A silver award for Fiat drivelines

The Turin driveline plant is the first FPT Industrial site in Italy to receive Silver Level certification in the World Class Manufacturing (WCM) programme.

FPT Industrial is part of CNH Industrial, dedicated to the design, production and sale of powertrains for on and off-road vehicles, marine and power generation applications.

With a production in 2013 of over 150,000 axles and 60,000 gearboxes, as well as specialization in the bevel gear production for other CNH Industrial group facilities, the Turin driveline plant is one of the most important and significant FPT Industrial factories.

World Class Manufacturing (WCM) is an international methodology for the organisation of the manufacturing cycle and has been adopted, on a world-wide basis, by the most important companies in every business, from automotive to services, from consumer goods to industrial tools.

WCM has the goal of continuously improving production performance and gradually eliminating waste; it helps to ensure product quality and maximum flexibility in responding to customer requests.

This is achieved through a structured and integrated production system that encompasses all the plant’s processes, from safety to the environment, from maintenance to logistics and quality, as well as the involvement and motivation of the personnel working in the factory.

WCM activities are formally audited at regular intervals and each factory is assigned a score and the appropriate prizes (Bronze, Silver, Gold).

“After receiving Bronze level certification in 2010, this further achievement rewards FPT Industrial’s hard work in the last few years to make its manufacturing structure increasingly efficient and flexible, and gain a competitive edge over the best in class,” said Domenico Nucera, plant manager of FPT Industrial’s Turin driveline plant.

The Turin driveline plant joins FPT’s French Bourbon-Lancy facility that has already been awarded the Silver prize. The aim is to secure Gold level during 2015.

The Italian engine production sites of Foggia and Turin have been awarded Bronze level and are working to obtain the Silver certification.

By using WCM methodology, FPT Industrial’s activities have been undergoing a process of continuous improvement and achieving increasingly higher levels of competitiveness, thus contributing to establish the company as one of the most important and reliable powertrain developers and producers on a world-wide basis.

FPT Industrial employs some 8,500 people worldwide in 10 manufacturing plants and six R&D Centres. FPT Industrial offers six engine ranges from 31kW to 740kW, and transmissions with maximum torques ranging from 200Nm to 500 Nm.

                                       CGI cylinder head

In March of this year, FPT Industrial’s new Cursor 16 truck engine was named Diesel of the Year for 2014 by Diesel magazine in recognition of the company’s technological excellence in its new 16-litre, six-cylinder, in-line engine.

The company claimed Cursor 16 has best in class power-to-weight ratio and is one of the smallest engines in its range. It adds that Cursor 16 represents the top level of the Cursor family.

Cursor 16 is the first of Fiat’s on-road production engines to adopt a compacted graphite iron (CGI) cylinder head; this high performance material offers high thermal and mechanical resistance.

Suitable for construction, agriculture and power generation applications, among others, Fiat claims the 16-litre engine delivers 18-litre performance in a 13-litre package.

In opting to use CGI as the material of choice for the Cursor 16's cylinder head, FPT Industrial took the least cost route. A CGI cylinder block would be much more expensive, but may h ave to come later. MAN and Daf in Europe both use CGI cylinder blocks; likewise Navistar International in the US uses the material for its MaxxForce 11 and MaxxForce 13 engines based on in-line six-cylinder engines from MAN in Germany. Navistar this year added Cummins ISX in-line sixes to bolster its engine line-up.

The Cursor 16 engine uses in-house Selective Catalytic Reduction (HI-eSCR) technology, designed and developed by FPT Industrial to comply with Stage IV/Tier 4 Final and Euro VI emission regulations.