Wong Ju Ming
05-04-2010, 10:01
Audi invests an additional €45 million in toolmaking
Launch of a synchronized production system at Audi Toolmaking
“Our aim is to have the best toolmaking division in the world. To that end, we are continuously optimizing the toolmaking process workflows,” says Audi production chief Frank Dreves.
The Toolmaking Division of AUDI AG is today celebrating the opening of an extension building and with it the introduction of a synchronized production system. The new system ensures that all work steps are now perfectly coordinated for an even leaner and more efficient production process. “To prepare our Toolmaking Division for the future, we have made additional investments of more than €45 million at the Ingolstadt site,” says Frank Dreves, Member of the Board of Management for Production at AUDI AG. “This will enable us to complete significantly more vehicle projects than would have been possible before – an important prerequisite for the implementation of our model initiative,” emphasizes Dreves.
“Investing in modern buildings and machinery, in new, environmentally friendly products, and promoting members of the workforce through qualification and training measures represent investments in secure jobs and in the future of Audi,” stresses Peter Mosch, Chairman of the General Works Council of AUDI AG.
Audi Toolmaking plays a key role in the company’s value-added chain. It is largely responsible for the high quality of the panels making up the outer skin and thus of the bodies. In this way it ensures that the sophisticated designs of Audi designers are translated with uncompromising precision into production vehicles. Each tool built is unique.
Audi Toolmaking in Ingolstadt has also reorganized its workflows with the opening of the extension building. The synchronized production system, which is controlled and monitored by newly developed software, makes the material flow more transparent, faster and more stringent. Principles similar to those used in the classical production areas apply, but are of course adapted to the specific requirements of toolmaking.
The extension building is immediately adjacent to the existing toolmaking shop at the Ingolstadt plant. The entire building complex covers an area of more than 35,000 m2 (376,737 sq ft) – the size of five soccer fields. The new building has a total floor area of 10,230 m2 (110,115 sq ft), broken down into roughly 1,150 m2 (12,379 sq ft) of office space on each of four floors and 5,630 m2 (60,600 sq ft) of shop space, including social areas. There are also technical centers with an additional 1,200 m2 (12,917 sq ft) of floor area.
The new workshop is home to Plant and Equipment Construction, in which important parts of the body shop plants are developed and built. Immediately adjacent to this is a learning station for mechatronics trainees. Also located here are the Laser Team, which cuts the required shapes from the metal blanks, and a storage area for the raw castings.
Among the technical highlights of the extension building is an automatic storage facility for tailored blanks, which offers space for 500 metric tons of material in a high-bay warehouse. Two new gantry cranes that run 35 meters (115 ft) along the roof can carry loads of up to 50 metric tons.
The Ingolstadt toolmaking expansion project was completed in three construction phases. Groundbreaking took place in September 2008, and employees moved into the new space at the end of last year. A total of 630 metric tons of steel, 6,100 m3 (215,419 cu ft) of concrete and 810 metric tons of reinforcing steel went into the project.
Audi Toolmaking enjoys an excellent reputation within the industry and plays a leading role, as numerous awards and prizes attest. Roughly 900 people are employed in toolmaking at the Ingolstadt plant alone, with roughly 1,700 employed in toolmaking throughout the company.
Audi Toolmaking is best known for its innovative power. Among the most recent developments are particularly lightweight items of equipment for the body shop in which large components are made of carbon fiber composites. Their low weight drastically reduces electricity consumption – by more than 40 percent.
Another novel technology used at Audi Toolmaking is shaping tools with highly sensitive sensors that detect possible deviations from the ideal when shaping panels. The “intelligent tools” of the future, which are already at the prototype stage at Audi, will even be self-regulating in the interest of maximum precision.
Audi Club (Singapore) Exclusive Content
Launch of a synchronized production system at Audi Toolmaking
“Our aim is to have the best toolmaking division in the world. To that end, we are continuously optimizing the toolmaking process workflows,” says Audi production chief Frank Dreves.
The Toolmaking Division of AUDI AG is today celebrating the opening of an extension building and with it the introduction of a synchronized production system. The new system ensures that all work steps are now perfectly coordinated for an even leaner and more efficient production process. “To prepare our Toolmaking Division for the future, we have made additional investments of more than €45 million at the Ingolstadt site,” says Frank Dreves, Member of the Board of Management for Production at AUDI AG. “This will enable us to complete significantly more vehicle projects than would have been possible before – an important prerequisite for the implementation of our model initiative,” emphasizes Dreves.
“Investing in modern buildings and machinery, in new, environmentally friendly products, and promoting members of the workforce through qualification and training measures represent investments in secure jobs and in the future of Audi,” stresses Peter Mosch, Chairman of the General Works Council of AUDI AG.
Audi Toolmaking plays a key role in the company’s value-added chain. It is largely responsible for the high quality of the panels making up the outer skin and thus of the bodies. In this way it ensures that the sophisticated designs of Audi designers are translated with uncompromising precision into production vehicles. Each tool built is unique.
Audi Toolmaking in Ingolstadt has also reorganized its workflows with the opening of the extension building. The synchronized production system, which is controlled and monitored by newly developed software, makes the material flow more transparent, faster and more stringent. Principles similar to those used in the classical production areas apply, but are of course adapted to the specific requirements of toolmaking.
The extension building is immediately adjacent to the existing toolmaking shop at the Ingolstadt plant. The entire building complex covers an area of more than 35,000 m2 (376,737 sq ft) – the size of five soccer fields. The new building has a total floor area of 10,230 m2 (110,115 sq ft), broken down into roughly 1,150 m2 (12,379 sq ft) of office space on each of four floors and 5,630 m2 (60,600 sq ft) of shop space, including social areas. There are also technical centers with an additional 1,200 m2 (12,917 sq ft) of floor area.
The new workshop is home to Plant and Equipment Construction, in which important parts of the body shop plants are developed and built. Immediately adjacent to this is a learning station for mechatronics trainees. Also located here are the Laser Team, which cuts the required shapes from the metal blanks, and a storage area for the raw castings.
Among the technical highlights of the extension building is an automatic storage facility for tailored blanks, which offers space for 500 metric tons of material in a high-bay warehouse. Two new gantry cranes that run 35 meters (115 ft) along the roof can carry loads of up to 50 metric tons.
The Ingolstadt toolmaking expansion project was completed in three construction phases. Groundbreaking took place in September 2008, and employees moved into the new space at the end of last year. A total of 630 metric tons of steel, 6,100 m3 (215,419 cu ft) of concrete and 810 metric tons of reinforcing steel went into the project.
Audi Toolmaking enjoys an excellent reputation within the industry and plays a leading role, as numerous awards and prizes attest. Roughly 900 people are employed in toolmaking at the Ingolstadt plant alone, with roughly 1,700 employed in toolmaking throughout the company.
Audi Toolmaking is best known for its innovative power. Among the most recent developments are particularly lightweight items of equipment for the body shop in which large components are made of carbon fiber composites. Their low weight drastically reduces electricity consumption – by more than 40 percent.
Another novel technology used at Audi Toolmaking is shaping tools with highly sensitive sensors that detect possible deviations from the ideal when shaping panels. The “intelligent tools” of the future, which are already at the prototype stage at Audi, will even be self-regulating in the interest of maximum precision.
Audi Club (Singapore) Exclusive Content