A day in the life of an ARQUUS Methods Engineer

Professionally qualified as a medical physics technician, Béchir then trained as an engineer at Saint Nazaire through the CESI Graduate School of Engineering. On placement within ARQUUS's quality department over the academic year 2017-2018, he was taken on permanently as a methods engineer on the VT4 and BASTION LINES in August 2018.

Organisation and safety are critical in the medical sector. Béchir worked in oncology, a field in which the smallest error can prove fatal to human life. The same is true of vehicles: the smallest assembly fault can prove fatal for a vehicle occupant. On the front line, lives are at stake, so high levels of precision are required. Every action taken has a real impact. With performance and safety at the forefront of his mind, Béchir has put in place sophisticated production control tool. 

"My job is to introduce Industry 4.0 to our industrial site."

His main role involves PRODUCTION METHODS and how to bring them up to date. Increasingly, smart items are being installed, such as tablets for final inspection on the VT4 line. His task is to draw inspiration from Industry 4.0 to innovate on the site.

Béchir is introducing diagnostic scanners to accelerate detection of any problems with a vehicle on the production line.

These scan tools are part of the PIAF (2019) project (PROSIT in Arquus factory), launched by VOLVO IT.This software enables connection with the vehicle to facilitate programming. This is something that production staff will do directly in future, giving the operator autonom. 

"Digitalising a production line means making it paperless and allows traceability advantages that can't be achieved on paper."

The inspection tablet is an integral part of visual management. It sends to inspection screens information relating to both the number of vehicles produced and their level of conformity. To do this, the vehicle code is scanned at the start of the production line, with the vehicle numbers, their model and their configuration being indicated on screens.

To summarise, as a result of adapting the VT4 line to Industry 4.0:

• Real-time information can be provided on progress of the production line at each workstation;

• Production rates can be complied with;

• Errors in manufacturing timing can be identified and quantified.