Nissan celebrates first year of the Industrial Complex of activities of Resende, reaching the mark of 30 000 vehicles produced

Rio de Janeiro - With an event for 1,800 direct employees and suppliers working in the Industrial Complex of Resende, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Nissan today celebrated the first year of operation of this unit. Francois Dossa, president of Nissan Brazil, and Atsuhiko Hayakawa, Vice President, Nissan Brazil Operations, led the ceremony at Engine Plant building that integrates the complex.

The company also reaches this day the production of 30,000 vehicles in Resende since the official opening in April 2014. A Nissan Versa New Unique, equipped with 1.6 16V engine also made in the industrial complex, was the model that has reached this milestone.

"In just twelve months, we started to produce in Resende two lines of vehicles, the new March and the new Versa, and two engines, the newly released 1.0 12V and 1.6 16V. But the ultimate goal that we achieved in this period, and reinforced daily, is to launch and manufacture products with high quality, following strict Japanese standards adopted by Nissan globally, "says François Dossa, president of Nissan Brazil.

"The Industrial Complex Resende is the basis for achieving our growth target in Brazil. With the arrival of the New Versa and the first full year of production of the New March, Nissan aims to achieve 3% market share in fiscal 2015, compared to 2.3% in the same period of 2014, "adds Dossa.

The plant received one of the largest investment in the country to build a car factory, US $ 2.6 billion, just to have a full production cycle, the printing area to the test tracks, including plating, painting , plastic injection, assembly and quality inspection. In total, she has the capacity to produce up to 200,000 vehicles and 200,000 engines per year.

Production with Technology, Quality and Sustainability

Employees Industrial Complex follow the methods and values ​​of the Nissan Production Way - the Nissan production system - and the Nissan Way - philosophy and set of codes of conduct of the brand. The professionalism of the staff, with creativity and perseverance characteristic of Brazilians, are combined with the most modern technology processes and Japanese equipment to enable the production of vehicles and engines in Resende follow the global standards of the Nissan Quality and respect for the environment.

In total, 88 robots are used in the production line to do the jobs that require more precision or could present a risk to safety or ergonomics for, so is assured the welfare of the operator and the quality of operations. For example, the closing of the bodywork of the vehicles is all done by robots, ensuring the dimensional quality of the process.

In most areas, the motor transportation during the production process is carried out by AGVs (Automatic Guided Vehicles), small robots self-guided driving carts parts and platforms. They eliminate the need for conveyors or chains driven platforms, allowing safer and more silent operation. This robotic system also becomes flexible line for changes and improvements since the AGVs follow magnetic strips on the floor, which have changed their position and easily extended.

Each vehicle tracking assembly line to include a kit of parts placed on a specific own cart. With this, there is still equipment with parts next to the assembly line and is virtually impossible the operator put a wrong part on the vehicle, since he does not have different options available to him. So, your attention is all focused on setting up the car and check the quality of the process, since the concern which piece mount. The carts with each unique kit of parts are mounted in their own area for only operators responsible for this operation.

The painting follows the modern and sustainable system 3 wet, where the application of the base and the varnish is made soon after the application of primer, making the process shorter and reducing energy consumption. The robots used for paint cartridges, which reduces the loss of ink and solvent, reducing the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which makes the operation more sustainable. For this it is also essential to use water based painting.

The focus on quality also made Nissan deciding to have a complete industrial complex in the country, ensuring its high global standards of production. Therefore, the company decided to have the area of ​​stamping and plastic injection within your unit, something unusual in new factories in Brazil due to the complexity and high investment values ​​that require. With these areas integrated into the process, you win, and quality in production time, reduce inventory and flexibility to the manufacturing mix.

The stamping has a line of presses with four stages, the first of 2,400 tonnes stage and the remaining three with 1,000 tons each. The area includes the transfer of technology in V-Transfer, where the pieces are transferred from one station to another automatically. With great force, the equipment can bend, pressing, drilling, tugging and cut accurately uniform flat steel plates that will make the vehicle structure. After printing, the sheet is subjected to one or more secondary processes of galvanizing for corrosion resistance, welds and extreme wear. Have the plastics area has seating for injecting molding and paint pieces of different sizes and applications. Here, for example, are manufactured and painted bumpers New March and New versa.

Latest equipment and modern production processes as those adopted in vehicle plant are used in Nissan's engine plant. For producing high technical precision equipment, engine manufacturing still has enhanced the quality control area. On the assembly line for four quality check portals components. The final test run is carried out in 100% of the engines produced at the plant in Resende and also all go through CO2 emission tests, instead of sample, as is commonly done by others in the industry. All to ensure the functioning of quality of engines 1.0 12V and 1.6 16V FlexFuel - equipped with aluminum block - which feature some of the best energy efficiency ratings of their categories in Brazil, combining performance and low CO2 emissions.

A Green Factory

The concept of sustainable factory Nissan Industrial Complex in Resende goes beyond the use of the latest equipment and advanced processes of production vehicles and engines. The commitment to being a green unit, one of the most sustainable Nissan worldwide, was born in project design of the buildings and all the infrastructure.

The buildings have natural lighting and ventilation systems, reducing energy consumption and consequently have low environmental impact. There is a special attention to the waste treatment system used in the production process for reuse of water and segregation of solid waste for proper disposal of waste. The goal is to constantly reduce CO2 emissions and the generation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) caused by production.

The environmental commitment of Nissan in the project follows out of the walls of its Brazilian plant. A "belt" green already being planted to surround the entire area of ​​the complex, an initiative that will help to reduce emissions and noise also. He will respect the original biome of the region and occupy an area of ​​more than five hectares.

At the same time contributing to reforest deforested areas before their arrival in the South Fluminense, Nissan will also invest to preserve the green areas remaining in the region. The company will take care of the implementation of an Environmental Conservation Unit in the area of ​​Pond Bog, which is adjacent to its industrial complex and is essential for the survival of more than 150 species of birds, and great biodiversity and ecosystem.

Suppliers Park

The new Industrial Complex allows Nissan to produce more vehicles in Brazil and the goal of the company is that they are increasingly national. So the company set up an area next to the Resende plant, with complete infrastructure to receive important suppliers for its operation. The Supplier Park already has four parts manufacturers, as well as two other vehicles operating within the factory. They settled in the area to meet Nissan. They are: Tachi-S, seat manufacturer; Yorozu, a supplier of suspension; Kinugawa, rubber seals manufacturer; CalsonicKansei, cockpit components; Sanoh, pipes brakes and fuel; and Mitsui Steel, plating providers.

The expectation, however, is to further increase the number of suppliers in the complex. So in addition to reduce logistics costs and allow more agile production, Nissan intends to gradually increase the local integration index parts of their vehicles and engines produced in Brazil. The goal is to reach a 80% rate in the coming years.