JLR Find New Uses for Old EV Production Tools
Photo courtesy JLR
GAYDON, England—Engineers at JLR are finding new ways to reuse production tools and equipment as the automaker converts facilities to make battery-powered vehicles. Its part of a £100 million reuse, refurbishment, repurposing and recycling drive. The goal is to cut waste and contribute to the circular economy at its European EV operations.
As a result, tens of thousands of items—ranging from screwdrivers to entire assembly lines—have been put back in circulation when possible. Engineers consider factors such as standard compliance, availability of spare parts, cost of refurbishment and servicing, and potential scrap, as well as sale revenues.
Instead of buying new equipment, JLR has reused more than 50,000 square meters worth of equipment from its Castle Bromwich factory, which ceased production last year, and its Electric Propulsion Manufacturing Centre (EPMC) in Wolverhampton. The items have been redeployed across company sites in England and Slovakia. Meanwhile hundreds of second life robots are now installed at Solihull, Halewood and the EPMC ready to produce JLR’s next-generation battery packs and EVs.
“As we are entering a critical phase in our electrification journey, [we aim] to act as a responsible user of resources by enhancing product utility and longevity, and maximizing recycling and repurposing,” says Andrea Debbane, chief sustainability officer at JLR. “It’s not only the right thing to do, but it also improves profitability and increases supply chain resilience.”
A new digital management system developed in house is being used to manage the life of every vehicle program asset from acquisition through to sale, scrapping and reuse. It includes an internal marketplace where a catalog of assets is available for purchasing, streamlining and scaling up future projects.
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