Synthetic intelligence is the present sizzling button subject that makes the cataract-riddled pupils of rich shareholders flip into Tom and Jerry-style bulging greenback indicators, however for a very long time that very same impact was attributable to automation. Roles that when required in-depth coaching and certifications for fickle people who take sick days, have infants, and are topic to labor legal guidelines may very well be changed by specialised robots that require none of these pesky concerns. I’ve at all times understood the character of automation, however I did not fairly understand the scope of it till I watched the manufacturing means of the second-generation R56 Mini Cooper back-to-back with the third-gen F56 Mini Cooper at Mini’s Oxford manufacturing facility. Mini is now onto the F66 era, which I believe maintains the enjoyable issue of the prior generations, however I could not discover a good video of its manufacturing course of, so right here I am targeted on the 2007-2013 R56 and 2014-2023 F56.
Past the truth that the whole manufacturing course of is mesmerizing, I seen that many extra people had been concerned within the meeting of R56 Mini Coopers than within the meeting of the newer F56. Early Minis weren’t identified for his or her dependability or infallible construct high quality, and I am not saying that automation is strictly why these metrics improved between these two generations, however it’s an fascinating variable to contemplate.
The method of constructing a automobile may be very labor intensive
The R56 requires a human to function a high quality management robotic, and maybe most surprisingly, a human welded the roof to the body earlier than one other human grinds down these welds to guarantee a flush look previous to portray. This course of seems to be automated within the F56 meeting, and as a deal with, you’ll be able to see a first-gen R52 Mini Cooper cabriolet alongside the R56 on the road, since they had been offered on the identical time. Total the R56 manufacturing video appears to supply a extra in-depth look into the manufacturing course of, however you’ll be able to nonetheless see extra human involvement was needed than the F56 manufacturing course of
Within the video of F56 manufacturing, in distinction, people are solely required to switch the completed hood stamps to a rack till the car is already painted. As soon as the physique shell is painted, a human briefly performs what seems to be a visible paint high quality and thoroughness inspection, till the shells attain the inside meeting portion of manufacturing which is finished by human fingers.
I, maybe ignorantly, assumed that the method of constructing a automobile required fewer steps than these movies illustrate. Granted, each of those movies had been filmed over 10 years in the past, so manufacturing has seemingly grown even faster and extra automated, however I used to be stunned by what number of steps it takes to construct a Mini.
