IBC Vehicles are a British automotive manufacturing company who are part of the Stellantis group. Based in Luton since 1986 the plant is a key facility in light commercial vehicle production for brands such as Citroën, Opel, Peugeot, Vauxhall, Fiat and Toyota. With capacity to produce up to 100,000 vehicles annually, it is one of the largest vehicle manufacturing sites in the UK.
Abbey Industrial Solutions have been working with IBC for over 8 years and in that time have built up a strong partnership and a reputation for solving problems and delivering trusted solutions. The latest project was to introduce automation solutions to carry out a quality assurance inspection and automated intervention point for rear bump stops.
“Abbey were instrumental in helping us achieve our goals for automating this process. The solution has already delivered in time saving and improvements to quality. Everyone at IBC was impressed with the turnaround time of the project and quality of the installation work carried out”
Bump stops are typically made from rubber and strategically placed within the vehicles suspension system to inhibit excessive compression and prevent unnecessary wear and tear.
Depending on the model of vehicle being assembled there are 2 options for the rear bump stop, each version has a two-stage retention clip that must be fully seated to ensure a secure connection.
The current process was a manual check down by human operators and the objective of the project was to ensure the correct seating and verify that the correct part had been used but in the event of any errors the solution was required to implement an intervention for correction.
The customer also stipulated that the current cycle time of 18 seconds must be improved.
The Abbey team specified a Universal Robots UR10e equipped with a Keyence Smart Camera Vision system. Bespoke mounting solutions were also created for the EOAT (end of arm tooling) for the end effectors used to apply force to any bump stops incorrectly seated.
After the bump stop has been placed manually the Cobot arm follows a programmed path to carry out the quality inspection using the vision system. This is checking for the correct part used and that the part has been seated fully. If the incorrect part has been used the intervention will occur by visual and audio feedback, momentarily stopping the line until the error has been rectified. If the part has not been seated correctly the Cobot applies pressure to ensure the correct application.
Mounted centrally under the production line the solution works while the vehicle moves along the production line overhead. The reach of the Cobot allows one arm to carry out the process on both sides in quick succession.
The team from Abbey conducted numerous site visits to assess the current process and intended application of the automation solution.
After these visits our design engineers simulated the application virtually to test and trial various solutions. After agreement with the customer we then moved to feasibility studies and physical trials in our dedicated testing area at our UK based headquarters.
Each element of the system was tested for numerous scenarios in real time working conditions which were replicated from IBC’s production line. Cycle time simulations were also conducted to ensure that the new process did not impact on speed of production.
Involving the customer at every stage of the testing and trials allows for amends to be made to ensure that the solution is meeting the original objectives and also guarantees a seamless delivery. From start to finish the project was agreed, delivered and completed in under 6 months.
The team from Abbey conducted numerous site visits to assess the current process and intended application of the automation solution.
After these visits our design engineers simulated the application virtually to test and trial various solutions. After agreement with the customer we then moved to feasibility studies and physical trials in our dedicated testing area at our UK based headquarters.
Each element of the system was tested for numerous scenarios in real time working conditions which were replicated from IBC’s production line. Cycle time simulations were also conducted to ensure that the new process did not impact on speed of production.
Involving the customer at every stage of the testing and trials allows for amends to be made to ensure that the solution is meeting the original objectives and also guarantees a seamless delivery. From start to finish the project was agreed, delivered and completed in under 6 months.
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