The Volvo 850 has mainly been manufactured in Gent (B). Actually, manufactured is the wrong word. Volvo Gent is an assembly plant.

Moulding
Small and large machines mould plates from HSS: for the body the outer sidepanels are one piece, doors, bonnet, boot lid, firewall, side members, front and rear part bottom floor pan, and the SIPS box, delta? transverse arms, exhaust silencers, engine supports and engine sub-frame are being moulded in Sweden (Olofstrom). In Torslanda the inner sidepanels, fenders, roof and bottomplate generate.

Robots
The pre-fab system saves half the shipments. In this way it takes less than 150 frame parts to assemble a Volvo 850. Before all these parts come together in the 14-km long weldingstreet, a thorough quality test is being done. Deviations of more than 0,05mm don’t pass the test. The welding is being done by 170 robots, which do 95% of the 2800 joints.

Body building
First the luggage compartment and the engine compartment are build, after which these two are being connected to the bottomplate together with the SIPS box. Aided by advanced measuring devices a margin of 0,3mm is allowed. On this base the inner sidepanels are being welded. At this stage it is being determined whether it is going to be a left or right-hand steered, four or five doors version. In the next stage the outer sidepanels are being placed. The fenders will be placed later. Next in line is the roof. After this setting (by 4 joints) the typical 850 body is brought to a separate room where the roof is being welded by 2000 degrees in 17 seconds per side. In this way an extremely strong part is created also contributing to the SIPS. The whole is being ingeniously checked on deviations by means of blacklight and laserbeams. The doors and fenders are mounted and various small corners are welded manually. 

Paint shop
After sanding and polishing the bonnet and hood are placed and the frame is ready to be sprayed.  Scouring is being realised by eightfold washing. Then the body is dipped into a bath of phosphate and a coating of zinc prevents it from rust. Infrared rays are doing drying. The grey coloured basic coating is cathodic. All joints are being closed-off and the nose receives an extra protective treatment while the bottomplate gets a polyester coating. Before the coatings are being cured in an oven, a second basic coating is applied. After sanding and an excessive check-up the Volvo 850 is ready for the actual top coatings. After applying 6 coatings the body again disappears into an oven to cure the paint. A white protective foil is applied immediately onto the horizontal vulnerable parts.

Engine production
The engines, in full operational state, are being shipped from Skovde to Gent. The manufacturers of seats, bumpers, fueltanks, plastic components etc are situated in the neighbourhood of Gent in order to guarantee a just in time delivery.

Preparing the marriage
During production the doors are being dismounted from the painted body and are taken to another part of the factory to set windows, electricity and upholstery.
The body is meanwhile being prepared for the marriage with the engine and the drive train. The electrical systems under the dashboard are installed as well as the gearshift. Also the frontpart is mounted as the sub-frame is being filled with the wheelhouse, brakes and radiator. Before this, the engine is connected to the specific gearbox and filled up with oil. The rearpart is also mounted. By installing the exhaust pipe, fueltank, catalyst and wires the front- and rearpart are connected. Now the under-frame is ready to marry the body. With a Volvo 850 this is completed in two steps, full automatically. In the first step the struts are brought in a vertical position after which the body is placed on the under-frame. The screw-robot connects the under-frame to the body with 29 screws. Now the Volvo 850 is ready for the final assembling. After setting the moonroof (if any) the windows are placed. Followed by the soundproofing and the carpet. The dashboard, console and lightunits are mounted. Under the bonnet all is connected and wired and the backseat and front-seats find their space. Now the wheels can be placed. Finally the doors and bumpers are installed.

First engine run
Now its time to start the 850: the 5-banger ruffles for the first time, however, the work is not completed yet. Not by a long shot!. According to quality standards the engine and gearbox should run continuously for 5 minutes. Also all the wiring is checked completely. The brakes are tested and the wheels are balanced. An obligatory cold shower checks if the 850 is waterproof. Now the Volvo 850 can be custom made by placing, for example, an original Volvo soundsystem. Ready to make the journey to the customer, if this Volvo is not picked to undergo a special quality audit on 2000 points. Nearly 2% of Volvo’s total production is checked in this manner. The outcome is directly communicated to the specific production line or supplier. In this way not only high quality stability but also continuous quality improvement is guaranteed. 

Awards and S70-V70
Besides Gent, the Volvo 850 is also assembled in Torslande, Halifax (Canada), Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. In the course of 1997 the Volvo 850 has been replaced by the Volvo 70 series. The latter has been improved on not less than 1800 points.
Most of the production remains to take place at the Volvo factory in Gent. They produce approx. 740 S/V 70 a day. Also as far as the quality is concerned there is no need to worry: Volvo Cars Europe Industry at Gent is the first non-Japanese factory to receive the keen desired TPM Special 1996 Award. An award for the Total Productive Maintenance granted by the Japanese Institute of Plant Maintenance