Stamp shop
The life of each car starts at the stamping line. Large body parts are formed here, including sides, roof, doors or floor parts, from which the car body is welded later. Smaller body parts (such as weldments, supports, safety elements) are provided by external suppliers.
The daily consumption of the stamping line is 180 tons of steel sheets supplied in rolls. In accordance with the Toyota Production System, the stocks of rolls are maintained at minimal levels and every roll is subject to previously planned production. The stamping line processes 31 types of rolls, different in thickness, width and surface finish of the sheet. The target is to adjust the size of the sheet to the size of the stamped part as much as possible in order to lower the volume of metal waste to 1/3 at maximum.
A steel sheet is firstly cut on the cutting line to the required size and then transported to the stamping lines. The stamping lines are the largest machines in TPCA. Each of the two lines has four pressing machines, exercising the power of up to 2 600 tons. Steel sheets are driven between the pressing machines automatically using robot arms and speed of the pressing machines can reach up to 14 strokes per minute. Large pressing forms weighing up to 30 tons are required for creating the desired shape. The forms are changed almost fully automatically on the stamping line in about 5 minutes.
Every stamped part passes individual quality control.
