“Digital, Flexible, Green”—Latest Production Technologies Integrated at “Factory 56” with Main Focus on People
Mercedes-Benz Cars presents its “Factory 56” as a modern car production site.
“Our ‘Factory 56’ will define a new way of building cars. With its ‘Factory 56’, Mercedes-Benz Cars is creating the car plant of the future. It combines three trend-setting features: It is consistently digital and flexible, and it brings the term ‘green production’ to life.
“As the inventor of the car, we are reinventing production,” said Markus Schäfer, Member of the Divisional Board of Mercedes-Benz Cars, Production and Supply Chain.
In 2020, the “Factory 56” is expected to already produce upper-and-luxury class cars and electric vehicles at the brand‘s Sindelfingen plant. Passenger cars, electric vehicles of the upper-and-luxury class and robo-taxis will be produced.
Modular building structures are characteristic for the “Factory 56”, with a design that is both energy-efficient and green, and environmentally friendly. The assembly uses renewable energies and reduces CO2 production, water consumption and waste significantly.
On the roof of “Factory 56″ there is a photovoltaic system which feeds green electricity into the productions supply. This leads to a reduction of yearly 5,000 MWh of electricity.
An electric vehicle of the product and technology brand EQ like the electric SUV EQC could be charged 72,000 times a year with this. That corresponds to around 36 million kilometres mileage a year. CO2 emissions at the “Factory 56” will be reduced by 75% compared to today’s S-Class production in Sindelfingen.
The human is at the centre of all activities in the “Factory 56”. The employees work at ergonomically optimised workstations and are optimally supported in their tasks by digital tools. The focus is on the use of intelligent, flexible technology. A new work organisation provides for flexible and modern working time models. The break areas are designed according to the latest standards.
The production concept of the “Factory 56” is setting new standards. This includes man-machine-cooperations and digitally supported processes including work organisation as well as logistics and quality assurance. The plant is not only digitised consistently according to Industry 4.0, but it is also connected to other productions in the global production network.
The 360 degree linkage along the whole value chain is an essential feature—from the suppliers, through to the development department, design and production and to customers.
In the future, the finished vehicles will drive off the line automatically to the loading station. Under “Digital Anticipation” in the Mercedes me App and online, customers purchasing new vehicles can gain exclusive insights into the production of their vehicles and have a much more enjoyable wait for delivery.
Artificial Intelligence, Big Data analyses and Predictive Maintenance guarantee high transparency and support in production planning, control and also in quality assurance. Through the analysis of existing production data, predictions on potential faults or due maintenance work can be made in advance.
