Electric motorcycle manufacturer Maeving recently moved to a larger 50,000 sqft site in Coventry where they could upscale their assembly and testing facilities. This would involve streamlining and enhancing the existing assembly process to increase throughput capacity and minimise the manual lifting requirement.
To support their rapid expansion, L-A-C worked closely with Maeving to understand their assembly requirements, providing the design and installation of a fixed length of roller conveyor to act as a solid base on which to fix the motorcycle frames, to ensure each motorcycle frame moves easily and safely along the conveyor sections as they complete the assembly phase.
Maeving’s Head of Production Liam Moriarty commented, “Moving each motorcycle from cell to cell was proving to be very time-consuming. Prior to the L-A-C install it took us an extra four minutes per cell, per bike. When you add that up over the day, weeks and months of what we’re producing, it gives us another 52 or 53 bikes per year, which is an extra turnover of about £450,000.”
L-A-C’s design for the fixed length of roller conveyor included three sections of integrated platens or slave boards – a flat sheet of aluminium – to provide a solid base on which to fix the motorcycle frame in order to easily and safely assemble the various components required for each model.
Using an overhead hangman lift to initially place the motorcycle onto the first section of the conveyor, the frame is securely fixed with its tyres held in place by red steel jigs. Additionally, the yellow steel uprights hold the frame adjacent to the foot pedals to provide further stability. The roller conveyor sections provide easy and smooth progression of the motorcycle frame from one assembly zone to the next with no need to lift the frame manually.
Underneath the length of the gravity roller conveyor, there are three lift sections with a foot switch to operate the lift. This enables the motorcycle to be lifted so the assembly personnel can work on the motorcycle frame at a raised height with no manual handling required which also eliminates the potential for physical injury. Additionally, the lift enables the frame to be turned 180 or 360 degrees, which streamlines the assembly process considerably.
The L.A.C. design has provided Maeving with a highly effective automated conveyor line that offers numerous operational efficiency benefits including increased throughput and integrated lift, rotation, and brake capabilities to enhance a seamless and safe process for their motorcycle assembly. Seb Inglis-Jones, Co-founder of Maeving concluded, “We were right to work with L-A-C as the design process and installation has been seamless. The new facility has given us the opportunity to expand our growth over six times, and our intention is to work with L-A-C to achieve that.”
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