Wednesday, July 08, 2009
By Benoit Montreuil, President 2008-2009, College Industry Council on Material Handling Education
I invite you to watch a YouTube video on the Volkswagen Transparent factory operating in Dresden, Germany. It is a very powerful and inspiring example of the power of integrating values, vision, passion and action. The case is introduced here not as a promotion for Volkswagen (VW), but for its relevance to facility design and material handling within academia and industry.
Values
Values are at the core of this factory and examples abound throughout the video. First, it is built around a client-centric approach, allowing customers to transparently see their cars being built, their walk-through having been considered at the factory design stage.
Second, the builders wanted to make working in this factory a great experience, from the sharply dressed employees, to immaculate wood floorings, open glassed areas and ergonomic operations.
Third, the factory is built downtown, yet instead of being a nuisance for the community, it is becoming a point of pride in the city with its nice architecture, its worldwide attraction, and the fact that its inbound and outbound flows are quiet, smooth and efficient.
Fourth, the factory demonstrates applications of German engineering values such as high precision and integration of automation with human craftsmanship. Yet the adherence to values is not achieved at the expense of value. Assembling its latest high-class Phaeton vehicle, the factory is an emblem of its strength. It helps VW generate revenues while it also helps them contain costs through its leading-edge assembly, handling technologies and processes.
As VW puts it on the www.glaesernemanufaktur.de site, Die Glasërne Manufaktur makes the fascination of automotive production visible to the outside world, initiating a unique exchange between man, technology and the environment - perfectly thought out down to the last detail and impeccable in form and function.
Vision
Giving shape to the values expressed above, the factory itself is the result of a bold visioning process, which is remarkable both by its departure from conventional wisdom and its wide reaching scope. The web site and the video again provide numerous examples.
From an architecture perspective, the slick combination of glass and maple wood floors are symbolic for their valued transparency and authenticity. The combination of architecture and industrial engineering is such that everything has a clearly defined path, being open, pure and visible.
Enabled by Material Handling & Logistics
Material handling and logistics is at the core of the VW Dresden factory vision. The assembly line is conceived as a set of 29 interlinked “fish scales.” The vehicles are transported along the line using an adjustable rotating elevating platform, together with component baskets. The baskets are filled with all components required for a specific vehicle at the logistics center. Each basket is transported through the factory automatically by a driverless transport system guided through over 60,000 magnets hidden beneath the parquet floor. Prefabricated parts are transported to the downtown factory using a cargo tram along the existing city tram tracks. Each tram has a 60-ton capacity and can be loaded from any side. The tram concept combines efficiency with environmental and social friendliness. Finally, finished cars awaiting delivery are stored in an innovative automated storage silo.
Passion
The factory fuels passion. Passion for the top-line car technology. Passion for client centricity. Passion for beauty, culture and transparency. Passion for engineering and assembly precision, indeed passion for perfection. This passion is reflected in every facet of the factory, but mainly in its employees: managers, engineers, assemblers and logistic operators. Such passion is necessary for vision to become reality and to have it meet its values expectations.
Action
Values, vision and passion are great pillars. Yet without a commitment to action, it would still be just a great dream. Factory construction started in 1999, requiring an investment of 185 million Euros. Production started in the end of 2001 and the factory has been opened to the public since 2002.
Outstanding was their attention to details and impeccable implementation. Yet action started way before factory implementation. Remarkable was their engagement with researchers at the University of Dresden for conceiving the material handling system used on the fish scale production line.
In times of economic challenges, it is easy to fall in the strictly-cost-minimizing trap. The best companies are using such times to reassess, reposition and reinvent themselves, getting ready for the next economic upturn. We live in a world where our old paradigms fall apart. Everything is getting more global and digital. Competition and collaboration are reinvented to draw a new competitive environment. Turbulence, with its mix of speed, volatility and unpredictability, is becoming a way of life. Clients and employees are looking for rewarding experiences.
Reinventing itself as a company, a factory or a distribution center in such a setting is a demanding task, way beyond the mere technical sphere. By using the Dresden Transparent Factory case, I hope to have conveyed how values, vision, passion and action interplay to enable such transformations. I also hope to have made clear that facilities design and material handling and logistics can be at the core of such great endeavors.
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