Signalling the rising tide of automation in India, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd now has at least one robot for every four workers employed at its Manesar and Gurgaon car factories, the country’s largest.
According to c, robots are deployed largely in the weld shop, the paint shop and the press shop, where automobile car bodies are shaped. The three are fully automated. Manual work is now done mostly in car assembly.
India’s largest carmaker is now buying C-series robots, which are smaller in size, take up less space and are 15 per cent faster than their predecessors. Among the suppliers of the robots is the Japanese company Fanuc Robotics. For the company’s upcoming car, the new generation Dzire, as many as 104 C-Series high-speed robots are being used for welding.
More than 2,000 robots work seamlessly at the weld shop in Maruti’s Manesar facility. On one particular car at a particular time, at least 12 robots could be at work, the company said in a presentation to reporters during a visit to the Manesar plant on Friday. There are around 160 robots in the body paint shop and 65 in the bumper paint shop.
