MAN Truck & Bus has put its new assembly line for axle production at its Salzgitter plant into operation. From 2018 onward, it will see non-driven MAN- and Scania-branded axles roll of the line next to each other. This is a joint large-scale MAN and Scania project in the field of production.
MAN Truck & Bus has put its new assembly line for axle production at its Salzgitter plant into operation. From 2018 onward, it will see non-driven MAN and Scania axles roll off the line next to each other. This is a joint large-scale MAN and Scania project in the field of production.
Plant manager Thomas Rennemann is delighted: “The new direction that the MAN Salzgitter site is taking within the context of our PACE2017 program for the future is continuing to take shape through this. We have invested €30 million in a new, state-of-the-art assembly line. Around 200 new jobs are set to be created in connection with this, which is good news for Salzgitter and the region. Our plant plays a key role in Volkswagen’s commercial vehicle holding group Volkswagen Truck & Bus.
Chairman of the Works Council Hilmar Pawel adds: “We are pleased that we finally have a unique selling point within the Group and we will do everything to keep axle production future-proof.”
Workforce and Management joined in celebrations to mark the ramp-up of the new axle assembly line and 30 years of axle assembly in Salzgitter.
30 years of axle assembly in Salzgitter – Milestones
Summer 1986: Assembly of the first axle in Salzgitter
- The new assembly line in Salzgitter was primarily taken over 1:1 from Braunschweig for cost reasons
- Production of around 100 front axles in the early shift alone on the front axle line
- First paint robot in axle assembly
- Type label printer the first “computer”
- Production of the LT-40 axles (front and rear axles) for Volkswagen (extended workbench) right up to the 1990s
- Approximately 90 workers employed in axle production
- Exclusive assembly of drum brakes (brake pads with asbestos, loud impact wrenches, solvent-based paint
Around the turn of the century:
- Setup of A1 and A2 lines
- Up to three shifts
- Production of MAN hydrodrive axles since 2006
- Over 100,000 axles for the first time in 2006
2008 through 2009
- Restructuring of axle assembly | Dismantling of the old A3 line and setup of the current A0 and A3 lines
- Material made available pre-commissioned on the line thanks to a driverless transportation system
- Annual capacity of 141,000 axles in two shifts
2012 and 2013
- Awarded the “MNPS-Award Achse” for the flow of materials
- Axle the beacon area for “end-to-end business health management”
Still to come
- The A5 line, which will make the cooperation with Scania visible
- Around 200 new jobs are set to be created in order to provide the Volkswagen Truck & Bus Group with non-driven axles
- Investments in the region of €30 million
- 940 axles to be assembled per day in two shifts in the future
- New technologies in the field of painting to be used for the first time at MAN (CO2 washer, dry filter for paint residues)
- 16 robots to ensure correct corrosion protection in the future
- 76 driverless transportation vehicles are to be used for assembly and logistics tasks