Chrysler’s jefferson north assembly plan spanning an incredible 283 acres is the birthplace that the high-performance now legendary jeep grand cherokee located in detroit michigan jefferson north operates 20 hours a day and produces just over 12 hundred vehicles daily we currently have just under six hundred robots in the jury of those robots or within the body
Shop but it’s the 4700 highly skilled employees focusing on precision craftsmanship that really keep this facility moving and in 2012 jeep seem to have found its winning formula is jeep branded vehicles went on to sell over 700,000 units worldwide the jeep brand is won and you can drop it in a country in the middle of nowhere and people look at that and they may
Not know the language but they know jeep and then like many auto manufacturers every single jeep product produces jefferson north is already spoken for we built twelve hundred and five vehicles a day every one of those is sold and going to a customer but how did these amazing machines get from the conceptual phase through the factory and to its owner’s garage back
In 1941 the first sport-utility vehicle or suv was developed by willys-overland for the united states army known as a jeep short for general purpose vehicle or gp this lightweight four-wheel drive vehicle quickly gained popularity with allied forces in world war two due to the versatility of these cheap suvs they saw action in every branch of the us military so
It’s no wonder that gi is returning to the us were eager to have a vehicle with similar capabilities back home in the years following the war jeep vehicles slowly but steadily made inroads to the american domestic market as the public saw the recreational potential in the jeep suvs durable design and performance and while chief no longer serves the us military it’s
Transformed itself into a thriving consumer brand with growing sales all over the world and for the jeep grand cherokee its journey begins right here in the jefferson north assembly plant in detroit michigan we’re at the start of the process in the body shop this is where 26 different species of vehicles start over a 26.2 mile journey or 1.6 days we’re standing in
Front of the framer one process which marries up the aperture inner to the underbody we’re surrounded by 589 robots there’s three main functions that the robots do in the shop here the material handle taking large parts for their final nesting locations resistant spot welding and applying sealer application to the vehicle the robots require very little maintenance
On average we spend about 20 minutes per week in each one of the robots doing minor maintenance tasks to them once the basic components are joined to create a template it’s time to begin filling in all the gaps the shell of the vehicle is transported to the first stage of roof decking via automated tracks the shell is then fitted with roofing beams to add structure
And stability multiple variations of the jeep grand cherokee travel across the manufacturing line each day so the technicians reference monitors to accurately assemble the various vehicles then the frame is sent farther down the line where it is sealed to ensure there’s no potential for water leakage during an off-road adventure because of the off-road capability
Of the jeep brand this process is extremely important to us after that sealer is set in place you’ll see the body side aperture being set over the top of that then the vehicle works its way into the framing second so each one of those robots are running a specific pattern that it repeats every time its style specific for the two different body styles that we have
In there although the sealer is applied in the body shop the material does not expand until the vehicle enters the first oven in the paint process you can see the application of the sealer that goes on the aperture the the body side of the vehicle is then put over the top of that when that material gets into its oven it will expand out 300% and fill all the voids
That helps the product make the water fording requirement which is it needs to sit to 21 inches of water for 30 minutes and not leak water that’s part of the off-road capability of the vehicle just prior to the roof assembly the robotic system scans the suv’s vehicle identification number or then to match it with the appropriate roof hood and doors the system then
Selects each component piece from a series of cues and applies them to the vehicle the roof hood doors and lift gate are all set in place by a 1500 pound fanuc robot these incredible machines use optic sensors to determine that each piece is set in the correct location the final stage in the body department is the installation of the lift gate holes are punched
Into the frame and with the use of automatic cameras the robots determine where to anchor the lift gate then promptly secure it in place and defector comes out gates put back down the car is complete this is the end of the bodyshop process coming up we’ll drop in the power and watch us this intricate collection of parts come together to become one fierce driving
Machine right here is the automatic happens the body and contraint married together then organ freeze-dry shows us how they’re preparing food for your next backpacking adventure or somewhere a bit further away we have been on every space shot that’s gone into outer space this end freeze-dried food into outer space don’t go away in recent years jeep has begun to
Incorporate more sleek and sophisticated design elements into its products to enhance their aesthetic appeal but achieved just wouldn’t be a jeep if its ultimate purpose wasn’t equipped to handle off-road terrain and extreme conditions and one of the most essential components to a jeep suvs design and build process is ensuring the vehicle’s integrity which in turn
Makes passenger safety their top priority this multi-coloured jeep grand cherokee frame maps out the various types of materials used to construct each vehicle the red sections along the front bumper windshield and beneath the cockpit are known as hot stamped steel this is an incredibly strong type of steel integrated at strategic points to best protect passengers in
The event of a high-impact collision or rolling scenario the pink sections along the side and door interiors represent where ultra high-strength steel is placed to protect passengers from side impact the hood is constructed out of aluminum while the remaining structure is built from galvanized steel the vehicle just came through our paint process that goes into a
Big storage and retrieval system for us that gets ready to sequence the vehicles into assembly the term sequencing means every vehicle coming out of the paint shop now occupies a unique place on the assembly line appropriate to the particular model an accessory package and is finally making its way to completion the supply warehouse is contacted when a particular
Vehicle makes its way out of paint requesting the specific parts needed for final assembly the filled kit is put together then transferred to the corresponding station on the assembly line ready for installation this process needs to happen with precision and in a timely fashion it’s an absolute essential component in jefferson north’s ability to build their jeep
Vehicles accurately and on schedule we build twelve hundred and five vehicles a day every one of those is sold and going to a customer but before these rugged suvs make their way to the customer they get set up with a healthy dose of power in the engine department jeep can produce up to nine different engine combinations with eleven different transmissions from
The three liter diesel the 3.6 liter pentastar 5.7 liter hemi engine – the intimidating 6.4 liter hemi for the performance srt line the motor dress line all the material is presented in kit form to each of the operators as the engine works its way down the conveyor what you’ll notice about it is the operator never turns their back to their work this kidding method
Is another key element in jefferson north maintaining its production schedule with this method the parts are readily available within sixty degrees of the technician which reduces time and energy that may otherwise be spent searching for parts you want the individuals we focus on the quality aspect of putting their part on the vehicle salt the parts that you see
The alternator the starter some of the wiring harness bundles are all part of that kit that ride down the motor line for that specific engine last part of the trim build the instrument panels in place all the fuel and brake lines are installed in the vehicle from a hardware standpoint both wiring mechanically and electrically everything is complete on the vehicle
And it’s ready to go over to chassis decade simply put the chassis decking is the point in which the body of the car is married to the completed chassis this moment demonstrates the synchronized and efficient assembly line at its best if any stage along the way is left incomplete or incorrect the completion of multiple vehicles would be compromised the engine is
Done the complete chassis is done and ready to be what we call decked up into the vehicle right here is the automatic happens the bodyguard training married together our two partners red bolts up through ties the frame and a drive chain together what i’m doing is holding it still so it’s not rocking back and forth thunder tight now in order to leave the jeep and
Swing in a bouncing around tire down for the bottom loop as they’re lining up the drift bins and raising that into place it’ll travel the next five stations and have all the fasteners secured to finalize the decking process on any given day there are 2000 jeep vehicles in various stages of production which means there are 675 vehicles traveling through the 422
Workstations that comprise the final trim process or about 10 hours worth of assembly time as it travels through the 422 workstations to manufacture the vehicle once the trim stage is complete the jeep grand cherokee makes its way to the homestretch still requiring some important final touches tires and wheels are put into a sequence very important at this time
And fed through a silo and they come down to the operator that operator rolls that wheel into place loosely installs the lug nuts the vehicle moves forward to the next station where a multi runner runs that down the equipment that we use is a bosch nut runner it’s called it’s a multi spindle fastening piece of equipment that runs all five fasteners at the same
Time the front end alignment equipment now takes and aligns all four tires when the vehicles pulled on to the stall you can see a small laser that is going around that calibrates the wheel if there’s adjustment that’s required the operator that is down in the pit underneath the car adjust the camber the toe the specification finally each vehicle is put through the
Final systems check in the walls booth to confirm it’s absolutely ready to be shipped to the customer when the car enters the rolls booth the operator then plugs the car into the computer that’s there it’s checking for emissions brake and transmission function it’ll run it through a series of tests to validate all three of those options on the vehicle to build
Procedures taking place at the jefferson north assembly planters sometimes referred to as stages a through j once these phases are complete the jeep is considered kz which all takes place once the vehicle enters the shipping process it is handed over to the shipping company they take control of it drive the vehicle away load it to a trailer or truck depending on its
Destination and then it’s shipped to the customer as people continue to seek adventure and push the limits of their explorations jeep suvs will be there to provide a set of wheels to get you through the thick of it each jeep vehicle is tailor made designed to be durable capable stylish and of course able to withstand the rigors of any type of off-road activity but
To make such extreme vehicle you’ve got to start with one very extreme factory when we come back we cool things off a bit as oregon freeze-dry prepares its food for a deep freeze we’re trying to slowly freeze to create an ice crystal that is large enough that that water molecule then can re remove from the food very easily and then we’ll see how a sport from 15th
Century scotland is being brought to the 21st century in phoenix arizona 4th as a species we can’t consider our past present or our future without acknowledging our drive for exploration from the time the first humans ventured out of africa to explorations into outer space it can be argued that the human experience is framed by an insatiable curiosity to venture
To new horizons leading to some of our finest accomplishments and greatest struggles and whether it’s the explorers of the renaissance setting sail for distant lands or intrepid adventurers scaling unfathomable heights none of it would have been possible if man hadn’t figured out a way to make food travel located in the beautiful willamette valley
Transcribed from video
2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Build By Goss Jeep
