Chery Dalian in numbers:
- 484 AMRs are in use throughout the facility
- Around 1,000 vehicles are produced every day
- 127 material categories automated
- Body shop and final assembly covered
- Production was maintained throughout the entire period of operation
/PRNewswire/ — Most automotive plants are not designed for automation. They are designed for production.
More than a year after its launch began, ForwardX’s AMR system continues to be expanded at Chery Automobile’s Dalian plant without affecting production. Today, the project is one of the largest AMR implementations in existing facilities in the automotive industry.
This fact makes the automation of existing systems one of the biggest challenges in the industry. In contrast to new plants, existing factories must be modernized without affecting production performance. Automation must adapt to legacy systems, fixed layouts and ongoing operations and cannot be integrated into the system from the start.
With a fleet of 484 AMRs, adoption continues to expand while production remains fully operational, allowing automation to scale without major rebuilds or factory shutdowns.
The Chery factory in Dalian produces approximately 1,000 vehicles daily, making continuity of production a critical operational requirement. In the welding and final assembly halls, the AMRs support a variety of intralogistics processes, including near-line material supply, the transport of PLC carts, the delivery of drive trains and the return of empty containers.
In the body shop, 204 AMRs currently support the delivery of 32 material categories, covering more than 80% of material requirements. In final assembly, 280 AMRs transport 95 material categories, covering almost 90% of the material requirements on the assembly line.
The success of retrofitting depends on much more than just the autonomy of the vehicles.
Existing factories present a unique set of challenges: limited assembly line space, mixed employee and forklift traffic, aging IT infrastructure, changing production requirements and minimal start-up windows. The challenge is to transform an existing logistics system without disrupting production. While many automation projects are successful in the pilot phase, scaling to hundreds of robots in active automotive production environments presents a completely different challenge.
To address these challenges, ForwardX combined image-based autonomy, fleet coordination, manufacturing integration, and phased implementation strategies. Instead of requiring extensive structural changes, the introduction was integrated into existing production and logistics processes.
The system works side by side with employees, conveyor belts, robotic systems and existing material transport devices. Through phased adoption and continuous optimization, automation was introduced gradually while maintaining production stability.
“The challenge is to transform an operating factory while maintaining production,” said Nicolas Chee, founder and CEO of ForwardX Robotics. “Brownfield automation requires much more than just robotics. It requires integration, coordination and a deep understanding of manufacturing processes.”
As OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers continue to modernize their existing facilities, brownfield transformation is increasingly coming into focus across the automotive industry.
For most manufacturers, future investments in automation will be in existing factories rather than new facilities.
Greenfield projects prove that robots can work.
Brownfield projects prove that automation is scalable in real manufacturing environments.
Chery Dalian shows what this transformation looks like in practice.
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