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Vrrrooom! What does it take to build a car?
Ever wonder how a car is made? Today we visit a manufacturing plant to learn the first steps. Part 1 of two.
from the June 19, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
Two of those team members are Cardell McAlister and Al Porter. They work at the beginning of the assembly line, in "stamping." It's a portion of the plant where rolls of steel weighing as much as six elephants are unloaded from trucks. The steel is used to make what's called the underbody, or metal "skeleton" of an automobile. A steel "skin" also covers the underbody. No plastic body panels are used in these cars.
It's Mr. McAlister's and Mr. Porter's job – with the help of heavy machinery – to load the steel rolls onto a press called a blanker. It's a giant, orange machine about the size of a two-car garage. The blanker unrolls and cuts the steel into car parts in much the same way a cookie cutter shapes dough.
Every few seconds, the noisy blanker clamps down and shoots out various-size steel shapes that will be welded (or bolted) together.
From behind a clear plexiglas wall, Mr. McAlister and Mr. Porter monitor the process using a giant computer. When a roll of steel comes to its end, they quickly replace it so that their co-workers farther down the assembly line have the pieces they need to do their job.
The most distinguishable parts of a car's steel body – the doors and the hood, for instance – are molded in the tool and die shop, the next station on the assembly line.
Next week, as we continue our trip to see how cars are made, you'll hear about storage racks that seem to move around the plant by themselves and dusters made of emu feathers that ready cars for paint.
You'll also learn why you can't wear certain deodorants or use some laundry detergents when working on the second floor of the facility. Hint: It has to do with car colors.
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