Chinese manufacturer Weichai Lovol has recently opened a new plant said to be capable of building a new 100hp+ tractor every four minutes and over 100,000 units a year. Covering an area of 52ha (128ac), at an estimated cost of US$420 million ($710m), the plant at the company’s headquarters at Weifang (Shandong Province), is claimed as the world’s most modern tractor plant. Chairman of Weichai Lovol, Wang Guimin, says that “this intelligent tractor manufacturing base represents not only the pinnacle of smart manufacturing in China’s agricultural machinery sector but also a crucial step in Lovol’s journey to becoming a world-class brand”.
Featuring high levels of automation, the production facility uses a cluster of 500 industrial robots, with 93% of machining, 72% of welding and 95% of the painting process automated. Robots also enable 360° variable-position cleaning for housings, alongside areas such as bolt-tightening and glass glue-applying robotic arms, with over 100 Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV) operating throughout the plant.
Many of the tractors pieced together inside the new 170,000m² (39ac) assembly building, are over 100hp, but will also include a range of CVT or powershift models from 50 to 500hp for domestic and export markets.
The first tractor to leave the new assembly line at the opening ceremony was a 340hp model P3404, the entry level to the P8000 series, featuring an in-house, 9.5-litre Stage V Weichai block, mated to an internally developed CVT, capable of a top speed of 40km/h and tipping the scales at 13.7 tonnes.
Currently being built in two phases, the first, now operational, centres around manufacturing, machine assembly, R&D, and testing, alongside manufacturing complete units such as housings, chassis assembly and painting.
Phase two, under construction, will incorporate a high-end R&D testing ground, and a distribution centre capable of handling daily inwards/ outwards international logistics centre to facilitate, build and ship up to 400 tractors each day.
