Ford equips factory workers with exosuits

Ford has announced the rollout of EksoVest suits for employees in 15 of their factories globally.

The suits are designed to improve safety and reduce the chance of injury or fatigue to workers on assembly lines, especially those who work repetitive overhead tasks.

The suits, which cover the user’s upper body provides lift assistance for objects covering 2.3kg to almost 7kg per arm. Ford claims the suit will help factory employees "do their jobs with the least amount of wear and tear on their bodies possible."

Ford, in partnership with the suit’s developer, Ekso Bionics recently trialled the vests in its Michigan assembly plant over the past year. Ekso Bionics says its mission is to "augment human capability with wearable technology."

The suits have been deployed to factories in North America, with the technology currently being rolled out across Ford's Asia Pacific, European and South American operations.

Ford has also recently been trialling a motion-tracking technology in its Valencia assembly plant in Spain. 

That technology, which is normally used to analyse organic motion for CGI, video game development and elite athlete training, is being used to develop "less physically stressful workstations." 

Ford says that by analysing the movements of its assembly line workers it can fine-tune the space in which they work creates a 'huge benefit' and that, even on long days, enables them to be able to work comfortably.

Ford claims that due to advancements like these in its factories worldwide, the brand has been able to reduce incidents that resulted in lost time by 75 per cent since 2005.

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