Smartville Hambach
Smartville Hambach is an automobile factory in Hambach (Moselle) . The smart fortwo and smart fortwo electric drive models are produced in the plant. The factory premises have an area of 695,000 m², the built-up area is 137,647 m². In 2017, over 800 employees produced over 80,000 vehicles.
In mid-2020, Daimler AG put the plant up for sale.
history
The plant opened in 1997; the first smart fortwo was produced in 1998. In 2000, the smart fortwo cabrio was launched . In 2003 the 500,000 ran. smart fortwo off the assembly line.
The second generation of the smart fortwo was built from 2007 (with engines from the cooperation with Mitsubishi), in 2008 the total production of the smart fortwo reached one million vehicles. Production of the smart fortwo electric drive began in 2009. In 2011 the 500,000. second generation smart fortwo was produced; on July 17, 2013 there were a total of 1.5 million vehicles produced.
The third generation vehicles, which will be built from June 6, 2014, are a result of the collaboration with Renault (Renault engines have been used since then).
The factory was built for 450 million euros and started production in 1997. In order to enable optimal production processes, the plant is laid out in a cross shape; Different assembly work is carried out in each of the four branches. The center, the so-called marketplace , serves as a test room for finished vehicles and for rework. The center is multi-story; In this way, all administration, IT and changing rooms as well as the canteen could be realized at a central location. When building Smartville, the Daimler-Benz group bore 75% of the costs, while SOFIREM, a French company for the restructuring of mining regions, took over 25%.
The decision in favor of the Hambach location and against the alternative location in Lahr / Black Forest was made for several reasons. Lorraine in general and the region around Hambach in particular used to be characterized by heavy industry. With their decline, a considerable part of the population became unemployed. The EU fund for structurally weak regions and the French government therefore made funds available for an industrial settlement in Hambach that would not have flowed into Lahr. The high unemployment offered the advantage of a high workforce when relocating. The proximity to the motorway would also have been available in Lahr. The decisive factors were probably the large reserves of land and the lower wage level in Lorraine. Bills showed that a Smart in Hambach could be produced up to 75 euros cheaper per vehicle than in Lahr.
In the automotive sector, Smart is the company with the least vertical integration . It is only 10%, with most other manufacturers it is often 20–40%. This means that 90% of the production steps up to the finished vehicle are carried out by suppliers.
In order to perfect this concept, most of the suppliers have established their own production facilities around the Smart factory in Hambach. The body manufacturer Magna International produces the chassis from parts that are delivered from the Mercedes-Benz plant in Sindelfingen . SAS Autosystemtechnik produces the entire cockpit, the cable harnesses and the batteries. ThyssenKrupp Automotive supplies the complete drive unit (with the so-called Suprex motors of the first generation). The tire sets are delivered by Continental . This delivery of entire modules is also called modular sourcing . The buildings for the suppliers were erected and provided by the Smart company in order to make it easier for the suppliers to set up a plant on site.
Smart production is carried out without any warehousing, all parts are delivered just in time and even just in sequence , which means that all suppliers have access to the individual order data for each vehicle and that they deliver the parts in exactly the same order as they are are required in the smart factory. Since Smart only produces vehicles to order, the finished vehicles are only stored for a few days before they are delivered to the respective Smart Center via the company's own train station. After the vehicles are finished, their functionality is put to the test in several tests, for example an engine test, a seal test and on a vibrating track. Any problems during production are solved by 50 salaried maintenance specialists. The close proximity of the suppliers also enables the maintenance of delivered parts by the respective external companies.
Work is carried out in two shifts, with a vehicle having a throughput time of 8 ½ hours. The final assembly takes 4 ½ hours. The production capacity is around 750 units per day. In order to keep the motivation of the workers at a high level, eight of them are organized in teams. These teams have a relatively flat hierarchy . Production is halted for a quarter of an hour each week to allow the teams to reflect. In addition, all employees have the opportunity to use the “Eureka” participation system to submit suggestions for improvements to the production process and in general. The best ideas are awarded a bonus. The cleanliness of the respective sections of the individual teams is also recorded and awarded.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Daimler AG: Mercedes-Benz Cars at a Glance Edition 2018. Accessed on July 19, 2018 .
- ↑ FAZ.net
- ↑ smart plant Hambach (smart France SAS) ( memento from January 21, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ), accessed on October 21, 2012.
- ↑ smart: smartville. Retrieved October 29, 2017 (German).
Coordinates: 49 ° 2 ′ 57.6 ″ N , 7 ° 2 ′ 30.5 ″ E