How Forvia's automated robots help its plants become more efficient

Saline, Mich. — Forvia says its flexible automated door panel manufacturing lines at plants in Michigan and Tennessee give the French company a giant leg up on costs while helping it address a worker shortage that has plagued the supplier sector for years.

Forvia — previously called Faurecia — is one of many auto suppliers using more automation and robotics in manufacturing to help them become more efficient and cost effective in an increasingly competitive, high-cost automotive landscape.

The company is creating fully automated "nests" of robots that are capable of assembling large components — all without having to be touched by employees. Forvia now uses such nests to build door panels for customers at plants here in Saline, Mich., about 45 miles west of Detroit, and in Spring Hill, Tenn., about 30 miles south of Nashville.

Forvia ranks at No. 69 among North American injection molders according to Plastics News data, with an estimated $153 million in sales in the region. That injection molding footprint includes the Saline plant, which was once a Ford Motor Co. interior parts operation.

Automated nests of robots are helping Forvia earn new business, said Matt Myrand, the supplier's North American digital transformation director. Automakers are particularly drawn to the flexibility of the system, which allows Forvia to work on multiple programs from different customers at the same time.

"That's the point, to be able to provide a cost-effective solution for customers," Myrand said. "We're able to provide lower tooling costs compared to a typical assembly line. They see that we can come in and put another variant or another product on that line."

Myrand compared Forvia's flexible line to a set of Lego blocks that the company can move around with relative ease, if, for instance, volumes on one program unexpectedly spike or dip for any reason.

For Forvia, that's particularly important in North America, given the choppy pace of electrification here. Slowing electric vehicle sales growth has forced automakers to rethink their EV plans, often by cutting back production targets or delaying product launches.

That's a particular issue for suppliers that need to dedicate tooling and capacity to each given product and can't afford to be left with a host of under-utilized plants.

But having flexible, automated machines helps Forvia to more easily boost production of one program or scale back production of another if needed, Myrand said.

"With customer volumes, you'll see cars that are competitors of one another, and one is going to win," Myrand said. "If we have both volumes, we can flex the capacity on our machines."

Forvia's approach to flexible manufacturing is also helping address labor concerns. Suppliers report difficulties finding and keeping workers, particularly skilled workers. By automating the manufacturing process for some programs, companies need fewer workers.

There are still certain functions in the plant that need to be manually handled, Myrand said. Wire harness assembly is an example. The company has looked into automating that process but concludes it would be difficult.

"When you look at other manual operations, some can be automated but some are quite tricky," he said.

Forvia ranks No. 9 on the Automotive News list of the world's largest suppliers, with global sales to automakers of $28.31 billion in 2023.