Le défi
Reducing Risk at AESC Gigafactory in Douai
The AESC plant located within the Ampere ElectriCity hub in Douai (France) is dedicated to the manufacture of batteries for Renault’s electric vehicles. Ensuring worker safety during complex battery manufacturing processes is a major challenge. For this brand-new site, over 2,000 interlocks from Fortress Safety have been chosen to provide protection to employees, helping prevent injuries and machine downtime across multiple stages of the manufacturing process, from electrode manufacturing to cell assembly and finishing.
La solution
Solutions d'accès et de contrôle configurables
In particular, tGard interlocks are used as risk reduction measures during the cell assembly process. The solution provided features a solenoid-controlled station with a lock to accept an access key, pushbuttons, and five keys which are trapped while the machine is in operation. Personnel can request access via a pushbutton, and once the machine has reached a safe state, operators can insert and rotate the access key. This action releases the five keys that can be removed and used to open the interlocks on the respective guards.
The solenoid-controlled unit prevents the release of keys until a safe state is achieved, protecting personnel from being exposed to hazards (i.e., moving parts of the machine). In addition, Fortress has a database of key codes and their locations, helping AESC France with key management and preventing the unintentional duplication on site, supporting a safer and more efficient manufacturing environment.
About AESC
Automotive Energy Supply Corporation (AESC) is a global leader in the development and manufacturing of high-performance batteries for zero-emission electric vehicles and energy storage systems. Over the past 15 years, AESC has produced power batteries for more than one million EVs achieving a flawless record of “zero critical incidents”.
Founded in Japan in 2007 and headquartered in Yokohama, AESC has been building manufacturing capabilities around the world in the U.S., UK, Europe, Japan and China. The new AESC plant in Douai will contribute to the sustainable development of the battery industry in Europe.
Global Collaboration
This project is the result of a collaborative effort that involved multiple teams across different countries, thanks to the global reach and network Fortress Safety can rely on. The machine builder based in China and the Fortress team have worked together to identify the best solutions that were then installed on the machines then shipped to the AESC site in France.
Similarly, other Fortress interlocking solutions can be found at other sites in the UK and the U.S, for a total of nearly 6,000 units that contribute to reducing the risk of incidents for AESC employees and support the battery manufacturing industry.
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