ATN takes a look at Volvo's production facility south of Brisbane to mark its 40th anniversary of local manufacturing
By Gary Worrall | February 27, 2012
With 40 years of local manufacturing behind them, Volvo Group Australia can comfortably claim the tag ‘Australian Made’ for its products. And it plans to keep it that way, CEO Arne Knaben says.
In a rare open door invitation to transport journalists to mark the 40th anniversary of local manufacturing, Knaben says the Volvo factory, which underwent a multi-million dollar upgrade in 2010, is an integral part of the local arm’s future.
As well as general enhancements to the production area, the $8.5 million overhaul included re-roofing, repainting and updating the factory to improve work processes, as well as construction of an in-house wheel alignment facility and chassis dynamometer.
Volvo General Manager of the Wacol Production Facility Kurt Beirnaert says this off-line production facility is a major boost, allowing trucks to be certified before leaving the factory.
With 513 staff in total, including 397 industrial workers and 53 engineering personnel, Beirnaert says the Australian factory built 20 percent of all trucks registered in Australia and 40 percent of Australian-built trucks since the first model rolled off the line in 1972.
With a capacity of 16 trucks per day, the Wacol factory is currently running at 75 percent. It completes a total of 12 trucks over 1.3 shifts, split between Mack and Volvo brands.
Beirnaert says there is no specific split between the brands, instead individual tallies are based on customer orders and parts availability. As a ‘parts number’ factory, he says any product in either portfolio can be built, with components ordered to meet demand.
“We want to retain the agility to meet customer needs and demands, and can vary production volumes, product mix as well as requirements for customer adaptation,” Beirnaert says.
He cites the addition of new products such as the recently released Volvo FMX construction truck range and the addition of the MP10 and mDRIVE driveline to the Mack line-up as examples of the flexibility of the local production facility.
Beirnaert says the overall goal of the factory is to achieve “operational excellence” through a combination of efficient processes, the work environment and maintaining quality and safety.
Despite this, Knaben says there are no plans for Wacol to build for the global market. Instead it remains as the production facility for the Australian and New Zealand markets.
CAN WE BUILD IT?
With 12 trucks per day rolling off the production line, Beirnaert says it takes 10 days to build an individual truck. Most of production involves filling dealer orders, although there are some units built as stock trucks.
With two competing brand identities built in the same factory, Beirnaert says manufacturing is integrated as much as possible, with all trucks starting on the same chassis production line for the initial build proces before splitting into separate Mack and Volvo lines.
“We maintain brand identity within the production area, but we do not differentiate in terms of build quality,” Beirnaert says.
Despite much of the running gear, including engines, transmissions and differentials, all imported from overseas suppliers, Beirnaert says approximately 30 percent of parts are sourced from Australian companies.
YES WE CAN!
While Beirnaert is proud of the factory’s ability to manufacture any existing products, he says the other core strength of a local presence is the ability to meet customer requests for product variances by the in-house engineering team.
Under the guidance of Mal Brown, the group can meet with operators to discuss specific needs and develop local engineering responses, which can be integrated into the build process.
The most obvious example of this is the introduction of the Volvo-sourced MP10 and mDRIVE transmission into the Super Liner and Titan models, with the first customer units due for delivery this year.
Brown’s team began work on the project around 2009. Management is deliberately vague on exact timelines, with the design and validation process which includes everything from preliminary drawings to construction of the prototypes for field testing taking three years.
Along the way, the team had to make room in an already crowded chassis for the MP10’s AdBlue tank and dosing equipment, as well creating a vertical exhaust to meet the wishes of Mack customers in place of Volvo’s standard horizontal muffler system.
The experience gained from this project was then transferred to the Volvo FH prime mover, where the engine known as the D16 and can produce up to 700 horsepower in Australian trim. Brown’s team developed a vertical exhaust application for the Swedish brand.
Although intended for use in Australia, Brown says the “rigorous” certification process for design modifications makes the vertical exhaust available anywhere in the world.