GENERAL NEWS
Press shop expansion for Volkswagen
Volkswagen has now officially inaugurated the press shop expansion at its electric car plant in Zwickau , Germany . As of now , the complete outer skin for the six electric models produced in Zwickau will be pressed on-site . The € 74 million investment will enable further gains to be made in reducing the carbon footprint of the ID . 31 and ID . 42 vehicles .
“ The effect is remarkable : more than 9,000 fewer direct truck journeys each year from now on for body manufacturing and annual savings of 5,800 tonnes of CO 2
. This will create 60 new jobs in the factory ,” explained Volkwagen .
The official opening recently was attended by Minister President of Saxony , Michael Kretschmer , in the company of Christian Vollmer ( member of the Board of Management with responsibility for production and logistics for the Volkswagen brand ); Dr . Stefan Loth ( Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Saxony ) and Jens Rothe ( Chairman of Volkswagen Saxony ’ s Central Works Council ).
“ The goal is to achieve carbon-neutral production at all MEB locations in Europe , as is already the case at the Zwickau plant . Zwickau is the pioneer and role model in this respect . The new press shop is an important milestone on our ‘ Way To Zero ’ journey , through which we are aiming to reduce the environmental impact of our production by 2025 - in areas such as energy usage , CO 2 emissions , waste and the use of water – by 45 % per vehicle compared with the baseline year 2010 . 90 % of all Volkswagen Passenger Cars locations purchase electricity from renewable sources . With our ‘ Zero Impact Factory ’ environmental programme , production-related emissions are being reduced consistently at all factories , as well as in logistics ,” commented Christian Vollmer during the ceremony :
The € 74 million invested in expanding the press shop represents one of the largest single investments in the course of transforming the site . In addition to a press in XL format , an automatic stacking line and a 30m high bay warehouse for logistics have been put into operation on the extra 8,400 square metres of space . The high bay warehouse alone cost € 23 million .
From now on , all required outer skin body parts , such as doors and boot lids , can be pressed on-site for the electric models produced in Zwickau . Delivery from other locations , such as Emden and Wolfsburg , will cease . More than 9,000 truck journeys will be avoided each year and CO 2 emissions reduced by 5,800 tonnes – this corresponds to a share of 16 % of the direct truck volume for body manufacturing at the Zwickau plant . The new XL press from Schuler weighs more than 1,000 tonnes , with a press force
The first new outer skin parts for the ID . Vehicles from the new large press at the Zwickau vehicle plant .
Volkswagen ’ s production director , Dr . Christian Vollmer ( right ) explains the importance of the new press at the Zwickau vehicle plant to Saxony ’ s Minister President , Michael Kretschmer ( centre ).
of 6,900 tonnes across five stages . With 10,800 press strokes per day , the 92 metre long , 22 metre wide and 12 metre high press offers high speed and efficiency . It is the first time that a press with a mix of conventional and servo technology has been used in the Volkswagen Group . After its parent plant in Wolfsburg , the Zwickau facility now has the second-largest press shop within the Volkswagen brand . Around 20 million parts per year have been produced on average in West Saxony in the past ten years . With the new XL press , this figure is set to increase to up to 30 million parts per year by the beginning of 2022 , some of which will continue to be supplied to other Group sites . Transformation of the site will be completed in 2021 .
Zwickau is playing a key role in the system change in the direction of electric mobility : the large car factory is being completely re-equipped for electric mobility with an investment of some € 1.2 billion . All conversions will be completed on schedule this year . In addition , both production lines in assembly were converted . Zwickau has around 1,700 robots in body manufacturing and assembly , driverless transport systems and fully automated production processes .
The ‘ Way To Zero ’ is the brand ’ s master plan for emission-free mobility for everyone . The journey began in 2020 with the market entry of the ID . 3 . Meanwhile , the global rollout of the world car on the MEB platform will focus this year on the ID . 4 . Over the coming years , Volkswagen will offer emission-free mobility in all segments with the ID . family . The brand plans to build at least 1.5 million e-cars annually by 2025 and reduce their carbon footprint by 30 %. The goal is to be fully carbon neutral by 2050 – in terms of both products and the company . n
ISMR June 2021 | sheetmetalplus . com | 7