Case study: Automation strategies at volkswagen

In the global automotive industry, for decades, vehicle manufacturers have continually increased the level of automation of production systems in order to be competitive. However, there is a new trend. to decrease the level of automation, especially in final car assembly, for the reasons of flexibility and economy. With the increasingly competitive automotive market, corporations often must make a choice of a plant location for production of certain vehicle models. The plant location is linked to the level of automation as it has a direct impact on the quality and cost of a product, but also depends on the level of skills and the availability of labour resources in a particular region. In this case study, Volkswagen AG (VW) production sites in Germany and So nth Africa are analysed in order to obtain the best level of automation based on cost, productivity, quality and flexibility, for a particular plant location. The result of the analysis indicates that the highest level of automation is not necessarily the best in terms of cost and quality, and some de-automation is required. On the other hand, the analysis also shows that a low automation level is the main reason for poor product quality and low productivity. Hence, the best automation strategy is formulated on the basis of the analysis of all the aspects of the process in the local context, such as productivity, costs, quality and flexibility.