Today we are at the LG home appliance factory in Clarksville, Tennessee.
The metal you see behind me is going to turn into a washing machine.
This is the first home appliance lighthouse factory in North America.
More on that later.
Let's get started.
[Intro]
The sheer size of this autonomous LG washing machine
factory here in the USA is mind-blowing.
This million square foot factory can manufacture 1.2
million washing machines each year, along with 600,000 dryers.
It all starts with these giant rolls of stainless steel,
each weighing about 8,000 pounds.
Once the rolls are loaded up onto a jumbo tape dispenser,
the sheets are cut into long rectangles,
which will eventually get turned into the washing machine drum.
After the metal is rolled out and stuck into the machine
with the robot arm, 400 tons of pressure is used to stamp it out.
One thing I noticed throughout this tour is that there are
a lot of robots doing all the heavy lifting and the
dangerous tasks, which is great.
I wouldn't want my fingers anywhere near the 400 tons worth
of stamping pressure that's used to add the texture and
drainage to the stainless steel sheets.
The added texture helps agitate the clothes to remove dirt
as the washing machine is spinning.
There are three presses that stamp the tub sequentially,
adding different features with each stamp.
After that, the rectangle sheet is transported by cute
little automated guided vehicles, or AGV robots.
These little guys are all over the factory, moving carts
around and getting inventory to the right places at the right times.
The AGVs use QR codes on the floor to navigate and follow
instructions, all while safety sensors and cameras on the
sides keep them from bumping into humans or other robots.
They can work non-stop until it comes time to recharge.
And it only makes sense that in an autonomous factory,
robots are the ones that are changing the batteries of the
robots so they can get back to work.
These little guys can carry 500 kilograms and the bigger ones upstairs can carry a thousand.
After getting triple stamped. The flat stainless steel drums are taken upstairs to a laser welding machine,
where they're rolled up into a circle.
These drums can't yet wash clothes all by themselves though.
We need a larger injection molded resin tub to give the stainless innards some structure.
And all that happens right here in the same building as well.
LG has rows upon rows of 1800 ton injection molding machines,
Each one of which is about the size of a bus.
The little tiny pellets of resin, which feel just as cool as you might expect,
are corkscrewed into the machine.
Tiny pellets are better able to heat up uniformly as
1800 tons worth of pressure is applied to the mold.
Within minutes, a perfect washing machine tub is formed.
It's then grabbed by yet another robot arm and taken to the
assembly line where it's joined with the stainless steel drum and
plopped down into the machine.
Then into a brand new washing machine housing.
The external body panels of the washing and drying machines are stamped here as well.
And while automation is a focal point, the factory isn't
entirely made up of robots.
LG has over 900 people working alongside the robots,
putting in motors, electronics, control panels, and doing the final testing.
Using AI, LG can predict washing machine performance
without having to run full cycles, reducing energy by 22%
and reducing defect rates by 61%.
Efficiency, automation, and artificial intelligence are
what gives the LG Clarksville factory its lighthouse status
from the World Economic Forum.
LG even uses AI cameras to make sure the stickers are
straight and everything is cosmetically lined up as it
should be before the washing machines are sent off to the final boxing.
Where once again we see giant robot arms handling all the
wrapping and stacking of the washers and dryers,
getting them ready for customers.
Washing machine and dryer technology have improved
dramatically in just the last few years.
The dryer I'm most excited about is called a ventless heat pump dryer.
The ventless design uses far less energy than vented to dry a standard load.
It's called the LG Wash Tower , A double stacked unit that saves on floor space,
with a center control panel in the middle that controls both units.
Not having the long silver flexible vent pipe allows it to be installed in far more places.
No ducting required.
LG uses some kind of condenser magic to help keep the moisture contained inside of the unit.
while still getting all the clothes optimally dry with AI.
And of course it has the very same drum that started
off as a roll of stainless steel at the beginning of this video.
The bottom half is a high efficiency washer,
which uses five variable jet sprays and steam to get the job done faster.
It was incredibly cool seeing LG take rolled up sheets of
metal and turn them into futuristic energy efficient home
appliances that we can use every day.
I'm excited to see where the future is headed and
congratulations to LG on their Lighthouse Factory Award.
And huge thanks to LG for letting us all come out and see the process.
If you're in the market for a new washer or dryer, I happen
to know where a million units a year are manufactured and
I'll leave a link for this one down in the video description.
Thanks a ton for watching and I'll see you around.