Within four months, Schuler reassembled the press line (left) at Ford’s plant in Rayong, Thailand. Photo: Schuler

A press line that Schuler relocated from Brazil to Thailand for car manufacturer Ford has completed its journey half way round the world. The four-stage line with a total press force of 6,100 metric tonnes was completely dismantled at Ford’s Camaçari site in Brazil, shipped and reassembled at the Rayong plant in Thailand in just four months. There, the high-speed tandem line now forms body parts for Ford model destined for the Asian and Australian markets.

The line consists of a 2,500-tonne head press, a 1,600-tonne follow-up press and two further follow-up presses, each with a press force of 1,000 tonnes. The scope of delivery also included adapting the entire electrical system to the power supply at the new location and replacing it, if necessary, as well as modernising the conveyor system.

Seksan Saekoo, who manages the Schuler site in Chonburi, Thailand, said: “Ford placed this order with us not least because of the decades of trustful cooperation with Schuler all over the world. We have already successfully completed countless projects with Ford, and in this case, too, we managed to fully meet both the technical and financial conditions.”

Virtually no delays
The press line was manufactured and installed by Prensas Schuler Brazil (PSB) in 2011 and made approximately 18 million strokes at the Camaçari plant in the Northeast of the country. Fábio Fernandes, business unit manager at the PSB Service, said: “This was the largest service project in our history. There was an excellent cooperation between Schuler Brazil and Schuler Thailand, which resulted in virtually no delays and a very happy customer.”

Dismantling began in October 2022 after Schuler had received the order in May, and the components arrived in Thailand three months later. On-site installation started in April 2023, when the construction site was prepared, and was completed in August. Acceptance followed in October, and the tandem line has been in production at the Rayong plant ever since.

Ford’s wholly-owned and joint-venture operations in Thailand currently employ around 9,000 people. The company’s growth and success in Thailand is being driven by the Ranger pickup truck and the mid-size Everest SUV. Total production capacity of the Ford Thailand Manufacturing (FTM) facility in Rayong is 135,000 units per year.