Ford Accelerates Production by Combining Emerging Tech

Ford's new Advanced Manufacturing Center is already steering several initiatives to deploy more 3D printing, cobots, and AR and VR applications across the automaker's factories. Last December, Ford unveiled its Advanced Manufacturing Center in Redford, Mich., to the public, a repurposed 100,000-square-foot facility that cost $45 million. The nondescript white brick exterior in the Detroit suburb belies what's going on inside: practically every new advanced technology critical to manufacturing's future all cohabitating in the same open space. And though the high-tech machines in the immaculate Detroit-area lab look like they could be used to make Robocop, they are merging to make the next wave of Ford vehicles, such as the superpowered Shelby GT500 Mustang. To the right there's about two dozen 3D printers, ranging from cutting-edge Carbon's M2 to the tried-and-true 3D Systems SLA 7000. To the left, there's an array of automated workcells populated by various collaborative robots inspecting engines and chassis.