Faurecia just unveiled a €57 million state-of-the-art investment in a new data-driven manufacturing facility in Columbus (Indiana, USA). Columbus South, a 37,000 m² facility, will employ 450 people and produce a new, high-tech emissions control product for the commercial vehicle industry, serving its customer Cummins Emission Solutions. With this facility, Faurecia is driving forward the company’s digital transformation by ushering in technologies that are at the forefront of modern-day manufacturing.
“This new facility represents a breakthrough for Faurecia in two ways: first of all, as a major step forward in the development of our emissions control business for Commercial Vehicles with an exciting new product for improved air quality. Secondly, this plant is our first comprehensive example of our Manufacturing 4.0 initiative incorporating connectivity, automation, data processing and hardware to advance the manufacturing industry,” said Christophe Schmitt, Executive Vice President of Faurecia Emissions Control Technologies (FECT). “We look forward to a successful launch and the continuation of our digital enterprise developments across more of our facilities around the world and across our product lines.”
The Columbus South facility’s digital environment will feature a variety of new technologies, systems and processes, including:
- Laser scanning and early detection of variation;
- Self-learning autonomous intelligent vehicles (AIVs);
- Collaborative robots known as “cobots”;
- Continuous data collection to help predict and prevent equipment failures;
- A completely paperless environment keeping employees connected and informed with real time information; and
- An open-concept design and digital screens, laptops and smartphones designed to foster real-time collaboration and communication.
Faurecia’s long-term partnership with Cummins Emission Solutions has been evolving since Faurecia purchased Emcon Technologies in 2010, and this partnership is now a cornerstone of Faurecia’s emissions control business in North America and globally. Faurecia has put air quality solutions at the forefront of its strategy, and the new product being launched in Columbus is a concrete example of the Group’s technology investment.
