irishcar.com - Opel's new plant at Russelsheim

Opel’s new production facility in Rüsselsheim for the new Vectra sets new standards in terms of productivity, quality and flexibility. It represents a 750 million euros investment, will produce 270,000 cars a year, and has meant the biggest employee training programme in Opel’s history.

The facility was opened by German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder, and company chairman and managing director Carl Peter Forster said it ‘sets the standards for the entire automobile industry’.

The skilled, highly experienced workforce is a key factor for the Rüsselsheim site. Every employee in the plant – there are currently over 7000 – has taken part in an intensive training course.

Along the lines of the "zero fault principle", the Opel teams first learned to avoid faults in production and secondly not to pass any on down the line or to accept any. To accompany this, optimum ergonomic design of the individual production areas was absolutely essential for creating the ideal working environment that is needed to adhere to this principle.

The job of the special start-up teams from Opel's International Technical Development Center (ITDC) was to ensure that series production could go ahead smoothly. One of the methods used for this is the so-called "bucket build" concept, the basic principle of which is a staggered pre-production phase in the newly installed facilities, each with periodical optimization cycles.

The advantage of this procedure is that it allows for continuous, step-by-step optimization with verifiable product readiness. Another strength of the "bucket build" concept is that the specialists from development and production work together closely, which means that the project can progress swiftly from both angles. Opel's engineers have already had good experience with this concept during the start-ups for the Zafira, Agila and Corsa, so it was only logical that they should adopt this proven process for the new Vectra, too.

A number of measures were taken to guarantee high product quality from the start. For implementing the zero-fault principle, Andon systems (Andon = light signal) are installed at every station to help prevent defective parts being produced, received or passed on down the line.

In addition, two cords are positioned at each work station – the so-called "Andon cords". If an employee pulls the yellow cord, a light and an acoustic signal are triggered, requesting help from other members of the team. Pulling the red cord stops the assembly line until the problem has been solved. In addition, specific quality controls are integrated into the production line. For example, around 150 robot-controlled laser measurements ensure dimensional accuracy of the body shell. Besides this, ultrasonic tests ensure maximum weld quality in the production cells.

The "Standardized Inspection Process" (SIP) functions in the same way as the Andon system and monitors the quality at the end of each production stage – for example, in the stamping and body shops or any one of the final assembly areas. A complete check list with all the necessary quality criteria ensures that a part can only move on to the next stage if it achieves perfect results. Finally, computer simulations have made an important contribution towards optimizing processes and designing them ergonomically.

For the design and planning of the new plant in Rüsselsheim, Opel's production specialists at the ITDC relied more extensively on 3D layouts and innovative simulation tools than ever before. It is a field in which Opel has already amassed a great deal of expertise, achieving considerable recognition throughout the industry. The three-dimensional computer animations make it possible to depict reality to a level of nearly 100 percent. The deployment of such new technologies has led to previously unattained levels of reliability in the planning of the new plant and in the preparations for production start-up.

Such systems have made it possible, for example, to simulate for the first time the highly complex final assembly area. Other sections that can also be simulated completely by computer models are the assembly and the body shop. In addition, the simulation experts at the ITDC in Rüsselsheim, were involved with tool design in the stamping shop, the logistics concept and workplace ergonomics.

The body shop, with an area of more than 54,000 square meters, started up at the same time as the assembly area. 600 robots have been programmed for welding, bonding and handling operations to ensure consistently high quality. Several operations will be performed by laser welding. One main characteristic of the particularly compact production process is its high flexibility, with up to four different models running largely on one combined line. All the add-on parts like the hoods and doors are made in production cells in the immediate vicinity of their assembly position on the main line. This avoids long transport distances and warehousing and also allows fast feedback on matters of quality. The compact structure of this manufacturing unit also guarantees a high level of availability. Another bonus is that the pilot production for new models can be carried out on the original equipment.

The ground plan of the assembly building with a total area of 48,000 square meters is shaped like half a star. This form has particular advantages over conventional arrangements: it provides a good overall view of the entire production area, the distances are short and communications effective. Apart from this, 70 truck docking stations can be positioned in such a way that materials can be supplied directly to the relevant assembly point. The production line follows its path through four fingers of the star, and in the fifth, the door and cockpit modules are prepared and then integrated into the production flow. Each of these fingers forms a separate strand with its own buffer zone. Through this decoupled arrangement, any line stoppage at a work station (175 in all, in addition to inspection points and test stands) does not immediately affect the entire process.

Another advantage is that different models can be assembled on the same production line. Materials and components are prepared on the basis of a precisely planned production sequence in a so-called Business Mall and supplied from there. This makes warehousing and complicated preassembly processes almost superfluous. At the heart of the star is the so-called nerve center with information boards and meeting rooms. Nearby rest areas for the employees and offices are positioned on the eastern side of the building in a three-storey wing with a total area of some 3000 square meters.

The "Business Mall" is on the north-western side of the site. It is operated by a single service provider, who supplies the assembly shop with modules in precisely the right sequence. These modules are assembled from parts delivered by different suppliers. The modules are taken by truck directly to the appropriate docking stations of the assembly shop. These are located in the direct vicinity of the assembly points on the production line, where 73 components and subassemblies are taken immediately from the trucks and assembled.
Some 50 percent of the materials needed for the assembly pass through this Business Mall. Ten components and modules come directly from suppliers to the docking stations on the assembly lines.