Ford of Europe is developing a new virtual factory to simulate assembly line production processes to reduce costs and enhance efficiency.
Ford said that the new factory will allow the company's engineers to work collectively on virtual build environments and perform 3-D vehicle analysis without requiring to go to the real manufacturing facility.
Ford of Spain simulations engineer José Terrades said the company has already started work on its virtual factory project, so that it won't have to go to the real assembly line to conduct tests or research possible plant upgrades.
"Virtual factories will enable Ford to preview and optimise the assembly of future models at any of our plants, anywhere in the world," Terrades added.
The company will deploy sophisticated cameras including special projectors and polarising motion-sensing glasses to scan and digitise its real-world manufacturing plants to generate an ultra-realistic 3D virtual assembly environment.
Ford of Germany implementation manager Nick Newman said the final assembly process simulations the company uses allows it to do much more than simply plan its build sequences.
"We can piece together complete cars in a virtual environment like huge jigsaws and assess the construction down to the finest detail, and we plan to do even more in the future," Newman said.
Ford has already deployed a virtual employee who simulates actions of actual assembly-line workers and handles 80% ergonomics issues in the simulation stage itself.
