Engineering group ABB has entered into an agreement with transport company Scania to provide robotics for Scania’s new battery assembly plant in Sweden.
Credit: Scania
Credit: Scania
The new facility will be a key milestone on Scania’s journey towards the electrification of heavy vehicles. Scania will invest more than SEK 1 billion (€93 million) in the facility over several years and the new Södertälje plant is expected to be fully operational by 2023.
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“We are delighted to work with one of our longest-standing clients to help deliver their electrification roadmap,” said Joerg Reger, Managing Director of ABB Robotics’ automotive business line.
“The automotive industry has always been at the forefront of automation. But with the shift to electrification, it faces wholesale changes to established manufacturing processes. With our expertise, we will design and help implement the manufacturing flexibility that is vital for market leaders such as Scania in delivering this change.”
The 18,000 square metres facility will be built next to Scania's chassis assembly plant in Södertälje, Sweden, and will be highly automated. It will assemble battery modules from cells supplied by Northvolt's battery factory in Skellefteå, with the completed packs delivered directly to the vehicle assembly hall.
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Tony Persson, Head of Scania's battery assembly, said: “The factory is designed in line with Scania's efforts to be at the forefront of industrial digitisation, automation, and the use of advanced robotic technology to streamline production processes with increased flexibility. That is where the robots and solutions from ABB fit in."
The delivery will mark the first time ABB’s IRB 390 robot will be used in a battery production facility. Originally designed for the packing industry, the robot combines speed with power and can mount contact plates in batteries at a rate of one plate every second, twenty-four hours a day.
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