Navistar its San Antonio Manufacturing Plant, a benchmark facility leading the company’s manufacturing in process optimization, real-time production management, and sustainability in manufacturing operations, according to the company. The facility improves quality, lowers costs, and provides capacity support to Navistar’s current manufacturing footprint.
“The choices we make today will take Navistar to a new level of impact in the transportation industry,” said Mark Hernandez, EVP, global manufacturing and supply chain, in a prepared statement. “That’s why we are laying the foundation for the future in this plant, because the future begins with the decisions and investments we make today. The San Antonio manufacturing plant was meticulously planned and constructed to highlight our many manufacturing strengths and build toward future manufacturing goals surrounding Industry 4.0 technologies, quality and sustainability.”
The nearly 1 million-square-foot manufacturing facility includes a body shop, paint shop, general assembly shop, and logistics center equipped to produce Class 6-8 vehicles, including electric vehicle models. The plant is a sustainable baseline facility in site, building, and process practices, to serve as a benchmark for Navistar’s manufacturing network.
“In support of our company focus, we are taking actions to reduce the environmental impact of our manufacturing operations with the goal of becoming zero carbon as we transform the future of transportation,” said Hernandez. “The first vehicle off the manufacturing line in San Antonio was the International eMV Series electric truck; the purpose of the plant from inception was to have the capability to manufacture both electric and internal combustion engine powertrains in the same facility.”
The plant will serve as Navistar’s benchmark for lean manufacturing principles to eliminate waste, improve product quality, drive operational efficiency, and reduce cost and time. Industry 4.0 principles have been incorporated to connect digital and physical technologies, allowing the plant to be more connected and easily make data-driven decisions. Operating with a data-driven approach helps to focus on sustainability goals and metrics in addition to supporting a leaner manufacturing output.
“We are incorporating the latest manufacturing principles—digital factory, connected machinery, robust lean manufacturing processes and cloud analytics—to enable predictive quality and maintenance, and allowing data-driven decisions to be made on the shop floor in real time,” said Hernandez.
The San Antonio Manufacturing Plant complements Navistar’s existing assembly manufacturing footprint, which includes truck assembly plants in Springfield, Ohio, and Escobedo, Mexico; a school bus assembly plant in Tulsa, Oklahoma; and a powertrain manufacturing plant in Huntsville, Alabama. The sustainable manufacturing processes will be integrated in all existing manufacturing plants.
In the future, Navistar plans to begin operations at the Advanced Technology Center (ATC) on-site, which accelerates implementation of emerging technologies and Industry 4.0 technologies within the commercial trucking space. The ATC is focused on product development, testing and validation efforts supporting the company’s strategy, and will be a key location for future research and development footprint with a focus on zero-emission components, software and autonomous technologies.
Source: Navistar
