Premier Nissan of Fremont: Future in Production

The Nissan brand has grown by leaps and bounds in the field of technological innovation, both with its constantly evolving vehicle lineup as well as its engineering developments. The company employs tens of thousands of people worldwide, and as Nissan moves into the future, so does its many manufacturing plants across the globe. As technology becomes available, Nissan looks to further equip its factories with improvements by way of robotics. Initially, it may seem as though Nissan is looking towards a future of automation, but nothing could be further from the actual intention. In fact, Nissan is investing in technology to help enable and empower their employees with as much assistance as possible.

Nissan looks to minimize inefficiencies and prevent mistakes by an all-new series of tech to assist its current employees and enhance their current work capabilities. Many of the currently implemented automation is fully intended to work side-by-side with humans. Industrial sized robots can be used for welding and assembly, a task that gets increasingly more complicated as technology improves. It’s not all in robot technology, Innovation at manufacturing plants also utilizes eco-friendly solutions such as hooks, pulleys, and counterweights to more easily perform tasks. Usage of such systems allows for long-range transportation of parts and automated deliveries to workers and their areas. These implementations can be found across all Nissan plants, and prove to be an exciting challenge for their facility engineers.

Nissan isn’t just looking to improve their facilities for production benefit, but for the direct comfort and accident prevention for their own employees. “Cobots,” or collaborative robots, are robotic arms with limited strength and speed, but are extremely nimble and can help with menial tasks to prevent repetitive motion and strain on employees. Motions such as excessive bending, reaching, twisting, crouching and more are made easier by robots that can make those movements for you. Cobots also are helping to ease the mental burden of repetitive tasks or tasks that require constant concentration in order to prevent fatigue and minimize human error. Tasked with ergonomic concern for their employees, Nissan is also beginning to use a series of robotic exoskeletons that are proving to reduce muscle strain, excessive torsion, and aid in lifting power.

Somethings are simply better suited for robots as technology gets more and more complicated within the interior of the vehicles. The idea is not to limit the jobs of their human employees, but rather prevent the most arduous and physically tasking jobs. One example is the installation of a vehicle’s headliner, or the material on the inside of the roof on the car. Devices inside this area have become much more complex, and the ability for humans to do it safely and efficiently is drastically deteriorating. By having a robot insert the headliner through the front of the vehicle, roles can now be shifted to less demanding tasks.

While technology is certainly the way of the future, Nissan has put its best foot forward when it comes to supporting and enabling its existing employees. Keeping a safer workplace with the additional ergonomic support allows everyone to give their best when it comes to manufacturing their world-famous vehicles.