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Report - - Ford Transit Van Factory, Southampton (December 2014) | Industrial Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Ford Transit Van Factory, Southampton (December 2014)

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Exploring with Andy

Behind Closed Doors
Staff member
Moderator
The history of the site at Swaythling on the outskirts of Southampton dates back to 1939 when Cunliffe-Owen built a factory to assemble aircraft parts. The site manufactured parts for the Spitfire during the war and was bombed many times.

The factory was sold to Briggs Motor Bodies after the war when Cunliffe-Owen was placed in receivership in 1947. Briggs supplied vehicle bodies to the Ford Motor Company. Ford bought the company and hence acquired the factory which now specialised in producing truck bodies to be used with the chassis that were produced at their Slough plant.

From 1965 Ford started to produce the Transit Van in Britain. Bodies were manufactured at Swaythling and transported by road to the Slough plant. In 1972 Ford invested £5 million in the Swaythling plant to enable it to produce the entire Transit Van at a single site. The site employed 4,500 workers during that time until the mid-1980’s.

The site was very compact, being enclosed by the M27 motorway, a railway line, a graveyard and Southampton Airport. This meant expansion was impossible, so parts of the site are built on a vertical axis to maximise the use of space. The paint-shop expands upwards to a height of six stories, rather than the traditional horizontal layout.

In 2002 ford ceased production of passenger vehicles in the UK, and in 2011 announced that production of the Transit Van would shift to Turkey with the exception of the short and medium wheelbase, and Tourneo minibus versions – production of these variants was ramped up at the Swaythling site. As parts of a larger cutback of their European production capacity Ford announced in 2012 that production in the UK would come to an end the following year. The Southampton site produced its final Transit Van in July 2013.

1. A robotic workforce
ford-transit-factory-4.jpg


2. Robots
ford-transit-factory-3.jpg


3. Workspace above production line
ford-transit-factory-2.jpg


4. View along the production line
ford-transit-factory-1.jpg


5. Robots by the side of the production line
ford-transit-factory-6.jpg


6. A lone Kuka robot
ford-transit-factory-5.jpg


7. Futuristic spaces
ford-transit-factory-8.jpg


8. Colourful work areas
ford-transit-factory-7.jpg



9. Part of the transportation system
ford-transit-factory-9.jpg


10. Grease bay
ford-transit-factory-10.jpg


11. Grease bay control station
ford-transit-factory-11.jpg


12. Guages
ford-transit-factory-15.jpg


13. A trio of robots
ford-transit-factory-17.jpg


14. Robot fitted with welding gear
ford-transit-factory-16.jpg


15. More robots
ford-transit-factory-20.jpg


16. Conveyors
ford-transit-factory-18.jpg


17. Bodywork production area
ford-transit-factory-13.jpg


18. Conveyor in bodywork area
ford-transit-factory-19.jpg


19. Army of robots
ford-transit-factory-21.jpg


20. Offices
ford-transit-factory-12.jpg


21. Canteen
ford-transit-factory-14.jpg
 

FreshFingers

Choose life, choose tunnels
Regular User
I've been staying at the Premier just around the corner from this. Thinking to myself "I must stop and look" Turns out the mid-demo'd site is this. Late to the party as ever!
 

purplesmudger

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Great site- I like your pictures :thumb! The factory looks like the machines are just turned off for the night- I'm always pleasantly surprised when there's this much metal left- it goes quickly round these parts!
 

Springypeach

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Anyone know if this place is still accessible? Really nice looking pictures, looks super futuristic!
 

Springypeach

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Think it was all still there in July so going to try and have a mooch around and do my first report on it, if she's still standing obviously :)
 

FreshFingers

Choose life, choose tunnels
Regular User
Theres still a lot to have a poke at. It looks like the main factory is pretty much gone, but there are many surrounding buildings. Staying at the hotel just up the road, so been watching it as i pass by during the week.
 

Exploring with Andy

Behind Closed Doors
Staff member
Moderator
Reminds me on the old Genk plant in Belgium, some things look the same.

I never made it to the Genk plant before it got stripped out, so we were just interested in the old power house by the time of our visit. I should imagine the assembly plant would be pretty similar to Southampton - post up a report, I wouldn't mind having a look.
 

Calamity Jane

i see beauty in the unloved, places & things
Regular User
Pretty spectacular photos there. Looks like you should do this for a living, those shots are impressive and could promote any business. Nice report. :cool:
 
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