Stellantis-Caen plant

The Caen plant specializes in the manufacture of transmissions and powertrain components for Stellantis Group vehicles (any brands and models). It covers an area of 23 hectares and produces 764 different products in 45 workshops. It has 1,250 employees and generated a €322-million revenue in 2024.

With the ambition of becoming the world leader in the supply of transmissions and the European leader in the supply of suspension components by 2030, Stellantis has embarked on a process of automating all its internal logistics flows.

The decision was inclining towards MiR's autonomous mobile robots (AMRs). Flexible, easily deployable and programmable, they are perfectly suited to the factory's complex industrial environment and have enabled it to meet its objective: to combine performance, safety and better working conditions.

To achieve its ambitious goals, the Stellantis-Caen plant has developed a project based on five pillars: Lean Women and Men, Lean Innovation, Lean Engineering, Lean Environment and Energy, and Lean Flows, for which the site decided to automate its traffic, replacing all of its manual equipment (forklifts, shuttles and stackers) with mobile robots.

This project, launched in 2020, focused on three distinct flows: the transport of parts between the production lines and the paint installation, the delivery of boxes of parts to the production lines (the ‘EPOFER’ project), and the entry and exit of parts into the paint installation (the ‘Cataphoresis’ project).

The Stellantis teams needed a solution that could adapt to the challenges of the site: a tight environment in which the activities of three buildings had just been combined, complex internal flows, and the need to coexist with pedestrians as well as manual and automatic vehicles.

Stellantis turned to AMR technology because it offered far greater flexibility and modularity than automated guided vehicles (AGVs). After several trials, they opted for Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR) solutions, via our distributor HMI-MBS.

Since 2022, without modifying the existing infrastructure, the Stellantis plant in Caen has deployed 43 MiR robots equipped with the EU Pallet Lift system: 21 MiR1350s transport parts between the production lines and the paint shop, 6 others are assigned to the entry and exit of the cataphoresis operation, and 16 MiR250s deliver boxes of parts to the production lines. Fitted with safety sensors, the mobile robots operate 24 /7 on the site.

Having relied on an integrator for the initial transport of parts between manufacturing and painting, Stellantis subsequently sought to become more autonomous by recruiting an IT specialist to deploy subsequent projects.

He was able to develop skills in-house, simplify work processes, exchange ideas with operators to obtain accurate feedback, and thus improve daily workflows.

For optimized fleet management, a task force composed of maintenance technicians and workers – one person per shift (morning, afternoon, night and Saturday/Sunday) – was also created.

Thanks to MiR Fleet, fleet management software capable of managing up to 100 robots, Stellantis was able to quickly and centrally configure all of its AMRs. Battery level monitoring also provides information on the status of each robot and automatically manages their charging.

Keen to improve efficiency by taking into account the specific characteristics of the factory environment, Stellantis asked its IT specialist to develop a dedicated supervision program. It identifies whether all the conditions are in place for an AMR to start its mission, based on the status of each piece of furniture at the various supply points. Linked to MiR Fleet, this program automatically selects the robot best suited to the task at hand based on its location and availability.

In terms of monitoring and maintenance, it provides a precise view of each robot's position and enables rapid intervention to ensure that missions can carry on and be completed.

This comprehensive mapping, combined with the ease of use and programming of AMRs, gives factory teams a high degree of autonomy in managing their fleet. Completing 1,000 missions per day throughout the factory, the 43 MiR robots perfectly meet Stellantis's expectations, with good feedbacks on their high precision and unparalleled repeatability.

The transport flows of the swing arms have been standardized, which has streamlined traffic throughout the factory. The result is significant productivity gains, as well as improved safety and working conditions for workers. Far fewer manual vehicles now interact with pedestrians and infrastructure, limiting the risk of accidents and injuries.

Building on this successful experience with the three automated flows, Stellantis is now convinced that the future lies in AMR technology and intends to continue integrating mobile robots, with the aim of automating all of its flows by 2030.

To achieve this, they can count on the unwavering commitment of HMI-MBS, which provides ongoing support to advance their robot fleet and ensure they benefit from the latest innovations by MiR.