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Micro assembly and high speed assembly
Edited by Dr Ilpo Karjalainen
New robots could be added in the next few years to boost capacity and productivity of compact vans at GM Manufacturing Ltd (GMM Luton), formerly known as IBC Ltd
The company is preparing for 2009 when planning may begin on assembly of the next generation of compact vans to replace the existing models made at Luton under the product names of Vauxhall/Opel Vivaro, Renault Trafic and Nissan Primastar. Production at Luton is gradually approaching the 100,000 a year mark.
The manufacturing unit at Luton was formerly part of Vauxhall Motors Ltd, which in its hey-day, employed 35,000 people and built a complete range of passenger cars, vans and heavy commercial vehicles. In December 2001, the decision was taken to close the Vauxhall Motors plant in Luton with the potential loss of some 2,200 jobs, ending production at the end of the first quarter 2002. In the event, eventually some 1,000 of these workers were transferred across to van manufacture. At the same time it was announced that Frontera production would not be transferred to Ellesmere Port, as planned, but "absorbed" into the Luton site. Today GMM Luton employs some 1,850 people.
The Luton site, reduced now to just three blocks - stamping, paint shop/trim and final assembly and bodyshop - is landlocked by such physical constraints as railway lines, an airport and main roads. The facility cannot be expanded - for example, there is no space to build a new paint shop, should the decision be taken at some time in the future to replace the existing one.
So the current emphasis is aimed at increasing output of the existing facilities. Last year the plant build 90,414 vans, and this year the target is 89,002 - a figure that reflects the launch in September 2006 of upgrades of the compact vans (Phase 2). In 2007, the dedicated van production unit at Luton expects to produce over 91,000 units.
IBC Vehicles Ltd was formed in 1987 as a joint venture between General Motors and Isuzu Motors of Japan. In 1998 it became a wholly owned subsidiary of GM. In 2003 IBC became a dedicated commercial vehicle plant and has been renamed GM Manufacturing Luton Ltd...