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By 1988 Jaguar Cars will have in place one of the most advanced body assembly lines for its prestige luxury car, the XJ6. John Mortimer reports.

This paper seeks to describe how GM Manufacturing Luton in the UK is examining the case for raising the number of installed robots as a means of increasing van assembly for when the next generation vehicle is launched. Also describes some operational experience associated with a variety of industrial robots in body‐in‐white and spray painting environments.

Describes the major production line techniques that are used in the manufacture of compact van body‐in‐white (BIW) steel structures; as well as the functions of robotized painting. BIW techniques include spot‐welding and sealants.

Over the space of the last four years or so, the management of GM Manufacturing Luton has been tackling constraints in the bodyshop using General Motors' through‐put improvement process (TIP) to achieve greater utilization of its existing capacity, and improving productivity.

General motors has a system of continuous improvement, which it uses in most of the functions involved in the assembly of a motor vehicle. As part of this process engineers are continually looking at ways of removing constraints from equipment in the bodyshop and working closely with equipment suppliers to reduce the number of hours required to build a van body. But as proposals to build the next generation of vans are being considered so too is the requirement to increase the number of robots in the bodyshop. There is also much to be gained from the interchange of information between the various plants within General Motors worldwide with a view to implementing continuous improvement. In this connection, benchmarking is one of the techniques employed to ensure that the Luton facility is not only in step with sister GM plants to improve quality and productivity, but also is best placed for winning the next generation vehicle programme.

It is likely that, arising out of greater plant integration and utilization, the management of GM Manufacturing Luton Ltd (GMM Luton) will be able to further increase the capacity of its van production units to be in a position to move to the next stage of expansion, namely to edge towards a target of 100,000 units a year.

This is the first time in the UK that Comau Smart H4 robots have been used on a significant scale. The introduction of these robots created a steep learning curve both for those installing the machines and for those operating them. The plant as a whole makes use of various makes of robot including Comau in the bodyshop and KUKA, Fanuc and Durr machines in the paint shop. The company is also preparing the ground for the introduction of the next generation of robot, the Comau NH4.

This paper aims to address the relevance and impact of the fourth industrial revolution through a theoretical and practical perspective. The authors present both the results of a literature review, highlighting the new competences required in innovative workplaces and a pivotal case, which explores challenges and skill models diffused in industry 4.0, describing the role of proper organizational learning processes in shaping new work cultures.

The paper aims to enhance the discussion around the 4.0 industrial revolution addressing both a theoretical framework, valorizing the existing scientific contributes and the situated knowledge, embedded in a concrete organizational context in which the fourth industrial revolution is experienced and practiced.

The findings acquired through the case study endorse what the scientific literature highlights about the impact, the new competences and the organizational learning paths. The conclusions address the agile approach to work as the more suitable way to place humans at the center of technological progress.

The paper explores a specific organizational context, related to a high-tech multinational company, whose results illustrate the empirical evidence sustaining transformations in the working, professional and organizational cultures necessary to face the challenges of the fourth industrial revolution. The research was conducted with the managers of an international company and this a specific and limited target, even though relevant and interesting.

The paper connects the case with the general scenario, this study currently faces, to suggest hints and coordinates for crossing the unfolding situation and finding suitable matching between technological evolution and the development of new work and professional cultures and competences.

Due to the acceleration that the COVID-19 has impressed to the use of digital technologies and remote connexion, the paper highlights some ambivalences that the quick evolution of the new technologies entails in relation to work and social conditions.

The opportunity to match both a literature analysis and an in-depth situated case study enhances the possibility to achieve a more articulated and complex view of the viral changes generated in the current context by the digitalization process.

A minimum‐time path‐following algorithm for industrial robots is presented in this paper.

The algorithm generates off‐line a trajectory that, by exploiting knowledge of the dynamic model, takes into account the actuators' torque limits while preserving the geometric path.

The algorithm has been designed, implemented and extensively tested on a Comau SMART H4 robot, a closed‐chain six‐degree‐of‐freedom industrial manipulator.

The algorithm is currently part of the new generation of industrial controllers of the Comau robots, the C4G controller. It is a feature added as with the name SmartMove4.

The paper presents a new minimum‐time path‐following algorithm for industrial robots that, by exploiting knowledge of the dynamic model, takes into account the actuators' torque limits while preserving the geometric path.

Fiat is to achieve 80% automation in assembly of its new FIRE 1000 engine in a plant built for it by Comau to turn out 21,000 engines a day.