Here are some pics of the Factory Tour last Monday.
Everyone had a great day out and the at evening before was a good pub evening meal with plenty of crack together with some good food and drink :wink:
Here are some pics:-


From nearest to farthest:-
Dougs detailed 2.5 SE X type,Mine,Daytonas 3.0 estate,Allan Lowes 3.0 estate,Phil's X Type,Erics (from the JEC) XJR....

Inside the reception at Halewood was the only place at the factory we could use our cameras




Keith and Phil Clements on the far left,Doug Warren with his Eammon Andrews book, and from the far right, me (the good looking one[sm=laughat.gif] ), Allan Lowe and Daytona.

Briefly,after the photo, we donned our Hi-Viz jackets and earpieces for the tour commentary and were given safety glasses.The factory which used to make Ford Escorts is on a 356 acre site with over 2 miles of conveyors transporting parts and partly built cars to specific areas at specific times with the help of barcodes on every car.On the day of the visit the X Type production had been ramped up to 4:1 (4 Land Rover Freelanders to each X type) as the month before it had been 12:1.Every now and again I was sure I could hear kiddies nursery rhyme music.Turned out that each area has its own music which sounds if there is a problem that needs to be addressed quickly.
All X types are made to order (no batch production of say one colour or another).
The tour started in the Press Shop where the panels are pressed are gigantic presses weighing 100s of tons.
The next area was the body assembly area which again is mostly automated (especially with Kawasaki robots) with robots lifting panels applying sealants,welding panels,etc.Testing is paramount and includes non destructive testing (eg placing gel onto a weld which can determine quality from the density if I remember).The next area is the paint shop where we werent allowed (Health and Safety).The next area is the trim and final area.Here I saw the X Type body being mated up with its 2.2 Diesel Automatic engine and chassis.Once all assembled cars go for programming depending on where in the world they are going to and other tests including running the cars in a sound booth and water testing.
Also beside the factory are some suppliers including Johnsons Controls for the seats,Pirelli for the tyres, etc.

 

BuckMR2, Thanks for the post. I always enjoy your pics.

 

Great pics ,thanks for those