyor system, more than 40 percent of the work took place in areas that were out of comfortable ergonomic reach for line operators.
The team’s solution was to use a hybrid conveyor system, where line operators and automated processes could be combined. New ergonomics stations were created where the battery pack assembly is loaded onto ‘ergo trolleys’ that allow line operators to work on it from all four sides, eliminating concerns over access and reach.
The battery pack is then loaded back on the conveyor where the assembly process is completed.
“These battery packs are large and heavy, so it was important that the ergo trolley not only offer great access for line operators, but also be easy to use and manoeuvre and we have engineered to have the push force less than 25% of the allowable limit ” said Anandanatarajan Venkataraman (VAN) , IMG PTME director, Chennai.
To perfect the design, the team again relied on digital assessment, virtual reality tools and a slow build program at FBS Chennai to ensure they fixed any operator issues before prototypes and final signoffs were made.
“This is our fifth President’s Health and Safety award and is a real testament to the journey of excellence since the inception IMG PTME in July 2019,” VAN said. “I’m very proud of the team on the continuous journey of innovation and the contributions to the enterprise on safety, cost, quality and people. These awards and recognition motivate us to be do much more.”
