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Volvo Trucks: A metal to motor journey
FIT & FINISH
Trucking ain’t for the faint-hearted! The fluid union of man and machine — or might one call ‘monster’! Great responsibility and sensibility pervade the skills of driving a truck.
But as I find out, it can be as much thrilling and fun. The cabin of a Volvo FMX 440 8X4 mining tipper is inviting and plush for a rugged truck. The mighty beast is as nimble and soft, as she is powerful, as I take her out on a drive date around Volvo Trucks’ vast factory grounds in Hoskote, near Bengaluru, where the very truck I drive was born.
Sweden’s Volvo claims to be the earliest foreign auto company to have set up manufacturing operations in Karnataka, and this may be backed by the vast familiar presence one gets of Volvo buses on the roads in the state. But with buses, the company is also a major truck-maker, banking immensely on demands from the realms of mining and infrastructural development in India.
“We are certainly bullish on mining… but are also keen on launching more models for more applications in the future. The truck industry in India will grow, and will be dependent on three pillars namely, the rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), adherence to environmental norms, and speedy infrastructural development,” Volvo Group Trucks India President Pierre-Jean Verge-Salamon says.
Factory findings
True to its aims, the Volvo truck facility at Hoskote is rightly positioned to accelerate the company’s aims forward, in tandem with the India growth story.
The state-of-the-art Volvo truck facility is part of a large area, which also holds the company’s bus facility. Well-planned and maintained at par with international standards, the factory beams the manufacturing edge that India is aiming to promote through the ‘Make in India’ campaign.
Right at the beginning, I am impressed with the security in place at the entrance gate, which again reflects the strong global standards the company practices.
Inside, the well-laid out factory premises is pleasing to explore, even as the day is getting hotter with the searing summer heat. After a short safety briefing by the factory team, I head out with a select group led by Volvo Trucks India Vice President (Product Strategy, Brand and Marketing) G V Rao.
The first part of the truck facility that we visit is the warehouse, where well-stocked spares and components are stacked in a tested and proven system called ‘Volvo Emballage’, which is a pool of packaging material used by over 3,000 suppliers globally, and is the standard required by Volvo manufacturing plants worldwide.
It is here that the material that will eventually combine to become mighty trucks is received, downsided, verified, packed and listed, before going into production.
The process allows for identifying the right, specific component needed at a particular time, arranged in the right order as it would go onto the production line. All this supports the lean manufacturing techniques that are at play in the plant.
The production line, or as one would say assembly line, at the plant is built around what is called a ‘fishbone factory’ concept, wherein the main chassis goes in a single line all the way to the end of production in the centre of the facility, while many sub-assemblies take place on either side of this main production line, with parts and fittings being placed on the chassis from either side, eventually deriving a truck in record time. This system, as engineers at the plant tell me, minimises travel time on the floor.
The various processes that take place as the truck chassis moves through the fishbone are riveting of the frame, routing of electrical and pneumatic cables, placing brackets, accel-mounting and completing all checks, engine mounting, cabin assembly, media filling (air-conditioning, oils and coolants), programming of chassis, and finally, running the trucks.
Meanwhile, the sub-assemblies quickly work on accels, radiators, suspensions, and so on, on one side, while the other side has technicians assembling cabs, separately.
“The factory has a total annual capacity of 4,000 units with one single shift. Today, we produce around six trucks a day, with one truck taking around one-and-half days to be made. Our job surrounds process-based steps, and we have dedicated teams for each process,” engineers say.
Close to the production line is an area where the cabs are welded together. Galvanised steel components come imported from Sweden, which are assembled into cabs here.
“Right now, it is costly to source these materials in India, considering investment costs and economies of scale,” says Rao, adding that most trucks are built to order. These cabins meet stringent crash worthiness Swedish impact tests on three spots — top, front and rear.
Getting the recipe right
The assembled trucks then go through a thorough checklist of inspection, at a separate area of the facility.
Firstly, a static visual inspection of around 200-250 points on the trucks is carried out to look for leaks, poor quality aspects, functional and static things. This whole process takes around two hours, following which the truck is sent to the twenty-minute-long rollover and brake test, where the truck is driven on a roller surface to see how it runs, and how its brakes function. Next, the wheel alignment, headlamp adjustment and chassis inspection takes place, followed by paint adjustment. The body mounting process is very important since it transforms the truck, giving it a role that it will play once it hits the market. For instance, a tipper will get its container mounted here. Lastly, the verification of the body function, and integration of truck with body happens. The verification process is also called ‘product audit’.
In terms of trailer trucks, Rao explains that while the tractor is manufactured by Volvo, the trailer production is outsourced, and the company works with the trailer manufacturer to foster quality, and also ensuring the trailers’ synchronisation with its own tractors.
In the middle of all this exploration, we get to pay a visit to the paint shop, where the bland metal structures don their personalities. After the welding process, a corrosion protection layer is put, after which the cabs get three layers of paint on them.
The entire Volvo factory employs 3,500 staffers (bus and truck), and 7-8% of the industrial workforce are women.
As a company, Volvo has been at the forefront of environment protection and safety. Even at the factory, as Rao shows us, there are a lot of intricate elements that tells one about the depth at which the company has gone to retain sustainability, such as natural light illuminating the entire floor through glass panels in the roof. “We have a blacklist of materials that cannot be used in our processes. In terms of water management, no water is let out of the plant untreated and even that is mostly reused. We have a strong emission control system, and even paint waste treatment is carried out scientifically,” Rao says.
Where drivers are made
To understand the safety consciousness that Volvo has nurtured, we head to the Driver Training School nearby, through which the company has taken the responsibility of getting drivers to master the art of taming its great machines.
A class for bus drivers is in session when we visit the school. Among a total of 36,629 drivers trained here between 1997 and 2014, 12,649 were truck drivers, with the remaining being bus drivers. Besides, the school has also trained 32,351 truck drivers in the field. The facility teaches everything from soft skills, civic sense, and driving skills.
Today, Volvo has a wide range of heavy-duty trucks plying India’s roads, mines and other off-road situations. The widely popular FH (flagship model for long-haulage cargo) and FM (tractor and other applications) ranges have been joined by the FMX range, involving the FMX 440 19.5 Cu.m manual tipper, FMX 440 19.5 Cu.m tipper with I-Shift, FMX 520 26.1 Cu.m dump truck, FMX 480 24 Cu.m dump truck, and FMX 440 33 Cu.m coal tipper.
Volvo has also integrated highly technological innovations such as Dynafleet, a telematic solution for real-time fleet management, as is expected to drive its I-Shift automated gearshift solution in a big way in the future.
“We sold 1,222 trucks in India in 2015, with our group revenues in India touching $1.5 billion, the same year,” Verge-Salamon informs.
Volvo Trucks celebrated selling 10,000 units last year, which took 15 years to accomplish. Verge Salamon says that the way in which the industry and economy are shaping up, the next 10,000 truck sales may happen in the coming five years itself.
The total heavy-duty truck industry in India is expected to touch 2,50,000 units this year. As the country propels forward in a bid to emerge a superpower, manufacturing is bound to be a huge contributor.
Meanwhile, Volvo is firm with its Make in India plans, blending seamless new-age technologies with best manufacturing techniques, creating marvellous vehicles for today and tomorrow.
The truck industry in India will grow, and will be dependent on three pillars namely, the rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), adherence to environmental norms, and speedy infrastructural development.
Pierre-Jean
Verge-Salamon
Volvo Group Trucks India President
But as I find out, it can be as much thrilling and fun. The cabin of a Volvo FMX 440 8X4 mining tipper is inviting and plush for a rugged truck. The mighty beast is as nimble and soft, as she is powerful, as I take her out on a drive date around Volvo Trucks’ vast factory grounds in Hoskote, near Bengaluru, where the very truck I drive was born.
Sweden’s Volvo claims to be the earliest foreign auto company to have set up manufacturing operations in Karnataka, and this may be backed by the vast familiar presence one gets of Volvo buses on the roads in the state. But with buses, the company is also a major truck-maker, banking immensely on demands from the realms of mining and infrastructural development in India.
“We are certainly bullish on mining… but are also keen on launching more models for more applications in the future. The truck industry in India will grow, and will be dependent on three pillars namely, the rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), adherence to environmental norms, and speedy infrastructural development,” Volvo Group Trucks India President Pierre-Jean Verge-Salamon says.
Factory findings
True to its aims, the Volvo truck facility at Hoskote is rightly positioned to accelerate the company’s aims forward, in tandem with the India growth story.
The state-of-the-art Volvo truck facility is part of a large area, which also holds the company’s bus facility. Well-planned and maintained at par with international standards, the factory beams the manufacturing edge that India is aiming to promote through the ‘Make in India’ campaign.
Right at the beginning, I am impressed with the security in place at the entrance gate, which again reflects the strong global standards the company practices.
Inside, the well-laid out factory premises is pleasing to explore, even as the day is getting hotter with the searing summer heat. After a short safety briefing by the factory team, I head out with a select group led by Volvo Trucks India Vice President (Product Strategy, Brand and Marketing) G V Rao.
The first part of the truck facility that we visit is the warehouse, where well-stocked spares and components are stacked in a tested and proven system called ‘Volvo Emballage’, which is a pool of packaging material used by over 3,000 suppliers globally, and is the standard required by Volvo manufacturing plants worldwide.
It is here that the material that will eventually combine to become mighty trucks is received, downsided, verified, packed and listed, before going into production.
The process allows for identifying the right, specific component needed at a particular time, arranged in the right order as it would go onto the production line. All this supports the lean manufacturing techniques that are at play in the plant.
The production line, or as one would say assembly line, at the plant is built around what is called a ‘fishbone factory’ concept, wherein the main chassis goes in a single line all the way to the end of production in the centre of the facility, while many sub-assemblies take place on either side of this main production line, with parts and fittings being placed on the chassis from either side, eventually deriving a truck in record time. This system, as engineers at the plant tell me, minimises travel time on the floor.
The various processes that take place as the truck chassis moves through the fishbone are riveting of the frame, routing of electrical and pneumatic cables, placing brackets, accel-mounting and completing all checks, engine mounting, cabin assembly, media filling (air-conditioning, oils and coolants), programming of chassis, and finally, running the trucks.
Meanwhile, the sub-assemblies quickly work on accels, radiators, suspensions, and so on, on one side, while the other side has technicians assembling cabs, separately.
“The factory has a total annual capacity of 4,000 units with one single shift. Today, we produce around six trucks a day, with one truck taking around one-and-half days to be made. Our job surrounds process-based steps, and we have dedicated teams for each process,” engineers say.
Close to the production line is an area where the cabs are welded together. Galvanised steel components come imported from Sweden, which are assembled into cabs here.
“Right now, it is costly to source these materials in India, considering investment costs and economies of scale,” says Rao, adding that most trucks are built to order. These cabins meet stringent crash worthiness Swedish impact tests on three spots — top, front and rear.
Getting the recipe right
The assembled trucks then go through a thorough checklist of inspection, at a separate area of the facility.
Firstly, a static visual inspection of around 200-250 points on the trucks is carried out to look for leaks, poor quality aspects, functional and static things. This whole process takes around two hours, following which the truck is sent to the twenty-minute-long rollover and brake test, where the truck is driven on a roller surface to see how it runs, and how its brakes function. Next, the wheel alignment, headlamp adjustment and chassis inspection takes place, followed by paint adjustment. The body mounting process is very important since it transforms the truck, giving it a role that it will play once it hits the market. For instance, a tipper will get its container mounted here. Lastly, the verification of the body function, and integration of truck with body happens. The verification process is also called ‘product audit’.
In terms of trailer trucks, Rao explains that while the tractor is manufactured by Volvo, the trailer production is outsourced, and the company works with the trailer manufacturer to foster quality, and also ensuring the trailers’ synchronisation with its own tractors.
In the middle of all this exploration, we get to pay a visit to the paint shop, where the bland metal structures don their personalities. After the welding process, a corrosion protection layer is put, after which the cabs get three layers of paint on them.
The entire Volvo factory employs 3,500 staffers (bus and truck), and 7-8% of the industrial workforce are women.
As a company, Volvo has been at the forefront of environment protection and safety. Even at the factory, as Rao shows us, there are a lot of intricate elements that tells one about the depth at which the company has gone to retain sustainability, such as natural light illuminating the entire floor through glass panels in the roof. “We have a blacklist of materials that cannot be used in our processes. In terms of water management, no water is let out of the plant untreated and even that is mostly reused. We have a strong emission control system, and even paint waste treatment is carried out scientifically,” Rao says.
Where drivers are made
To understand the safety consciousness that Volvo has nurtured, we head to the Driver Training School nearby, through which the company has taken the responsibility of getting drivers to master the art of taming its great machines.
A class for bus drivers is in session when we visit the school. Among a total of 36,629 drivers trained here between 1997 and 2014, 12,649 were truck drivers, with the remaining being bus drivers. Besides, the school has also trained 32,351 truck drivers in the field. The facility teaches everything from soft skills, civic sense, and driving skills.
Today, Volvo has a wide range of heavy-duty trucks plying India’s roads, mines and other off-road situations. The widely popular FH (flagship model for long-haulage cargo) and FM (tractor and other applications) ranges have been joined by the FMX range, involving the FMX 440 19.5 Cu.m manual tipper, FMX 440 19.5 Cu.m tipper with I-Shift, FMX 520 26.1 Cu.m dump truck, FMX 480 24 Cu.m dump truck, and FMX 440 33 Cu.m coal tipper.
Volvo has also integrated highly technological innovations such as Dynafleet, a telematic solution for real-time fleet management, as is expected to drive its I-Shift automated gearshift solution in a big way in the future.
“We sold 1,222 trucks in India in 2015, with our group revenues in India touching $1.5 billion, the same year,” Verge-Salamon informs.
Volvo Trucks celebrated selling 10,000 units last year, which took 15 years to accomplish. Verge Salamon says that the way in which the industry and economy are shaping up, the next 10,000 truck sales may happen in the coming five years itself.
The total heavy-duty truck industry in India is expected to touch 2,50,000 units this year. As the country propels forward in a bid to emerge a superpower, manufacturing is bound to be a huge contributor.
Meanwhile, Volvo is firm with its Make in India plans, blending seamless new-age technologies with best manufacturing techniques, creating marvellous vehicles for today and tomorrow.
The truck industry in India will grow, and will be dependent on three pillars namely, the rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), adherence to environmental norms, and speedy infrastructural development.
Pierre-Jean
Verge-Salamon
Volvo Group Trucks India President
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(Published 19 April 2016, 16:23 IST)
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