Ford opened today (9th April) its new Camaçari Engine Plant to produce the 1.0 3-Cylinder TiVCT Flex Fuel engine, an entirely new family of 3 cylinder engines with advanced technology for the compact car segment. Built at Ford Northeast Industrial Complex in Camaçari, Brazil, the new plant is part of a $400 million Reais investment and has an annual capacity to produce 210,000 engines.
With about 40 robots and automatic part loaders, the assembly line at the plant operates with a high level of automation. Its 34 machining centers offer wide flexibility for the production of components. In addition to these stations, there are 15 special units for machining engine blocks and heads. The assembly line is equipped with the latest high performance tools, designed to deliver efficiency and ergonomics for operators.
The 1.0 ECOnetic Flex engine, with three inline cylinders, brings dual-command TiVCT technology to the segment. It has a very compact design and uses the Easy Start cold start technology, which eliminates the need for the traditional small fuel tank under the hood. It features an aluminum head and innovations such as the belt in oil drive, dual-stage cooling system and designs to reduce vibration.
The new engine plant at Ford’s Northeast Industrial Complex operates on an intelligent central management system that connects 100 percent of equipment via Wi-Fi. The system allows the production, quality control, and maintenance to be monitored online. In addition, it enables the online control of the factory environment temperature.
As part of the quality system, the production area is completely isolated and has a system of positive air pressure which eliminates to zero the risk of engine contamination in the production chain. This control also includes 100 percent traceability of the stations that will make possible the production history of each item in the engine. The process is monitored by high-definition cameras that check the parts’ correct positioning in the engine’s assembly as part of a zero defect strategy.
