Angka-Tan Motor Sdn Bhd (ATM) hosted a discovery tour for its dealers and customers recently to the fascinating world of Foton.
Malaysian Dealers & Customers Visit Foton’s Plants
Customers and dealers of Angka-Tan Motor Sdn Bhd (ATM) went on a discovery tour recently to the fascinating world of Foton, one of the leading commercial vehicle brand in China. Being the only media invited by the company, ‘Truck & Bus News’ was honoured to have the privilege to write this exclusive and exciting story. Led by Senior General Manager Danny Ng, the trip allowed the Malaysian delegates to take a glance behind the production scenes at Foton; from an empty shell to complete vehicle, ready to go through various tests before delivery to customers.
The first plant that we visited was the Ollin Plant in Zhucheng. Set up in October 2004 with total assets of 2.75 billion Yuan, the plant was officially put into operation in January 2005. Situated on a total area of 734,000 square metres, the plant has a built-up area of 186,000 square metres and a current workforce of 6,500. This plant mainly manufactures mini and light trucks, with a total production capacity of 300,000 units per year.
The plant is clean and neat. During a quick walk through, we could see how the moving assembly lines work. It has two assembly divisions; the first division is for light trucks, which is the birthplace of the popular Foton Aumark C light duty truck, and the second division is mainly for mini-trucks. On average, the Oilin plant assembles 270 to 280 vehicles per day and takes 2.15 hours to assembly a vehicle.
According to Ng, the Aumark C featured the world’s leading powertrain, transmission system and additional advanced technologies produced by Foton, making it an efficient solution for transportation and logistics services.
“Powered by the Cummins ISF 2.8-litre and 3.8-litre engines, Aumark C’s engines are 10 to 20 per cent lighter but with 10 per cent more power than the competitors. These engines could easily complement any drive-line to produce a maximum speed of 115kph, which is 30 per cent higher than the rivals. In addition, the fuel consumption is 8 per cent lower compared to the competition. The weight and maintenance cost of the engine is also lower due to its modular design that results in the number of parts being reduced by 40 per cent.”
Ng revealed that the company’s sales started to improve after the introduction of Aumark C BJ1041 4-wheeler that has a gross vehicle weight (GVW) of 5 tonnes and Aumark BJ 1061 6-wheeler with a GVW of 7.5 tonnes in Malaysia. He received good feedback from customers who expressed satisfaction with the performance of both models.
Shangdong Super Truck Plant
Next on the tour was the Shangdong Super Truck plant, which is the production base of Foton’s high-end light and medium-duty trucks. Set up in July 2015, the plant began production in October 2016.
We could not believe what we were seeing. The Super Truck facility broke away from the traditionally noisy, long and labour-intensive production lines. Robots and robotic arms are part of the production team, especially in the welding and painting sections. We hardly saw workers in the body welding section; it is fully equipped with robotic arms and ABB robots from Sweden to improve the quality and efficiency of the welding process. It takes 5 minutes to assemble a truck and on average, more than 200 vehicles are produced every day. However, 8 workers are needed to control the 62 robotic arms, manufactured by Kuka AG, Germany’s largest maker of industrial robotics.
Foton has made significant investments in this section, with the automation adoption rate up to 90 per cent. The reason is clear as besides the engine, defects produced during welding would have a major influence on quality.
The assembly division uses a modular assembly line system that is designed to improve throughput by increasing efficiency. This involves assembling separate modules such as the chassis, interior, body, engine on separate assembly lines before they come together on a final assembly line. The gluing and fastening of windscreens to the cabs are done by robots.
It was amazing to see how they handled the flip of large and heavy chassis with the vertical beam flipping system at the frame section. The automatic and flexible frame manufacturing process is achieved through an information system platform.
Also impressive was the paint section that has reached 75 per cent of automation. Flexible process equipment, intelligent colour switching system and green phosphorus process are among its intelligent processes. The painting process is fully automatic, flexible and environment friendly, providing flawless paint finishes with consistency and throughput.
At the final production line, there were automatic conveying, automatic transfer and modular assembly with modularisation of up to about 40 per cent. The filling section adopts high-end intelligent network vacuum filling and the glass coating and sealing are done by robots, with the automation level at about 20 per cent.
To assure quality, every single truck has to go through a comprehensive set of tests before leaving the factory.
We were told that the plant deployed an intelligent production management system that could control the parameters of the entire production line, while its independent energy management system could automatically manage and monitor energy use. It adheres to the planning concept of ‘zero emission, touchless, automation’ and achieves high efficiency and energy saving in the manufacturing processes covered earlier.
In the aspect of intelligence information, the plant uses Coordinate Manufacturing Management Platform (CMMP), Manufacturing Execution System (MES) and Logistics Execution System (LES) to allow seamless connection with its upgraded Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) system, SAP ad DMS system; this covers the entire plant’s system, processes and manufacturing execution to ordering management. The application of information and networking technology enables key data correction and prevents errors.
Aumark S to be in Malaysia Next Year
An advanced and premium product needs to be built in an advanced and premium plant, and this is where the new Aumark S is born.
Compared to the Aumark C that was targeted at the mid-end market sector, Ng said the new Aumark S was designed for the mid-high and high-end market with a GVW from 3.5–12 tonnes. The body width of Aumark S was widened to 2,060mm from 1,995mm and its length from1,575mm to 1,612 in addition to its higher cabin, and that meant it was more spacious. The angle of the A-pillar was changed from 22.6°in the Aumark C to 18 °, offering better vision.
It is equipped with a Cummins ISF 2.8- or 3.8-litre engine, with horsepower of 148hp and 154hp respectively. The engine, stressed Ng, was very light and produced little noise with outstanding fuel economy. He said this model would be brought to Malaysia next year.
We took a ride in the new Aumark S to confirm Foton’s claims that the exterior noise and vibration are lower compared to Aumark C. While the exterior noise was a bit subjective, the ride was quite smooth and less bouncy even without a cargo body. We hardly felt the vibration during our ride, which according to Foton was reduced by up to 70 per cent.
The walking tour not only allowed us to have a detailed insight into how a Foton was made but we also witnessed the effort and seriousness as well as the continuous investments that Foton Motor had committed when it comes to manufacturing a truck. This trip certainly boosted the confidence of its users to a large degree as with even the most lucid description of the best practices and stringent quality control at each stage of manufacturing process that Foton adhered to, nothing could compare to seeing a factory in operation first hand.
发现之旅 — 福田的诞生地
Angka-Tan汽车私人有限公司（ATM）的客户和代理近日展开了一个发现之旅，探寻福田，中国领先的商用车品牌之一的迷人世界。作为唯一受邀的媒体，《卡客车新闻》因为能够有机会撰写这篇独家报道而感到无比荣幸。由Angka-Tan汽车高级总经理黄杰星亲自带队的发现之旅，让大马的代表能够有机会一瞥福田的生产现场，看一看每一辆福田如何从空壳组装成完整的车子，然后在交付到客户手中前经过各种测试。
我们参观的第一家工厂是位于诸城的奥玲工厂。2004年10月建成，工厂资产总额27.5亿人民币，2005年1月投入使用。占地面积73.4万平方米，其中建筑面积18.6万平方米，现有员工约6，500人。 该产主要生产微卡和轻卡，具备年产300，000 辆车子的生产能力。
走人这个工厂的第一个印象是干净整洁，然后是流动的生产线。它有两大生产线，第一个轻卡车间，也就是著名福田欧马可C（Aumark C）轻卡的诞生地，第二个车间主要是生产微卡。 奥玲工厂平均每天可装配270至280辆汽车，每两小时十五分钟就能组装好一部车子。
据黄杰星说，奥马可C拥有世界级动力传动系统，再加上福田的先进科技，使它成为运输和物流服务的高效解决方案。
“搭载康明斯ISF 2.8升和3.8升引擎。欧马可C的引擎重量比对手轻10- 20%，动力却大了10%。这些引擎能够轻松搭配任何动力传动系统，最高的速度可达115kph，比竞争品牌高了30%。此外，它的油耗量也比竞争品牌低。 再加上其独有的模块化、集成化引擎设计， 零部件数量减少了40%，引擎重量和维修成本自然也比竞争者来得低。”
他透露说，该公司的销售量随着欧马可C BJ1041 4 轮 车全重（GVW）5吨轻卡和欧马可C BJ1061 6 轮车全重7.5吨轻卡的推出而开始改善。他说客户的好评如潮，他们都相当满意这两款轻卡的性能。
山东超级卡车工厂
我们参观的第二家工厂是山东超级卡车工厂，福田的高端轻卡和中卡生产基地。该工厂于2015年7月建成，并于2016年10月投入使用。
我们无法相信我们看到的。这家超级工厂完全颠覆了我们对车辆组装厂的刻板印象，这里没有吵杂、员工密集的传统生产流水线。相反地，我们看到了机械人和机械臂，它们成了生产团队里的一分子，特别是主焊线和涂装车间。在车身装焊车间，我们很难看到员工的身影，而是配备齐全的机械臂和来自瑞典的ABB机械人，改善了焊接程序中的品质和效率。该工厂平均每5分钟可组装一辆卡车，每天有200多 辆卡车顺利下线，而只有8名员工负责指挥这62台库卡（Kuka）机械臂。库卡是德国最大的机械人制造商。
福田将大笔资金投资在装焊生产线上，自动化程度达100%。理由很简单，因为除了引擎外，对整车品质影响最大的便是装焊品质的好坏。
组装车间采用模块化组装系统，以提高吞吐量效率。这包括单独模块在总组装线汇合前，在单独组装线上组装个别的模块如底盘、内饰、车身、引擎等。挡风镜采用机器人涂胶和固定。
在车架车间，观看纵梁翻转既巨大又重的底盘，感觉既奇妙又有趣。其信息化系统平台，实现了车架制造过程的柔性化和自动化。
令人印象深刻的还有自动化程度达75%的涂装车间。其智能工艺包含车间柔性化装备、智能化颜色切换系统、绿色无磷前处理工艺等。涂装过程是全自动化的，柔性又环保，在整个过程里带来一致、完美无瑕的漆面。
总装生产线上，实现自动输送、自动转接和模块化装配，模块化率达40%左右。加注线上采用高端智能联网真空加注，玻璃涂胶和胶合都采用机器人来进行，自动化程度达20%。
为了确保品质，每一辆卡车在离开工厂前都必须经过全面的测试。
我们也被告知该厂采用智能生产管理系统，能够控制整个生产线上的参数，而其能源控制系统则会自动管理和监督能源的使用。它体现了“零排放、无接触、自动化”的规划设计理念，在整个生产过程中实现高效和节能。
在智能及信息化方面，该厂采用系统制造管理平台（CMMP）、制造执行系统（MES）、物流执行系统（LES），与改造升级后的供应商关系系统（SRM）、整车销售系统（SAP）、经销商在线系统（DMS）形成无缝对接；从工厂体系管理、工艺管理到制造执行，订单入库各业务领域实现信息化系统全覆盖，互联互通，为智能制作提供信息化支持。据悉，信息化和互联网技术的使用，能够校正关键数据和避免错误。
欧马可S明年将登陆大马
一个先进的优质产品，必须出于先进优质的工厂，而这正是全新奥马可S的出生地。
黄杰星说，与瞄准中端市场的欧马可C相比， 全新的欧马可S是特别针对中高和高端市场所设计的，车全重介于3.5 – 12吨之间。 欧马可S的驾驶室比较高，车身宽度从1，955mm提高至2，060mm ， 长度则从1，575mm增加到1，612mm， 意味着它更加宽敞。其A柱的角度从欧马可C的22.6 度改为18度，提供更好的视野。
匹配康明斯ISF 2.8升和3.8升引擎，最大的输出功率分别为148马力和154马力。黄杰星强调，它们都是轻量化的引擎 ，噪音低，非常省油。他透露说，公司计划在明年将该车款引进马来西亚。
我们乘坐了最新的欧马可S，亲自验证福田之前宣称此新车型的外在噪音和振动比欧马可C来得低的真实性。外在噪音到底有些主观，然而还没有装上货体的欧马可S 乘坐起来却相当舒适顺畅，颠簸不大。我们几乎感觉不到振动，而福田宣称欧马可S相较于欧马可C 在振动方面降低了70%。
这一次的探访，不仅让我们对福田卡车的制造过程有了更深的了解，还使我们见证了福田的努力与认真，以及福田汽车在制造卡车方面的持续投资与承诺。这一个旅途，大大提高了其用户的信心，因为即使对福田的最佳实践和他们在每一个生产阶段所秉持的严格品质控制有再详尽的形容和叙述，终究比不上亲眼目睹它的工厂如何运转。
