Hyundai robotics
Sonatas and Santa Fes aren't the only things Hyundai Motor Co. is building in Montgomery, Ala. Hyundai's 2-year-old assembly plant also is churning out its own robot technicians. Here are some facts about the training program.
- It started in March 2004, more than a year before vehicle production began.
- Trainees are production workers with no previous robotics training.
- It is limited to the body shop, where about 250 robots perform material handling, stamping and welding in a 100% automated process.
- More than 100 workers have completed the course.
- Between 60 and 70 workers are now full-time "robot keepers."
MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Hyundai Motor Co. expected problems finding enough trained technicians to tend its army of robots when it began building a massive assembly plant here five years ago.
