Implementation of a quality contol system for Lamborghini Paint Shop: study of the total automation of the painting process as result of the continuous improvement.

The objective of this thesis is to describe the phases that led to the creation of a quality control system and a focus on the activities implemented thanks to the improvement of a quality loop within an industrial vehicle painting plant. The main purpose of this control system is to achieve production volumes and continuous improvement. These activities were carried out at the new Paint Shop Automobili Lamborghini. Thanks to the Production team it was possible to obtain the necessary knowledge to understand how to perform a quality inspection on a painted BIW and understand the management of the production flow in a modern plant. The introductory part of the dissertation will be dedicated to an overview of the company's product portfolio and the flow of operations between the various phases of the production process leading to the creation of an assembled vehicle starting from the Body in White. Subsequently, after a description of the theory of the painting process and the technologies currently in use, the attention will be focused on the new paint shop and on the activities that lead to the painting of a body. The Lamborghini painting process is a perfect example of "Manifattura Lamborghini" as it perfectly combines craftsmanship with automated processes. The complexity of painting is managed thanks to the MES (Manufacturing Execution System), an intelligent software created exclusively for Lamborghini to support the planning, sequencing and flow of materials within the plant. While a conventional paint shop consists of a one-way production line, Lamborghini is surpassing this concept with a modular line. To ensure stable production that respects the quality standards set by the brand, it was necessary to implement a quality control system that led to improvement actions in order to reduce rework times and improve the aesthetic level of the cars. The phases that first led to the creation and then to the evolution of a car control system and a data collection system that keeps track of detected defects will be described. Thanks to this collection system it has been possible to create a digital analysis system that allows to orient the continuous impovement loop ("PDCA") in order to start the necessary improvement actions. Subsequently, the main continuous improvement activities in each of the phases of the painting process will be analyzed and described. Finally, greater emphasis will be placed on the analysis and study phase for the realization of the automation process of the painting phase which was previously manual. After an initial phase of analysis of the data obtained through the new control system, the decision was made to partially automate a phase of manual painting. By analyzing the results obtained and carefully evaluating each process, a business case was developed on the total automation of painting. All these continuous improvement activities are the result of the data collection and analysis system created during my thesis work.