Engineering news
Jaguar Land Rover has invested £45 million in a new servo press line at its Halewood operations, near Liverpool.
Standing at 13m tall and more than 85m long, it has a combined press stamping capacity of 7,900 tonnes, making it one of the biggest, fastest and most powerful press lines across JLR stamping both steel and aluminium panels, the company said.
Compared to the more mechanical operation of the existing Halewood presses, the direct drive servo system can handle higher tonnages in addition to working at higher speeds, allowing Halewood to increase the volume of stamped parts for use right across JLR. The new line also uses less power and incorporates an energy recovery system that captures energy from the draw action and converts it into electricity.
The press, designed by global manufacturer Aida, enables faster die changes (the metal molds that form the panel shapes), reducing previous times of 55 minutes to under five minutes. This will improve the flexibility of the press shop, increase stamping capacity, increase speed and volume of panels that can be produced at Halewood every day, said Jaguar.
Richard Else, operations director at Halewood, said: “This colossal new press line reinforces Jaguar Land Rover’s long term investment in UK manufacturing. This investment ensures we can make more panels, even more efficiently and will continue to do so for many years to come.”
Aida will complete the finishing-touches to the installation at the end of March. Trial pressings will start in April and the facility will begin stamping panels for use across JLR from the summer. By autumn the facility will be up to full speed making up to 20 strikes per minute.
The Halewood press shop is one of the largest stamping floors in the UK, covering a 30,000m2 area. The plant is operating at full capacity, 24 hours-a-day, for the first time in its 50 year history.