Coventry-based AP Racing (www.apracing.com), a manufacturer of ‘performance’ brake and caliper components, has invested in a new ‘state of the art’ semi-automated production line that provides full product traceability and a high-volume manufacturing capability.

Specifically built for the manufacture of OE (original-equipment) road-car brake calipers, the new line offers the ultimate flexibility in product manufacturing via seven workstations that can be configured according to individual customer requirements.

It can produce up to 20 families of calipers, incorporating more than 100 different part numbers.

David Hamblin, managing director of AP Racing, said: “The new caliper line allows us to meet evolving customer
demands, while still providing the same unrivalled support to our race and performance customers world-wide.

“Our new semi-automated capability delivers flexibility, quality and traceability throughout the production of AP Racing calipers.”

Each station on the caliper line sees working instructions given to operatives via a smart screen to ensure that the right components are used, and the system prevents a caliper from moving to the next station until all operations have been correctly completed.

The changeover between different parts can be achieved in a matter of minutes, but the biggest savings come from shorter cycle times, which have been reduced by two thirds.