Feasibility, cost modeling and startup of a robotic assembly cell for a Tier 2 automotive supplier.
A Tier 2 automotive supplier won a multi-year contract for component assemblies, but its existing manual stations could not meet the takt time or the traceability requirements written into the contract. The client had one production season to bring an automated cell online — or lose the award.
We ran the feasibility study and built the cost model comparing expansion scenarios, then developed the URS for a robotic assembly cell. Our team managed the vendor-neutral bidding process across three integrators, validated cycle time simulations against the contract takt time, and supervised Factory Acceptance Testing before shipment. During installation we coordinated the integrator, the controls contractor and plant maintenance to keep the existing lines running throughout.
The cell passed customer PPAP approval on the first submission and reached contract takt time within three weeks of startup. Scrap dropped below one percent, and the client has since exercised the contract's volume expansion option — running it on the same cell, one shift earlier than planned.
