In the Doubs, the historic Peugeot plant in Sochaux, now Stellantis, is continuing its modernization before the arrival of its first electric model in 2024.
The factory of the future is being modernized. The Sochaux site, which covered up to 265 hectares, lost a third of its area. Operations (stocks, stamping, assembly, painting) were concentrated on certain buildings, and part of the land was allocated to subcontractors or logistics companies, following a 200 million euro transformation program launched in 2017.
The 3008 and 5008, Peugeot’s star SUVs, are now manufactured on a single assembly line, instead of two previously, and at a rate of 60 vehicles per hour. Robots transport the parts along the assembly line, ensure the installation of engines, windshields, and part of the quality checks.
A small high-rise building houses a new gem costing 8 million euros, the “transtockeur”: a fully automated warehouse, which can store and unload up to 4,500 pallets, inspired by the systems used by Carrefour or Amazon. Mirrors, steering wheels, electronic components, a million parts can leave this warehouse every day.
The ballet of the forklift drivers, who transport the parts from the warehouse to the start of the assembly line, could soon also be provided by “butlers”, sorts of robotic yellow turtles who were testing marked routes on the ground on Monday.
“The innovation will be to link the stacker crane to the automated production line, with these robots. The idea is to bring the right part to the hand at the right time to facilitate production and speed up the flow of parts” explains Julien Monclin, Logistics Director – Stellantis Sochaux
The FO union through the voice of Eric Peultier denounces a consequence necessarily on employment. Thirty forklift jobs will have to be replaced, he hopes.
This automated logistics “will serve as a + showcase + (showcase) for our other factories”, in Italy, the United States or Eastern Europe, underlined Arnaud Deboeuf, industrial director of the site.
Stellantis, which has demonstrated brilliant financial health since its creation, has pledged to cut its production costs by 40%. By increasing its productivity, the site’s mission is to improve its profitability and maintain its volumes at 400,000 vehicles per year.
The job paid for it. France’s leading industrial site until 2013, Sochaux has seen its workforce halved in ten years, particularly on the white-collar side, through several voluntary departure plans. The factory now employs 6,200 employees on permanent contracts, and fewer and fewer temporary workers.
Jérôme Broussard, CGT union representative, regrets the “catastrophic” job cuts for Franche-Comté. And “we don’t know when it will stop,” he worries. “The working conditions are very difficult, the pace is high. Despite the semiconductor crisis, we are pushing the machine to the limit with very sustained work rhythms. We have Saturdays scheduled in spades.”
The director of the factory, Christophe Montavon, ensures for his part that “the strong decline that we have known in recent years is over”. “We cannot cope with a fall in the European market without making productivity efforts,” adds Arnaud Deboeuf.