Faurecia, an Auburn Hills-based automotive equipment supplier, has unveiled its new $64 million data-driven manufacturing facility in Columbus, Ind. The 400,000-square-foot factory, called Columbus South, will employ 450 people and produce a new, high-tech emissions control product for the commercial vehicle industry.
“This facility represents our entry into Industry 4.0, a revolutionary concept incorporating connectivity, automation, data processing and hardware to advance the manufacturing industry,” says Mike Galarno, plant manager of Columbus South. “We are proud to be the first plant to incorporate many of these leading technologies under one roof to create efficient systems…”
The Columbus South facility’s digital environment will feature a variety of new technologies, systems, and processes, such as quality through laser scanning and early detection of variation, self-learning autonomous intelligent vehicles to transport component parts to the assembly line, continuous data collection to prevent equipment failures, a completely paperless environment, and an open-concept design with digital screens, laptops, and smartphones.
In an effort to foster collaboration, the facility will also have a combination of collaborative robots, automated robotic vehicles, and visual communication techniques.
The new plant will be an addition to Faurecia’s existing presence in Columbus, Ind. It will join Faurecia’s Gladstone Plant and Columbus Tech Center, increasing the number of employees in the region to more than 2,000.
Last year, Faurecia posted global sales of $23 billion and employed 103,000 people in 34 countries at 330 sites and 30 R&D centers, and posted North America sales of $6.4 billion. The company employs more than 20,000 people at 48 locations in Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
