CONSTRUCTION
the action of building something, typically a large structure.
CONCEPT
Any car that has been thought up but not yet created is referred to as a concept. Someone could have thought of an idea for a flying car, down to its technology but until it has been built and is flying in the air it is no more than an idea that has been conceptualized. Car concepts come entirely from people, be they engineers, artists or automobile aficionados. Auto manufacturers might have several different designs made up for the same concept car, with each version showing minor as well as major changes from the original.
Concepts, in simple terms, is an idea. From the concept comes the actual product. The product rarely looks like the original concept. Flaws are pointed out and fixed to create the best possible version of iteslf.
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PROTOTYPE
A prototype is a concept made into real life. Often, only a couple are made. They are less futuristic and complicated than the concept, however they still look very different to what we see on the road. The prototype is one step closer to the production line than the concept. The prototype still looks very different to what the car will end up being. The prototype often displays the technology that the company would like to use in a few years time. It sets up a reputation for the company. For example, many prototypes nowadays are electric cars. It is generally agreed that electric cars are the future of cars.
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PRODUCTION
These days in modern factories, most car assembly is done by sophisticated robots which are precisely choreographed to carry out specific, repetitive tasks. In the Kia factory, for example, the welding shop has just 62 humans and 242 robots which can fuse a car together in under 90 minutes. Robots are just more efficient and convenient that humans. They also save money in the long run and don't need to take breaks from work.
Robots make the pieces of the car, from the door to the chassis, mainly from steel. They then weld them togethers, much quicker and neater that a human could. The main job of people in car factories are to make sure that the robots are working properly, and to do things that are too simple for robots to do. For example, guide pieces of the car from one robot to another.
Painting a car is a complicated feat of advanced chemistry and engineering. A paint shop in a factory must be completely sterile and decontaminated, as even a tiny speck of dust can completely ruin a paint job. Car shells first undergo a series of chemical washes and dips to prepare the surface for paint. In a process called electro deposition, the car shell is dipped into a tub of electrically charged paint, and the paint particles bind themselves to the car surface. Then, the car goes through a series of painting and baking to solidify the color. Each new car will actually spend almost 1/3 of its early life just in the paint shop.
Today, more and more car manufacturers are more concerned with their impact on the environment, and have subsequently introduced new manufacturing methods to reduce both the emissions from their factories, and from the cars themselves. According to the EPA, emissions from factories and automobiles in the United States today are less than half of what they were in 1970. Mitsubishi is also one of the leaders in greener car production
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WAGES
For factories that employ a large amount of people, wages can be a big part of what the factory spends. Car manufactures in the United States pay their workers and average of 58,000 AUD a year. Say that there are 1,000 people working in a car plant, that will result in yearly wages of 58,000,000 AUD. In countries in South West Asia, companies can pay people less than five dollars an hour to work for them, instead of the 20 to 30 in America. This is why many companies are stopping production in countries in the West and moving them to other places. An example of this is Holden, who in 2017 stopped making cars in Australia.
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