Nissan Manufacturing Wish List
What are the sorts of things that people at Nissan North American manufacturing ops are looking for?
#robotics #iot
Nissan North America has an extensive manufacturing footprint. Consider only its operations in Tennessee, for example. There is the Smyrna Assembly Plant. This is a 6-million-square-foot facility where 7,250 people work, producing 640,000 vehicles per year. The output at the plant includes the Nissan Altima, Maxima, Leaf, Pathfinder, Rogue, and Infiniti QX60, or sedans, an electric vehicle and crossovers. True flexible production.

Images: Inside the Nissan Smyrna Assembly Plant. (All: Nissan North America; photos by Ken Tucker)
Then south of Smyrna is the Decherd Powertrain Plant. This is a 1.2-million square foot operation where 1,700 people work, producing 1.4 million engines, 1.4 million crankshaft forgings, and 456,000 cylinder block castings per year. They are producing two different 2.5-liter fours, a 3.5-liter six, and a 4.0-liter six, a 5.6-liter eight, and performing the assembly for the Leaf eMotor.
So we asked the Nissan Manufacturing team what they’d be interested in when it comes to new production technology, something of a wish-list. There are answers from machining personnel, assembly personnel, advanced technology and all.

The plant produces the Nissan Altima, Maxima, Leaf, Pathfinder, Rogue, and Infiniti QX60.
And this is what we learned:
All:
- Anything that allows processes to be automated—whether on the plant floor or in the office
- 3D printing and robotic forming for service, repair and legacy parts
Machining:
- Machining centers with built-in 3D metal printers for part repair/rework
- Porosity inspection system for visual porosity detection using a laser/camera
- Data connectivity, especially for legacy controls for data
- Advanced tooling
Assembly:
- Material handling and kitting automation like that being used in automated warehouses and by online retailers
- Robotics-as-a-Service business models and advanced control technology without big infrastructure costs
- Autonomous quality inspection (deep learning, laser, etc.)
- Automated material inventory management
- Advanced robotics for automating new tasks within assembly
Advanced technology:
- Anything in the space of digital twins, IIoT, machine learning, and analytics

Advanced tech is a way of work at Nissan.
RELATED CONTENT
-
A Counterintuitive Approach to Printing Metal Parts
Hybrid additive/subtractive systems for printing and finishing metal parts have been around for years now. It’s always been “first build it, then cut and polish it.” A process developed by 3DEO Inc. uses a radically different hybrid method.
-
on the Crown (not Netflix's), Whither Fuel, the Importance of Experience, Safety for AV Semis, Bugatti Espresso & More
Toyota’s new flagship is hybrid-only. . .McKinsey looks at liquid fuels. . .an experience metric. . .Aurora develops a fault management system. . .getting a costly espresso at a Bugatti dealership. . .Volvo XC40. . .Hyundai IONIQ 6
-
Tech Watch - Oct. '17
Investing Big in LiDAR (Again) The race is on for next generation LiDAR technology that will be the foundation of autonomous driving and big investors are making chase.