Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • The new Volvo FH has more computers than an aircraft-

  • -offers the connectivity of a mobile phone-

  • -and is environmentally efficient, safe and comfortable.

  • How exactly is an ultra-modern truck built?

  • It starts with this roll of sheet steel.

  • Every new truck model is just like a human being - unique.

  • And requires product-specific tools.

  • In the cab plant, the sheet steel is shaped in 340 new presses.

  • In one single year, they will produce 7 million parts for the new Volvo FH.

  • Each part is pressed in several stages-

  • -as this improves the fit of the cab's panels when they are put together.

  • This assembly process is carried out with the help of more than 300 robots.

  • They move with silky-smooth precision throughout the factory.

  • Behind each robot is an advanced computer program-

  • -that tells it exactly what to do, and when.

  • That is the case with this entirely new laser welder-

  • -which joins the outer panels in the door opening with a perfection-

  • -that is hard to achieve using a conventional welder.

  • After a few hours, the sheet steel has already been transformed into a cab.

  • The next stop on the assembly line in the one-kilometer-long plant-

  • -is the paint shop, which on the subject of ultra modern-

  • -is one of the most environmentally optimized in the world.

  • Here, the cab is painted in an entirely automatic process.

  • Today, each cab requires four liters of paint-

  • -half the amount used just ten years ago.

  • On the assembly line, the cab is fitted with its components.

  • Here, the on-board electronic components are installed.

  • In total, the cab will pass through 350 different pairs of hands-

  • -before the entire interior is in place.

  • The glass panels are bonded to the cab, a method introduced with the Volvo FH-

  • -which improves safety, as the glass panels contribute-

  • -to the cab's overall strength.

  • It's not long before the cab is finished, only three days-

  • -after starting out as sheet steel.

  • The cab will be transported to the chassis plant for completion.

  • First, let's make a stopover at the engine plant.

  • Here, truck engines are cast, machined and assembled.

  • The mercury shows 25 degrees Celsius in the foundry-

  • -and 1,500 degrees in the smelting furnace.

  • Now that the cab and engine are ready, we'll continue to the chassis plant.

  • Here, intensive work has been underway-

  • -even before series production on the new Volvo FH started.

  • In the pilot plant, about 300 pre-series trucks have been built.

  • They've been driven a distance equal to several times around the Earth-

  • -all to insure that they meet the very highest quality standards.

  • Operators from all over the world - from Russia to Brazil-

  • -have been here to learn how to build the new truck.

  • On the assembly line, the chassis is fitted upside-down-

  • -since this is easier for the operators.

  • Here, the last electronic components are fitted, just like an aircraft-

  • -with one control unit for each function.

  • This means that several computers talk to each other several times per second.

  • Receiving and transmitting information about parameters such as speed-

  • -and steering wheel position.

  • It takes just over five days, and 2,790 screws-

  • -to transform sheet steel and hi-tech electronics-

  • -into a state-of-the-art machine, weighing about 8,000 kilos.

  • The all-new Volvo FH.

The new Volvo FH has more computers than an aircraft-

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it