JLR supplier confirms multi-million pound factory opening
WARWICK automotive sector supplier Voith Industrial Services is to open its new multi-million pound wheels and tyres facility in Coventry later this year, the company has confirmed.
The facility in Torrington Avenue is being developed to meet the growing demand from premium and luxury car brands, such as Jaguar and Land Rover, as well as from other automotive manufacturers including Vauxhall.
The state-of-the-art plant will replace the existing factory – only a few hundred yards away in Torrington Avenue – where wheel and tyre assembly has been carried out for more than 30 years.
The current operation, employing about 80 people, takes place in three buildings covering an area of 97,000 sq ft. It houses three production lines currently assembling 4,000 units a day.
The new plant, the most technically-advanced in the UK, will be housed in one building covering 140,000 sq ft and will employ more people. A wheel and tyre assembly will be completed in only 12 seconds – compared to 20 seconds on the current line.
The first 90-metre long assembly line has been installed and is currently undergoing extensive commissioning.
The new track, which has 11 fully-automated work-stations, will be programmed to assemble more than 700 different combinations of wheel and tyre derivatives with the capacity for even more.
The installation of the first track – the second will be de-commissioned, relocated, and re-commissioned from July – follows the first phase which was to relocate the sequencing and transport operations.
Last year Voith Industrial Services, which is headquartered in Warwick, won the JLRQ quality award from Jaguar Land Rover for its wheel and tyre operation.
Phillip Spencer, Voith Industrial Services’ sales and business development director, said: “More automotive manufacturers are recognising our technical expertise and quality in this area, and we expect to see our turnover increase significantly over the coming years as our customer base expands.”
In the UK Voith Industrial Services employs 2,600 people – mainly at customer sites across the country. The company has increased its sales turnover from €33m to almost €120m in the last five years.
