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Factory 56, the Mercedes-Benz Car Manufacturing Revolution

Officially, and in German, it is called Werk 56. And even if it sounds a bit like something Kurt Vonnegut would write, it is not. It is only a new assembly hall being built by Mercedes at the Sindelfingen complex.
Mercedes officials presenting the new Factory 56 plant 1 photo
Photo: Mercedes-Benz
Only a new assembly hall is probably an understatement. German company officials call it “the most modern car production” facility in the world. Starting 2020, it will begin rolling out upper- and luxury-class cars, as well as electric vehicles.

The new hall will occupy an area roughly the size of 30 football pitches. That’s 220,000 square meters (nearly two and a half million square feet), for those who don’t measure stuff in football pitches.

But it’s not the gargantuan size of the thing that made Mercedes’ day, but what will happen inside it. Upon laying the cornerstone, Mercedes-Benz officials promise to revolutionize car manufacturing just as its invention of the car transformed the modern world.

All this fancy talk is based on some smart technologies to be deployed in the new Sindelfingen facility. It will be manned by both humans and robots, working in man-machine-cooperations with digitally supported processes.

Driverless transport systems (DTS) will move things to and fro, while digital tracking of components and vehicles will ensure the right part goes in the right car. Overseeing it all will be an Artificial Intelligence.

Being designed to build electric vehicles as well, the new plant will have to put its money where its mouth is: enter a photovoltaic system powerful enough to fully charge the EQC 72,000 times a year (or nearly 200 times a day, if you like splitting hairs).

"Our ‘Factory 56’ will define a new way of building cars,”
Markus Schäfer, board member in charge with production and supply chain said.

“With its ‘Factory 56’, Mercedes-Benz Cars is creating the car plant of the future. It combines three trend-setting features: It is consistently digital and flexible - and it brings the term ‘green production’ to life.”
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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