Valmet Automotive uses Omron’s automation expertise

With that expertise Valmet produces one of the most famous cars in the world. As an independent European manufacturer of premium quality cars in Finland with a production capacity of 100,000 cars a year. The company is co-owned by the Metso Corporation and Thyssen Krupp Automotive AG.

In the 30 years since Valmet Automotive started production in Uusikaupunki on the south-west coast of Finland, it has produced more than 980.000 passenger cars like Chrysler-Talbot, Opel Calibra and Saab, all destined for the global market. In 1997 Valmet Automotive started the assembly of the Porsche Boxster, and last year they celebrated the production of the 100,000th model.

The body shop

Valmet Automotives body shop consists of one main line and sub-assembly cells. The main line is highly automated, while the subassembly cells are either automated or manually operated. The spot-welding process for example, is 85% automated, and in ARC-welding the automation level is about 80%. The body shop process has to be flexible enough to satisfy the various requests of the Porsche customers for different body features.

In this area more than 20 Omron PLCs have been installed and are Ethernet networked. All the necessary production data collected by these PLCs is simply transferred via the network system to the production planning and management departments.

In addition to PLCs, many Omron frequency inverters, sensors (including a vision system) and other Omron industrial components are being used in the Porsche body shop area. Mr. Hannu Tuupanen, Senior Project Engineer from Body Shop Manufacturing Engineering has several years experience in Omron systems and components. “Quality and reliability are key factors in automobile industry” says Mr. Tuupanen. “We also require these same attributes from our suppliers. Valmet Automotive has more than 20 years experience with Omron, and Omron has been able to meet our requirements for expertise and high technology products”.

Final assembly and beyond

Omron products also play a major part in the final assembly, paint shop and materials handling processes. In the final assembly for instance about 150 Omron PLCs are installed that are connected via a variety of networks. Data from the PLCs is transferred via the network system to production planning and management systems for analysis. The final assembly process also uses Omron Industrial components, RFID, and sensors like proximity switches and photoelectric sensors.

According to Mr. Tapio Mattila, Senior Product Engineer of Final Assembly, “reliability and technical support are of vital importance in the final assembly area. Omron’s products have always satisfied our needs in this part of the manufacturing process”.