Mercedes-Benz Trucks: The World's Biggest Truck Factory | Full Documentary

The largest

truck

factory

in the

world

is located in Europe on a pine tree. Here new

truck

s roll off the assembly line every 130 seconds, up to 470

trucks

a day. The

factory

in southern Germany exports its vehicles to all corners of the

world

. The site is huge, almost the size of a small city, if you want to visualize it, think about four hundred football fields, it is 2.9 square kilometers, it is quite big, the list of different versions of vehicles that you can order is huge, just like the color range, there are over 450 to choose from, from shots, sometimes our clients come with color samples and ask for that particular shade and that is how we end up with such a large number of colors since its introduction in 1996 the Actros has become the most produced truck by the factory it is the classic tractor for road transport the engines come from the company's own factory in Mannheim damn rare if the engine is wonderful they should all be like this a truck every few minutes the largest truck factory in the world the Mercedes-Benz truck factory in Farhat almost 11,000 people work here producing trucks for the Worldwide, one in five trucks in Europe comes from this factory in Germany.

One in three trucks rolled off the production line in 1963. Powerful and robust, fast, economically reliable for every job, mile after mile, that's how crazy Mercedes vehicles are. Benz stars prove their worth on all five continents. A lot has happened since the 60s. Production no longer involves strenuous manual work. Nowadays, robots weld truck covers. Machines are taking over more and more jobs, which reduces the burden on employees. High-bay warehouses are stocked and unloaded by Assembling trucks with robots is like a giant 3D puzzle. About 550 truckloads of parts for everything from tires to radios arrive every day. All of these things are assembled in the various production halls, and in the end, a new truck rolls off the assembly line every 130 seconds.

The beams are the foundation of each truck. Several hundred of them arrive at the factory every day. The frame of each vehicle requires 2 of these longitudinal chassis beams. These two elements are screwed to crossbars. The frame used here has a large number of holes to be able to be used for a wide range of vehicle types and versions. At the front the structure is finished with the so-called frame head. The frame has already been marked to show which bolt goes where. bolt markings are made with laser here they are marked with the laser system the laser markings tell the employee exactly which bolt with what diameter goes in which position the frame construction that takes place at the station uses about 300 to 400 bolts per frame is the basis for every truck that leaves this factory.

The finished frames weigh several hundred kilograms and can only be moved with the help of automated transport systems. This is where the journey through the huge room begins. After about six hours of assembly, the finished truck leaves the factory. All cables are fixed to the frame using cables. It is already clear what parts will be added, for example, what type of accessories the truck will have, what brakes will be used and what version of the rear axle. There are more than 400 colors. A wide range of engines, transmissions and bodies. A gigantic number of possible combinations. This means that very few identical trucks are made here each year to ensure that the assembly line always has the right parts in the right order.

They are always assembled for a specific vehicle. The assembly line should never have to stop and there should never be a wrong part. Going back to look for an error wastes valuable time in this step, the so-called selection, all the parts are put together for the next vehicle, an employee sorts them into their basket in the exact order in which they will be used in organic production. and the red lights show where the next part can be found only when all the necessary small parts are in the basket does the system give the green light the construction of the frame is the first station in the huge factory this station alone is a kilometer long long and has the size of 10 football fields while the structure is being assembled the cabins are assembled here there are 550 different versions each cabin also consists of a base plate and a roof computer-controlled robots assemble the pieces the complete cabin is now welded together

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y automatic and with millimeter precision then the driverless transport system moves the caps to the next station checking as if by magic a special camera system uses 150 reference points to verify each taxi only if everything is perfect is it allowed to the casing leave the station while we hang up We have our online measurement system outside where all the vehicles are measured.

If anything unusual is found, the cabin is remeasured using up to 1000 attributes. The factory has a special measuring station specifically for this. The measuring machines here are powered by lasers that provide an accuracy of 0.05. Millimeters show whether the size and spacing of holes, threads and surfaces are correct so employees can know whether the cabinet is assembled exactly as it should or not. Only after a successful test can the truck continue its journey alongside the cabin. Come to the paint shop there, each booth receives a coat of primer by passing through a dip tank. It is the most important paint job in the life of a truck because this coat prevents rust.

By making a half turn forward, the cab is immersed in the paint, ensuring there is corrosion protection in every nook and cranny. I will follow him. If we simply submerged the cabin, there would be a pocket of air that couldn't escape fast enough by turning the cabin. We have changed it so that air can escape. leave the booth the booth in the paint has different charges so that they attract like magnets the primer has optimal adhesion to the booth this process is called cathodic dip priming once the primer is applied the booth moves to the next station The sealing robots PVC seam seamers apply PVC to seal all welds and cut points.

Each opening is perfectly sealed, preventing moisture from entering the vehicle. Another layer of paint is applied once again using electrodes. The atomizer has a positive charge and the cabin has a negative charge. so the booth practically pulls the paint towards it because then they are high rotating atomizers driven by a turbine, it has a certain rotation speed and it sprays the paint accordingly, outside there is a high voltage field that makes it The system is very efficient and reduces the amount of material we have to use. Only four liters of paint are needed. Your cabin. The system paints the doors and additional parts along with the rest of the cabin to ensure that they have exactly the same color.

The paint is Completely dry after just 45 minutes, each coating is checked with maximum precision. The color blue comes in 40 different shades. Employees must make sure they have a good overview of what is happening to ensure that each customer receives their truck in the exact color they want. Sometimes it happens. that our clients come with color samples and ask for a particular shade and that is how we end up with such a large number of colors in the fitting room, the construction of the frame is finished by the time the frame is still upside down so that The axles can be lowered onto it several hundred screws and bolts hold this skeletal structure together a structure that will then support the entire truck these heavy frames can only be transported to the axle assembly with the help of a gantry now the axles are They are installed depending on the type each axle can weigh up to 900 kilograms The axles will eventually be responsible for accelerating and stopping the truck They are specially designed to deal with these deadly stresses The man in the factory can only lift these parts with the help of a very engine lift They care

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y lower the axle onto the inverted frame and then the chassis is painted.

Nova Gray is the standard color, upon customer request, any other color is also possible, such as red for the fire department. The frame is not turned until the color has been acquired. now dry the axles are facing down and the truck is ready to move on to the next station here the diesel engines and transmissions are already waiting the men in the factory affectionately refer to this step as the engagement because this is where the frame the engine also of a truck the three most important components come together the frame is now in the correct position the men can now slowly lower the heavy engine and place the two Yvetta Moses where the engine that was delivered from Mannheim was placed we carried out a small pre-assembly and then it is inserted into the frame this is what we call the engagement the wedding takes place a few stations later it is when we place the cabin on the frame the Actros engine is available in ten different versions from 328 horsepower to 625 horsepower , 6-cylinder diesel engines consist of around 2,500 individual parts.

They are manufactured in Mannheim in its own factory for commercial vehicle engines. First the engine block is placed in a so-called GV (short for automatic guided vehicle) and a G V. It is a driverless transport vehicle the engine now has an automatic driver oh that transports it from station to station once The sliding bearing surfaces and the crankshaft journal are greased. The crankshaft is mounted on the engine block. Next comes the six pistons with the connecting rods. They are all placed by hand and bolted to the crankshaft. Each part that is mounted on the engine has its own article code that is stored in the system before mounting.

Employees scan the parts and check if they are correct for that engine, all parts must be assembled otherwise the AGV will not transport the engine to the next station, as soon as the engine logs into the station it will be shows the employee which component he has to take out and how many, that means that in this case he has to take out two clamps when he does this the white light goes off and the green light comes on and flashes so if the person working here forgets to take one out piece then the motor doesn't leave the station and you realize oh I forgot something that scans the individual parts allows us to track things in case there is a complaint even the force with which the screws are tightened is saved in the system this is the code for the flywheel the code is now assigned to the appropriate engine the part is installed and checked by scan after the exhaust turbocharger has been pre-assembled with the exhaust manifold, the block is lifted over the cylinder head, mounted and It is screwed on then someone checks to see if all the cables are routed correctly and all the connectors are connected correctly.

This is done with the help of a tablet, we then scan the controller barcode to make sure we have the correct motor. Then the employee has shown several components, which means that he works on the checklist. If it's okay, he can set it to correct, for example. He checks whether these blocking components are configured correctly. If that were not the case, the vehicle would likely survive our test but would eventually fail in the field. That's why he checks each connection to see if they're secure and then marks them with a yellow paint pen so we can be sure the wires have been mounted correctly before the engine goes to the in-house testing facility.

He has examined it once again according to a method adopted in Japanese production facilities. An employee groups each component in a precisely defined sequence and checks it with his fingers and eyes from different angles to see if the parts have been assembled correctly if everything is OK the AGV takes the engine to the test facility a robot takes the engine and carefully lifts it to a dedicated test facility transport vehicle now the engine is waiting for a free test bench The computers determine the sequence in which the engines are tested so that there is no downtime on the test benches, as if by magic the AGV with the engine moved to the next available test bench.

AGVs have a conductive loop, meaning they draw their energy inductively directly from the ground. There are many markings on the ground that AGBs use to orient themselves. They then count the number of wheel rotations to know exactly when they should turn to drive. directly to the dyno for one of these all-terrain vehicles you drive to a dyno you have to lift the engine the dyno has a higher working height for safety reasons the vehicles use a very low center of gravity while driving the test bench up Here up to four engines are tested per hour to reduce weight, a system is usedof turntable while one engine is prepared outside, another is tested inside, when the inside is finished, the next engine can be brought in and the test begins immediately without waiting.

When all 11 dynos perform hot and cold tests, we use both variants and there are only 11 dynos because they are so effective that the engine is connected to the dyno and filled with water, oil and diesel, then each engine goes through an automated performance program this is the first time the engine starts after the test the engine is checked for leaks an employee checks each part one more time with the ultraviolet light the result is grass green if we have the problem we see it immediately then you have a red area somewhere, if it is a small problem it can be fixed immediately and then we run the engine again to see if everything is okay.

This is how all tests must be passed. This engine can continue its journey back in the meantime. the rotary table is being tested the next engine after the test the engine needs to cool before the test devices can be disassembled an elevator places the cooled engines on a suspension track that carries them through the paint shop in an order specific the first station here is the scanning booth here a full scan of the engine is done and a 3D image is created which is used for the next paint job this way the paint robot knows exactly which version it has to paint and if A new part has been added or not parts that are not supposed to be painted are etched Now the engine is painted with a clear coat several robots paint first the left side and then the right side of the engine.

What I see here is that the motor appears white, that is simply because we are using water. water-based paint and there is still water in the paint that makes it look white during the drying phase, it loses that white color and little by little it becomes transparent, as we can see in the finished engines, in the background there is a wall of water , the wall of water takes up the paint particles. out of the air, that means that through suction we get the air in the cabin to pass through the wall of water, small particles are trapped in the water and then discarded as waste after less than 60 seconds, the engine is initially painted Before it dries, the new layer of paint looks milky white.

The paint takes a few minutes to dry and becomes transparent when everything is completely dry. Another quality control is carried out here manually. I do quality control of the entire engine, including the paint job. to see if all the parts have been painted correctly, if for example a screw thread has been painted, it should be cleaned only after we ship the engine to Japan, Russia or North America for example, most, however, We go to the factory 70 kilometers away here. See the results of 2,500 parts that are already ready to go out into the world. In this particular case, it is an engine that is going to vote in our own factory where we assemble trucks.

You can tell because it is on a steel frame that is just a support and frame. They come back to us empty so we can send the next engine scene. The shift strut has another location with test benches before a vehicle goes into production. The engine transmission and axles are tested not only for performance reliability and fuel economy, but also. Due to the amount of noise they produce, the requirements are becoming stricter, the trucks have to be quieter, even the transmission sprockets are aligned to run as quietly as possible, this room is equipped with microphones and absorbent walls of sound, often, in principle, it is like being on the road where there is nothing on the road to the left and the right ends, but for the sound waves there are no walls here, they disappear in that part and are not reflected, for so we can take field measurements as if the transmission was in a large field and all we measure is the sound of the transmission and not the noise reflected from the walls, so we only measure the source.

Everything in this room is hidden in these sound-absorbing materials. Only the test transmission is open surrounded by microphones. of the test to determine which sprocket makes noise and needs to be optimized, but the transmission not only has to be quiet but also has to work efficiently to get another laboratory to test a ski truck that changes characteristics under full load conditions day after day. day this is a truck that runs the same test stretch every day so that different driving modes can be compared to each other society this is actually a vehicle without tires or rear axle we have the engine, transmission and exhaust gases After the treatment system in this test, the truck drives on the route that was maintained Hamburg was maintained every day with different driving strategies sometimes the gear changes earlier when going up a hill sometimes later this determines the optimal shifting strategy To achieve the best possible fuel economy drive the route one day with 40 tons of total weight, the next day again with 30 and the next day with 20 and you can compare the results immediately.

Does this gear shifting strategy work on a full load with a half load with an empty truck and then? We have a statistically valid result and can evaluate fuel consumption at the routine location. Building more than 400 trucks per day requires almost 550 truckloads of parts each day, five days a week. Everything is delivered here and must be distributed precisely. Ready. logistics report logistics and production work together very closely Logistics is actually the core of the initial processes because they deliver the parts, scheduled deliveries, they procure the parts and have to deliver them to the assembly line, finally the parts are placed in a basket so that each vehicle has the right part in the right place at the right second it's like a beehive the automatic conveyor belts move the boxes from A to B and vice versa to save storage space only the parts that will be used in the next few minutes They are placed on the conveyor belt.

All this is supported by an ingenious logistics system. Each box that is delivered is scanned and then logged into the system, so all the small parts in these boxes are sorted. Part holders are placed in the high shelf storage area until needed. production the warehouse is served by 12 huge robots the so-called automated storage and retrieval system or ASR for short store all the boxes that come in and take them out again to an SRS which is responsible for storing and retrieving the small parts these machines can move up to about 35,000 units per work day; No human being could do that much, but boxes are not just stored, machines automatically store and retrieve them in perfect order so that they arrive on the assembly line exactly when they are needed.

It means there is always room on the assembly line, there are never unnecessary parts lying around somewhere, small parts move around the factory all day like magic, youngja Bowens, we have all kinds of things in stock here, From screws to spokes and cable ties, everything that fits in small containers is stored here except hazardous substances. Not a single screw is lost. The system always knows exactly where each box is at any given time. Each transporter. In other words, each box has a barcode the scanner registers it and the system knows exactly where it has to go the system makes those decisions and in fractions of a second the boxes are classified into these wagons like in a supermarket they are called baskets and they are classified in such a way that assembly line employees can take out the correct part in the correct order small parts are delivered directly to the assembly line on the conveyor larger parts are placed in baskets by hand if someone grabs the wrong part here then no It will be available later for assembly, that is why there is a control computer that shows which part is classified in which compartment in what quantity this equipment is this system has an important advantage of not only showing me which parts I have to get but also where I have to put them in the basket, you can see that here with the different colors, one red on blue and one yellow for the employee, that means yes, to get that piece and place it in the compartment of the corresponding color, also each piece has its own name, things like Superman, compass, white chocolate or crossbow are called names are there in case of an emergency if the computer system suddenly crashes employees can work from a handwritten list words like cupcake and crocodile are easier to remember that large numbers of pieces in this way not even a power outage will stop production in this department, once the baskets are packed, they are taken to the assembly line once again, which is taken care of by driverless transport vehicles, the so-called AGV.

Yes, in this poison man, here we use the AGV to carry the full baskets from the starting point to the processing point the assembly point this transportation system simply bridges that gap think of it like a train drives along its track and It has a scanner that recognizes me that means it stops automatically nothing can go wrong when I walk away again the system continues automatically It takes a second and then it starts again. The inside of the painted covers is already installed. One of the first assembly processes is the installation of the cabin. It is delivered together with the cabin in which it will be mounted, whether it is upright.

Driving or driving on the left, the system always knows exactly which vehicle is next and always has the appropriate instrument panel ready to go. The cab is bolted to the pillar and front end using a torque wrench. Employees tighten the bolts to the necessary tension. We work in two shifts and assemble up to 438 cabins a day. If you add up all the days that people have been working here, it's several thousand. Then a robot glues the windshield. The windshields also arrived on the assembly line in the correct order. The robot picks up the windshield takes it to the glue nozzle where the glue is applied.

At the same time another robot measures the cabin where the windshield will go then places it with millimeter precision. Now the seats are waiting to be placed. They were just delivered exactly as the customer ordered. We have all types of seats: there is a driver's seat, a passenger seat and a folding seat. The new actress even has a reclining seat that swivels that you can turn. These seats, of course, are available in a multitude. of variations variations include leather or part leather upholstery with or without seat heating and there is a comfort version, so there is an incredible variation here too.

Next are the cabin doors, after painting them, they went to a separate production site for preparation and to ensure that the parts are fastened with the appropriate amount of torque each bolt has its own cordless screwdriver thus avoiding errors now we move on to the interior the employee installs and connects the steering wheel cables in a few simple steps uses an electronic torque wrench that measures and saves the bolting parameters in the system a record is kept of who tightens the steering wheel, when and how much what is called hood in a car familiar here it is called a front door, two employees put it in place and then screwed it by hand to avoid scratches and for better ergonomics two of us worked together to put it in place as soon as we put it in it can no longer fall on the second step then screw it on.

The next step is the poster of the actress that we place it with the template and then press it firmly so that it never comes off again and then it can be sent to the client. One in every three trucks on German roads was built. One in five trucks was built on European roads. In two shifts, around 11,000 people work here, producing up to 470 trucks a day here is where the assembly line reaches its climax the so-called wedding here is where the cab is placed on the frame six different models come off the assembly line from the factory mixed at random impossible to think what could happen if the wrong cabin appeared the wedding was tied because in this step we are uniting the two main components of the vert, the cabin that is built at the same time as the frame, that's why we call it wedding and it is the most important process for So the two largest components are joined together and underneath are the tires, then the truck can finally stand on its own, slowly but surely the journey through the factories will come to an end in a few minutes, the truck will be finished now the employees are filling the vehicle. with all the fluids you need in a few seconds they will give life to the truck what survived we are ready now we are preparing the vehicle that is, we are pressing diesel into the filter and once we have reached acertain pressure in the system we can have the initial ignition and that is about to happen, the blue system light is on and tells us that there is enough coolant in the vehicle.

This morning there were about 10,000 individual parts, now all six cylinders are running and all functions. will be tested once again the last major technical test is carried out on one of the five internal chassis dynamometers this is the proving ground for each truck in approximately 10 minutes the truck goes through a wide range of tests only after the truck is allows you to hit the road, the final check is carried out at the so-called paint transfer plaza. A new truck passes through these two doors every 130 seconds, but only if it is perfect. Every scratch, no matter how small, is repaired and, if necessary, repaired.

Yes, I have a look at everything to see if I can find anything because this is the first revision of the controller cover after the assembly line process, the light has to be so bright so that I can see everything because if it were dark or the unfavorable light angle, no minor dents could be seen, that's why it's so bright here, if there is a scratch the truck is sent back to be reworked, depending on the part it will be replaced or like most In most cases, it will be repainted, the most common problem is scratches. the cab that was made during assembly those parts are returned to the paint shop and repainted the scratches and dents are entered into the checklist, everyone who evaluates the truck later can see where the scratch was and what part was affected up to where I know.

I'm worried if the truck is okay. I didn't find anything and depending on how much detail you have to enter into the registry, it takes two to three minutes to check a vehicle. Approximately every 130 seconds, a truck leaves the paint transfer box and eventually leaves. In the kilometer-long production hall, approximately one fifth of all truck production is loaded onto ships and shipped abroad. Right next to the factory there is a container terminal. In the last 50 years, more than 700,000 disassembled trucks, so-called CKD parts, have been shipped. By ship ck d means completely knocked down, that is, completely disassembled the trucks are packaged as a construction kit, either in boxes or as the cabin mounted on wooden frames, the special packaging was developed in the in-house carpentry workshop yes, We use a part to test how we are going to build the packaging, if the prototypes are worthy, then we move to mass production and the supplier who is going to carry out the mass production gets the prototype from us with each facelift and each change in the vehicle, the packaging also has to The goal is always to fit as many parts as possible in the smallest possible space while ensuring maximum protection.

Packaging like the one called Kalo Igual. Our colleagues carried out a study for a customer in South Africa on tanks that checked whether the tanks can be transported safely and without damage and whether everything fits the type of final inspection before sending the Kolo for smaller parts. There is the so-called vibration test to simulate the sea voyage after exporting the entire box. They travel for weeks here testers can find out if the packaged parts arrive undamaged at the customer's door like in a model kit the boxes have all the parts you need to build a truck to ensure customers know how to assemble the parts the factory is assembled offers to come to the customer and assemble the first truck together when they do it they also write assembly instructions specifically for the customer's trucks the first time they assemble it they do it with the health of our employees they get their first touch and feel the truck and carry this knowledge with them when the trucks come out of the boxes at their factory, then it's just an ongoing process.

Each screw is in the assembly kit only once, if used in the wrong place, it will be missing somewhere else. With the help of very detailed assembly instructions and intensive exchange with partners, errors like this are avoided. All boxes go to the overseas shipping container and are stored according to a very exact positioning plan. Each box has its predetermined place in the container to avoid imbalances. later, right, Connecticut thugs? This will go to Russia to a customer in Tartus tan and Chelny for shipping. Now it goes along the Rhine to Rotterdam, from there it will go by sea to St.

Petersburg and then we will take it by truck to the assembly factory in Charlie before leaving the employees secure the valuable cargo so that nothing is damaged on the way finally the container receives a custom seal now the container can begin its journey to Russia first a container stacker places it on a truck while this is happening the container is also being weighed by the stacker this is essential for the balance of the ship an empty container weighs about four tons Depending on how it is packed it will weigh between 12 and 22 tons The truck takes the container to the port just 500 meters away, one of the two container cranes places it on the ship at the same time as the empty containers are removed from the ship creating a perfect cycle, they have fun when the truck comes from there from us from our factory to the Rhine river port, unloads the full container, picks up an empty one and brings us the empty container, so it's actually a closed loop of just a few minutes;

Some trucks are picked up personally at the customer service center, many times businessmen and drivers want to pick up their vehicle after a tour of the factory, on average, we make 120 deliveries here per day, when busy, this can increase up to 200 per day, the employees of the customer service center are at the customer's disposal to explain everything about the truck and answer questions after all you don't buy a truck every day this morning there were 100,000 individual units now the Actros is ready for the road and begins its life as a truck the first drawings and studies on this model were carried out more than a decade ago now this truck is at home on roads around the world and II Sugata played an important role in the design of the actress before it was introduced to the market.

Her drawings show how futuristic the vehicle was supposed to look from behind. then some elements of that were integrated into the final product that was at the beginning, so to speak, we just developed completely crazy shapes, surely from an outside perspective what remains is the distinctive front of the vehicle, the vehicle had to appeal to an audience very specific. audience with a strong sense of taste the design has to be so precise that you immediately feel it is reliable it has to look as if it were formed from a solid block as chief designer Kai's Eber is the man responsible for the appearance of the vehicle today day, something that in principle is an important tool, but buyers do not make their decisions based solely on quality, running costs and performance, the truck has to capture them from the beginning Elizabeth, sparks are all the truck can do, has to show what it can do design has to be very honest is really true form and function interact there are no overlapping styles it is the largest truck factory in the world almost 11,000 people work in an area covering 2.9 kilometers square since 1963 the factory in Barratt has since produced up to 470 trucks a day.

One in every three trucks on German roads is built here. Every 130 seconds a new truck leaves the assembly line. The truck engines are manufactured in the company's own engine factory in Mannheim. Autonomous robots transport heavy parts from one station to another and ensure that a diesel engine is created from 2,500 individual parts in just a few hours. Every day more than 550 trucks arrive at the factory loaded with parts stored in a huge storage area on high racks. 35,000 boxes are moved. Here, every day on the assembly line, man and machine work hand in hand to assemble trucks and in less than a day a truck is assembled and can leave the factory. 1/5 of these are disassembled and shipped as a building kit.

Abroad they leave from the container port located 500 meters from the factory five days a week, two shifts per day and return to the beginning tomorrow when the next morning shift begins at the largest truck factory in the world.