Sollers Ford reports awarding the resident status of the “Alabuga” Special Economic Zone to its engine plant

25.11.2021

Engine plant (Sollers Ford Auto LLC), a part of Sollers Ford Group, became a resident of the “Alabuga” Special Economic Zone.

The plant plans to produce localized diesel engines for Ford Transit and possibly to provide machining services for third-party automotive manufacturers.

“The engine production plant in Elabuga is the most high-tech plant in Russia with modern equipment and advanced technologies. Launching the production of localized engines at our own plant in Special Economic Zone will help us increase the number of SPIC points. It will also allow us to further develop in the field of engine building, increase competitiveness, while offering the market attractive conditions for various operations and machining services”, commented Adil Shirinov, President and CEO of Sollers Ford.

Engineering and technological solutions that will be applied at the plant involve the introduction of the Industry 4.0 elements in the machining shop (cylinder block, cylinder head, and crankshaft) and in the engine assembly and logistics shop including the introduction of and error protection system such as “machine vision”, “Pick-to-light” selection of components by light indication, the introduction of a digital code (Data matrix), etc.; the introduction of robotic and automated complexes; and cloud computing, data collection and analysis based on statistical control methods.

These tools and engineering solutions are necessary to provide a high-tech product and stable quality of the processes. Machining will be full automatic; manual operations will be used only for loading components on and off an automatic conveyor. Monitoring of the key parameters, such as cooling system, oil system and fuel system integrity, is planned to be performed in the assembly shop during the engine assembly.

Production involves development of local technologies for components including casting and machining of main parts such as cylinder block, cylinder head, and crankshaft. The machining will use blanks provided by Russian vendors — manufacturers of aluminum and iron castings and steel forgings after they fully achieve the state-of-the art competitive level in engine-building quality. The machining process is based on Ford standards and procedures, which allows to include the experience and advanced technologies of the company.

The components will be put into commercial production at and delivered to the plant in accordance with Ford Motor Company global approval procedure for production of engine units.

Ford Transit production is organized at the Sollers Ford plant in Elabuga using full cycle technology to offer Russian buyers modern products, fully customized for the buyer, adapted to Russian conditions and at competitive prices. The basic line includes an all-metal van, a bus, and a chassis; the vehicles being available in three base lengths, two roof heights, and all types of drive, including 4x4. The range of specialized vehicle versions based on Ford Transit currently includes 170 different modifications of special and social purpose cars, and the lineup continues to expand.

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