Sichuan Online News (reporter, Ju Yi) On September 7, the Chengdu factory of Shenlong Automobile Co., Ltd., the global new generation benchmark factory of PSA Group, was officially completed and put into operation. At the same time, the factory’s first product, Dongfeng Peugeot 4008, was successfully rolled off the production line and will be officially launched in November this year. From the groundbreaking of the construction on October 16, 2014 to the smooth launch of the first new car, Shenlong Automobile only took 23 months, which is said by the outside world to be an amazing "Chengdu speed". Su Weibin, general manager of Shenlong Automobile Co., Ltd., said in an interview with this newspaper that the completion and commissioning of the Chengdu factory and the successful launch of Dongfeng Peugeot 4008 are milestones in the history of Shenlong’s construction and development, and even in the process of deepening global strategic cooperation between Dongfeng and PSA Group.
How to Create "Chengdu Speed"
Su Weibin revealed that since the foundation was laid, Shenlong Automobile has strictly followed the construction principle of "one planning, phased construction, model investment priority, rolling development"; the first phase of planning and construction is the annual production capacity of 240,000 vehicles, and the total investment estimate is 7.90 billion yuan; Chengdu factory introduces PSA Group’s new EMP2 production platform; models are developed synchronously with Europe and launched synchronously; product planning, with the production of Dongfeng Peugeot, Dongfeng Citroen, Dongfeng three brands of high-end SUV and MPV models, synchronously planning new energy products.
For such a grand blueprint with high starting point planning and high standard design, how to ensure that the blueprint will be turned into reality within two years with high quality is a huge test for local governments at all levels to coordinate all parties and optimize the investment environment, and it is also a severe challenge for all builders. The Shenlong factory is obviously well-prepared. Mai Keran, executive deputy general manager of Shenlong Automobile Co., Ltd., told reporters that the Chengdu factory is the fourth vehicle factory built by Shenlong in China, so it has absorbed and learned from the excellent performance index system and the latest process technology achievements of excellent enterprises under Dongfeng and PSA Group, combined with Shenlong’s more than 20 years of factory construction experience. In the early stage of the design, a flexible, multi-variety, mixed-flow production process design scheme was adopted; during the entire construction process, the organic integration of information technology and industrial production was implemented throughout the whole process, and the construction of the main plant and the supply of parts were integrated. The layout was integrated, and the development was coordinated. Simultaneous supply, seamless connection; and after the plant was completed, it immediately entered the equipment installation and commissioning, model preparation, operation standards, process flow, and staff training; at the same time, Product Research & Development trial production, off-line pre-batch trial installation, online simulated production operation, and large-line production linkage debugging… Thousand arrows were launched. "In 23 months, we created a new record in China’s automotive industry."
"We are by no means a simple copy of the existing factory, but the integration, innovation and reconstruction of advanced automotive technology achievements at home and abroad." Lu Congguo, director of Shenlong’s Chengdu factory, said frankly that we have the ability and confidence to build the Chengdu factory into a new generation of global benchmark factories for PSA Group.
Green and Smart Advanced Factory
The first phase of the Chengdu factory covers an area of 2,484 mu, mainly including the four major processes of stamping, welding, painting, and final assembly and their sub-assembly integrated workshops and workshops, parts suppliers supporting industrial park plants, test tracks, as well as warehousing and logistics, public power stations, canteens and other auxiliary construction facilities. Yesterday, the reporter was fortunate to be the first batch of customers to walk into the Shenlong Automobile Chengdu factory and experience its "green intelligence" firsthand.
Quiet and odor-free is the strongest first feeling of reporters after entering the factory. According to the staff, the stamping workshop adopts industry-leading fully enclosed, automatic high-speed stamping process technology and advanced equipment, with a maximum beat of 15 times/minute, with significant advantages such as dust protection, noise reduction, and zero exhaust emissions. Noise control is below 83 decibels. When entering the welding workshop, there are 442 robots of various types such as automatic welding, automatic conveying, automatic pre-assembly molding, and automatic online monitoring in the workshop, which is like entering the sci-fi world of robots.
The most green and environmentally friendly is the painting workshop, where the paint workshop with the largest odor has become an air purification laboratory. The whole line adopts the international leading process standards and technical equipment: the pretreatment adopts the green and environmentally friendly silane process, which eliminates the emission of manganese, nickel and phosphorus plasma compared with the traditional phosphating process, and has the significant advantages of energy saving by 70%, residue reduction by more than 90%, and zero emission of heavy metals. The latest generation of water-free paint compact painting process (i.e. PPC-II) is adopted, which reduces the three processes of medium coating, baking and grinding compared with the traditional process. It has the advantages of compact process and reduced energy consumption by 15%. And there are 18 sealing robots and 68 painting robots, which fully realize the automatic spraying of the inner and outer surfaces of the body. The significant advantages and technical level of energy saving and emission reduction and green environmental protection of the coating production line are internationally leading.
Finally, walking into the final assembly workshop, the atmosphere of the world’s new generation of modern automobile production is coming. The workshop has established a world-class dedicated track test field with a total length of 4.5KM and 27 kinds of detection spectra. After the new car is tested and rolled off the assembly line, 100% track tests are carried out to ensure that the quality of each car produced is qualified.
The first product Dongfeng Peugeot 4008
As the first product of Shenlong’s Chengdu factory, the Dongfeng Peugeot 4008 also shoulders many historical missions. Dongfeng Peugeot 4008 is a high-end intelligent European SUV, based on PSA Group’s new EMP2 technology platform, from external styling to internal design; from spatial layout to technical equipment; from high-performance powertrain adaptation to fully equipped with ADAS intelligent driving assistance system, integrating a number of leading intelligent configurations, bringing together the aesthetic design accumulation and process technology essence of Peugeot’s century-old car, condensing the quality assurance and mission of PSA Group’s global new generation of benchmark factories, with i-Cockpit cockpit, equipped with Shenlong’s "E-motion strategy" THP turbocharged engine and enhanced Grip Control multi-road condition adaptation system, with the longest 2730mm wheelbase in the same class.
The birth of Dongfeng Peugeot 4008 fills the gap in the mid- to high-end SUV of Shenlong Company, improves the product structure of Shenlong Company, and better promotes Shenlong Company to further conform to the market trend and seize market opportunities. The advanced intelligent equipment, exquisite craftsmanship, and strict quality control system of the Chengdu factory will also provide important guarantees for Dongfeng Peugeot 4008 to shake up the market pattern of mid-range SUVs.