“Factory 56” is becoming into the world’s most modern car production facility, defining a new way of manufacturing cars. The car plant of the future combines three key features: it is digital, flexible and “green”.
The cornerstone has been laid in the presence of high-ranking representatives of the politics and business fields, in Sindelfingen. The “Factory 56” will start the production of upper and luxury class vehicles, but also of electric vehicles, in 2020. The portofolio will include the new generation S-Class and the environmental-friendly products of the EQ sub-brand.
The area of the factory is of 220,000m2, which is approximately about 30 football pitches. About 6,4000 tons of steel are used for the construction, almost as much as for the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
The trend-setting production concept includes man-machine-cooperation and digitally supported processes, such as work organization, logistics and quality assurance, the company being consistently digitized and also connected to other productions that are part of the global network.
State-of-the-art Industry 4.0 technologies are used across the facility center, including driverless transport systems (DTS), Innovative Radio Frequency Identification technologies (RFID), Artificial Intelligence and Predictive Maintenance, yet all keeping the focus on the human. The employees work stations are ergonomically optimized and supported by digital instruments. Part of a new work organization, employees benefit from flexible and modern working time models. Their break areas provide comfortable and relaxing time, being designed according to the latest standards.
The working space is integrated in modular building structures, meant to be energy-efficient and environmental-friendly, using renewable energies and reducing emissions, water consumption and waste. A photovoltaic system placed on the rooftop feeds green electricity into the production supply.
