The China FAW Group Corp., Changchun, China, is transforming its operations from traditional metalcasting processes to automatic grinding with high productivity and flexibility. FAW and MAUS have signed a contract, the first on this scale in the Chinese market, for the supply of a plant composed of two MAUS automatic grinding lines that includes a total of 10 Sam 1200L machines equipped with robots for the automatic loading/unloading of the pieces.
Founded in 1956, the state-owned group has a sales and service presence throughout the world. It has expanded its operations over the years to encompass ever-more demanding applications for the production of commercial vehicles. Today, FAW is the leading Chinese manufacturer of trucks and buses, with a production capacity of more than 1 million vehicles. It has 120,000 employees, with 5,000 working in metalcasting.
FAW has established various production joint ventures with manufacturers of the calibre of Audi, the Ford Motor Company, the Hyundai Motor Company, the Mazda Motor Corporation, the Toyota Motor Corporation and Volkswagen.
The Chinese group has selected MAUS technology for the ambitious project to build the largest automated plant in China for the grinding of engine blocks for trucks. Specifically, the plant supplied by MAUS will be used for the automatic grinding of two different types of engine blocks for trucks (4- and 6-cylinder), in a highly productive system that delivers between 70 pieces per hour and 120 pieces per hour, with competitive unit costs, optimizing the production process in terms of flexibility, productivity and quality.
The commissioning of the production operations in the brand-new FAW foundry in Changchun is expected to take place in spring 2014.