Production requirements for 35 GWh lithium-ion battery factory

Abstract

Electric car manufacturers need to develop their operations as demand increases. This has also boosted lithium-ion batteries becoming more common. In current situation, demand may still be met but when taking into account the future prospects of the battery industry, many new factories need to be built. That is why in 2017, the opportunities for building the battery factory were started to evaluate. The research assignment of thesis is to find out the amount of equipment needed in production and to design an optimal layout solution for the factory. These information are intended for use at the factory's 3D modeling project, of which the University of Vaasa is responsible as part of a larger project. In order to calculate the quantity of production equipment, it is necessary to first study the manufacturing process and the features of the lithium-ion battery (LIB) cells. The topic is extensively discussed but there are also limitations. The factory is fully automated, annual production capacity for the factory is 35 GWh, produced battery cells are cylindrical type and the research focuses on solutions inside the factory. As can be seen, the theoretical framework consists largely of topics that define the production process of lithium-ion battery cells; the history and prospects of battery production, the manufacturing process, the characteristics of industrial layout types, factory internal logistics as well as the fourth industrial revolution, which is described by the term Industry 4.0. The study of battery production revealed that manufacturing processes between different factories may differ from each other. By using the selected research method, decision-support system, the efficient manufacturing process was created and dimensioned for the LIB factory.