To create a successful product, suited to the challenges of the global market, an outstanding factory is required. A factory that is a centre of excellence and which stands out for its continuous research into quality, significant investment in the workforce and use of the most advanced technologies, all to obtain maximum efficiency. These are the premises that gave life to the lasting ‘marriage’ between Jeep® Renegade and the FCA Melfi Plant.
The Jeep brand’s first compact SUV and the first Jeep vehicle sold in NAFTA to be produced outside the region is manufactured in the Italian factory. The Melfi Plant is a specialist in the manufacturing of B-segment vehicles, as well as the second-largest factory in the entire FCA group in terms of production volumes and work force. The choice of an Italian plant where more than six million vehicles have been produced so far, including Fiat Punto (1994), Lancia Ypsilon (1995), new Ypsilon (2003), Grande Punto (2005) and Punto Evo (2009), represented a ‘milestone’ in the history of the Jeep brand. Today, the Melfi Plant is the proud home to Jeep Renegade, Fiat 500X and Fiat Grande Punto.
Since it was built – between 1991 and 1993 – the Melfi Plant has focused on creating high quality products using the most efficient production processes and, above all, through the involvement and training of highly specialised workers. Up until now, almost 8,000 employees have been involved. Thanks to the allocation of more than one billion Euros for the production of the Jeep Renegade and Fiat 500X models, FCA Melfi Plant is one of the most advanced automotive factories in the world, as well as the ideal factory for the use of the “Small Wide FCA” modular platform. This platform allows production to move from one model to another practically in real-time.
The level of excellence at the Melfi Plant is primarily down to the people working there who, well before large-scaled production began, were involved in preparing the factory for the manufacture of the Jeep Renegade. Training actually began at the start of 2013 when 80 people, including specialists and factory team leaders, were invited to collaborate with the product development teams in Turin and Detroit. As a result of this, suggestions on plant technologies and layouts were made, and technical product solutions were developed.
In this first phase, each work station made significant use of virtual design. A small factory was constructed, called “Pilot area“, where each single activity was tested and perfected. 2,500 assembly phases were analysed in order to eliminate 7,500 potential causes of faults. 250 people were involved and were able to suggest 4,000 product and process improvement solutions. Today the Pilot area acts as a permanent training centre, a “gym” where the various generations of operators improve their skills and competences. Here, over 24 months, more than 5,500 people have been trained. In 2014, more than one million hours of training was provided to factory employees.
The birth of the Jeep Renegade has also had an active role in the evolution of the Melfi Plant in terms of the ideal work station, the “gold zone” where inefficiencies are eliminated, with benefits for both workers’ health and product quality. In the Body-in-white area, for example, assembly is carried out with adjustable platforms adapting to the height and movements of the operator. In the Press shop, the new automatic unloading system, which exists only in this FCA factory, allows for 15 large, heavy components to be moved without any human intervention, providing huge benefits on ergonomics.
The quality of the working environment is complemented by the innovative production processes, a fundamental combination in order to obtain an extremely high quality product. For example, since the Renegade chassis is composed of different materials, including high resistance steel and aluminium, the paint-shop has improved the dedicated process of pre-treatment of different metals. Thanks to this process, the chassis undergoes multiple and different washes to remove grease and other impurities. Afterwards, it is submerged in the cataphoresis tank where, through an electrochemical process, a protective coating is applied to make it resistant to corrosive agents. Once dry, each body receives approximately 100 metres of sealant, an operation that is 80% carried out by robots, though under the supervision of specialised operators.
Among the most advanced technologies adopted by Melfi Plant is the “Wet-on-Wet” process, an innovative spraying system that allows up to 100% of Renegade cars to be produced as bi-colour versions with only one application of paint. And this result is achieved without any impact on productivity.
Spraying at Melfi is 100% automatic, with 54 robots and seven employees supervising the process for every single vehicle. In just 90 seconds, the robots apply three layers of water-based enamel using an electrostatic system. This process, when compared with previous technologies, improves the quality of the painting by 30% while reducing waste by 50%. Nowadays, only 3.5 kg of paint is required for each vehicle and, thanks to a new duct, the robots can change colour in just a few seconds.
Technological innovation also contributes to work and product quality in the Body-in-white area. The Melfi plant is the only one in the FCA Group in which 18 robots work simultaneously on each vehicle, applying up to 105 welding points in just 54 seconds. And, at the end of the process, four robots carry out precise measurement of the most important points and control up to 44 geometric features of the body. The same attention to detail is found in the ” metrology room” in the Press-shop, where 2 robots, equipped with 3D cameras, scan every millimetre of the single parts produced. Melfi is also the only FCA plant with a “Customer Perception Audit” room, where the aesthetics of the vehicle is examined through the use of lights that vary in intensity and colour, to highlight the slightest change in shape.
The same innovation also characterises the Assembly stations, where approximately 700 terminals supply all the information on the vehicle and on the work station, with a control system that allows the individual operator to stop production if a component is not assembled correctly. 1,820 operations, that are considered critical in terms of vehicle safety, are automatically checked on each Renegade.
Maximum quality is also achieved thanks to an environmental awareness that reaches unique levels of excellence at the Melfi plant. A thermal generator that is fed solely by natural gas ensures that the factory is autonomous in generating the electric and thermal energy required to produce its vehicles. At the same time, the energy for the industrial site’s offices and external lighting comes from renewable sources such as mini-wind and hybrid photovoltaic generators. The last five years have seen a 37% reduction in the CO2emitted by each vehicle produced. The same applies to water that is 100% recycled: in 2014, water consumption for each vehicle produced was reduced by 43% versus 2009.
FCA Melfi Plant is therefore a perfect blend of professional ability and technological innovation that “grows” each day with the production of the Jeep Renegade as it strives to obtain Gold Level in World Class Manufacturing, the international methodology for production cycle organisation. In 2009, it was the first Italian factory to achieve WCM Silver Level and today the Melfi plant is ready to take another step forward thanks to the significant results achieved, such as those regarding safety in the workplace. In the last four years no accident has been recorded inside the factory. As well as adhering to WCM principles, the factory holds all the main European certifications regarding quality, environmental awareness, health and safety in the workplace and reduction of energy consumption. It is an impressive achievement for a top level Italian plant that is so flexible to be able to produce models that are already ‘export ready’ to be sold in the 100 countries of destination.
The commitment and excellence of the work carried out at Melfi are recognised by Renegade customers across the world who demonstrate, on a scale from 0 to 10, an overall satisfaction level of between 8.4 and 9.0 points (depending on the different markets) while the overall quality level is valued at between 8.5 and 9.1. Other significant results added to the long list of international awards gained by the Renegade in its first year, include: “New Car of the Year 2015” according to the readers of the Italian monthly magazine Quattroruote; “Best SUV of 2015” awarded by the internet site Coches.net, leader in the Spanish motoring scene; and “4×4 of the year 2015”, according to French “4×4 Magazine”.
With more than 165,000* units produced to date and production distributed 60% in the USA and 40% in EMEA, the Jeep Renegade has rapidly climbed the respective national sales charts in its category. In September, it recorded the best sales results of all models in the Jeep range, representing 62% of the brand’s sales in Europe and ranking third in Italy in its segment.
In one year, more than 51,000 units have been delivered to customers across the EMEA region.
The Renegade is also the model leading the Jeep sales in EMEA, where in September the brand achieved its 23rd consecutive month of year-over-year sales growth. In the first nine months of 2015, Jeep sales in EMEA increased by 75% compared with the same period in 2014, with a three-digit growth in the main countries: Spain (+ 296.6%), France (+ 267.6%), Italy (+ 262%) and UK (+ 196%).
The choice of the Melfi Plant is a significant step in the Jeep global strategy that aims to consolidate its leadership in the “Utility Vehicle” market, the category with the most rapid growth in the automotive sector. In more detail, it is the B-SUV segment that shows the fastest growth rate as it is expected to reach 3.5 million units worldwide by 2018. Adding to this context is the Jeep Renegade, a global vehicle for a global brand. And to take on the challenges of the new markets, Jeep has also decided to manufacture outside of the United States, identifying the most suitable FCA factories for the different segments (by 2018 Jeep will in fact produce six models in six different countries), following a new path which began in 2014 with Renegade and FCA Melfi Plant.
