Fitting a roof of glass

A full-glass roof is a defining feature of the stunning new Jaguar XJ. The complex conveying and handling system required to position, insert and bond the panoramic roof to the aluminium body, was developed as the result of cooperation between the Jaguar Cars engineering team and Exmac Automation.

In order to deliver the 'turnkey' project, Exmac formed a partnership with Expert Tooling. The partners worked with the Jaguar team on a project for the roof insertion system and helped identify the best technological solution and location within the existing production facility.

To fit the glass roof, one of the elevators in the existing XJ overhead body delivery conveyor was modified to allow new model XJ bodies to be removed and lowered to ground floor level.

A robot-controlled panoramic roof insertion cell was installed to bring roof and car together - all without any disruption to