According to foreign media reports, Franck Naro, head of Renault industrial strategy, announced at the Automotive News European Conference held in Frankfurt that the Renault 5 small electric car will be put into production at its factory in Douai, France later this summer, when each car will take only 9 hours to produce, which is comparable to that of the most competitive Chinese electric car manufacturers.
This achievement is partly due to the use of digital manufacturing technology.
Renault 5.
Photo: Renault, Franck Naro, vice president of industrial strategy and corporate operations of Renault Group, said at the event on June 12: “from what we have seen, our production rate is similar to that of Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers.
We know exactly where we are and exactly what level our best competitors are at.
” Renault said in December that it aims to reduce the production cost of electric vehicles by 50% by 2027, while reducing the development time of cars from three years to two years.
In recent months, automakers have regarded shortening production time as a key strategy to reduce costs and improve competitiveness, especially in the field of electric vehicles, which they hope to reduce the cost of electric vehicles to the same level as those of internal combustion engines.
“HPU (the production time required for each car) is now so famous that everyone in the industry is talking about it,” Naro said.
We were very surprised because before that, only pure manufacturing people would talk about HPU.
” Naro mentioned that Renault dismantled the cars of Chinese electric carmakers and Tesla to see where they could reduce the complexity of car production.
Naro says it has begun trying to identify parts that are not relevant to certain areas of the car and is seeking to reduce the use of those parts.
Renault’s “digital twin” technology is an effective tool to help companies identify potential production bottlenecks in the car development process and optimize the production process by replacing parts.
This technology not only improves production efficiency, but also enables Renault to respond more quickly to market changes and launch more competitive products.
Another effective tool is Renault’s “Industrial metaverse” production system, which can connect production processes digitally, creating a comprehensive manufacturing and supply chain overview.
This system allows companies to manage their production processes more accurately, anticipate and avoid potential problems, and further improve efficiency.
Last year, Renault revealed that the production system saved it 270 million euros ($290 million).
According to Naro, for example, if the stamping machine fails, the factory will have to adopt a backup solution, which may cost more than 1 million euros.
He further stressed that if 11 or 12 such major failures could be prevented each year, the cost savings would be huge.
Renault now has 14000 devices connected to its “industrial metaverse” production system.
Renault plans to reduce its plant’s energy use by 40% from 2019 levels by 2025 and announced last year that it had achieved nearly half of its target.
By simulating and optimizing the production process, metaverse can help Renault identify the links of energy waste and take corresponding measures to improve.
Renault Group pointed out that the company is also actively looking for talents with digital knowledge and skills to attract and train more talents to understand and maintain the digitization of technology.
Naro admitted: “right now, the people in our factory are not flexible enough to use this technology.
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