Volvo Penta Accelerates Production with Quickline
After manufacturing its first test engine in September, Volvo Penta’s new Quickline production line is set to help Marine Commercial reduce lead times and address end users’ breakdowns more quickly than ever.
To reduce manufacturing times, Volvo Penta has installed the Quickline, a production line that cuts lead times to as little as a week, in its Volvo Penta Production (VPP) facility in Gothenburg, Sweden. The Quickline celebrated its first successful run in September, when a custom-built engine — a D16-MH for propulsion — was produced for a Belgian Volvo Penta dealer in just four days.
Aimed at reducing lead times in the Marine Commercial repowering business, the Quickline runs parallel to the regular production line at VPP. With it, Volvo Penta can produce custom-built, classified and nonclassified 300-750-horsepower D9MH, D13MH or D16MH propulsion engines within seven days of order (regardless of the engine make the customer was using at the time of breakdown).
The Quickline owes its speed to the use of base engines that are already on hand at VPP. To speed up the production process, these base engines will be custom-built, unlike engines kept in stock at dealers. Engine modules and options are more limited than they would be in regular engine production. Because VPP is also authorized to do full approval tests for DNV, RINA, LRS, ABS and BV, Volvo Penta can deliver engines that are fully classed according to these societies within a seven-day period.
“When users have unplanned repowering needs, the Quickline gives us another way to help them get going again — on top of local engine stocks at each of our dealerships worldwide,” says Jan-Willem Vissers, director of Marine Commercial Region Europe. “With the Quickline, we can deliver quickly and according to class. The Quickline is just the latest part of Volvo Penta’s approach to 24-7 service. It’s our way of showing end users we are there to support them in any way we can.”
volvopenta.com