According to a mysterious choreography, bright yellow robotic arms humming and hissing into one another.
They glue, rivet and weld preformed metal parts.
Transport systems move the vehicle skeleton from station to station.
And with each additional aluminum component, it becomes clearer what is being created here: the new electric sports car from Porsche, the Taycan.
Choreography in Zuffenhausen: This is where the Porsche Taycan is made
Source: Porsche
A similar level of precision was required when it came to the complex project of implanting a new one for this vehicle while production was still going on in the sports car factory that had grown for more than 70 years.
A new chapter in the company's history.
6000 internal moves were required.
More than 200 planners and 2000 construction workers planned and built the project at peak times.
And while the old was broken off at one point, something new was already being created at the other.
Sustainable, efficient and networked
Green, lean and smart - sustainable, efficient and networked: This is how the new Taycan production facility should be.
"We have implemented the highest building standards that contribute to sustainability," says Reiner Luth, then project manager for the construction of the Taycan factory, today head of electric vehicle production.
Green is more than a color: the combined heat and power plant is operated with biogas
Source: Porsche / CB
Combined heat and power plants for heat and electricity are operated with biogas, the buildings are more energy efficient than the building regulations require.
Plants grow on the roof surfaces, and photovoltaic systems generate green electricity.
“We have not sealed any new areas.
The demolition material was recycled. "
The production of new models is practiced in the digital twin
In front of the actual factory, its digital twin grew up - a three-dimensional simulation, a virtual image of the original that was accurate to the millimeter, right down to the last light switch.
“While the excavation was still being driven away, we were able to walk through the new factory with the VR glasses,” says Reiner Luth.
“We were able to identify overlapping technical levels early on,” says Luth, looking back.
This avoided planning errors and allowed a new building to be built in record time.
As in a cartoon, you can see how people carry out work processes
Reiner Luth, Head of the Electric Vehicles segment, Porsche AG
The digital twin also optimized vehicle production: "As in the cartoon, you can see how people carry out work processes, whether they might get in each other's way, whether the material is provided in the right place and whether the activities are ergonomically favorable."
Reiner Luth was the project manager for the construction of the Taycan factory and is now head of electric vehicle production at Porsche
Source: Porsche AG / MARCO PROSCH
2000 new jobs - electromobility strengthens the location
Less than four years passed between the planning, groundbreaking (November 2015) and inauguration (September 2019) of the factory.
The new production facility is located in a decentralized location on the company premises, which are separated by two streets and a railway line, in the middle of an industrial park: To transport the painted bodies to the assembly plant, a conveyor bridge more than 900 meters long had to be built.
The company invested 700 million euros in the entire factory project.
The heart of production is “Building 70”, as the Taycan's assembly hall is called internally;
the building measures 38 meters from the foundation to the roof and is up to 25 meters deep in the ground.
Porsche invested 700 million euros in the entire factory project
Source: Porsche / Bernd Wuersching
This has measurably strengthened the Zuffenhausen location.
A total of 2,000 jobs have been created here since 2018 for the production of the sports car.
Reiner Luth is proud of this team.
“Every employee is highly motivated and gives everything for the company and the vehicle.
When I leave my office, I look at the production line.
I see every day: It's a great team performance that we build cars like this here.
That is typically Porsche. "
The largest qualification offensive in the company's history
Porsche kept the mobility and technology innovation in the country - that too is sustainability.
And that definitely makes work.
The largest qualification offensive in the company's history brought all Taycan production employees closer to the topic of electromobility.
To this end, 45 training plans have been developed for training periods ranging from one month to six months.
Work and jobs have fundamentally changed with the ultra-modern production of the electric Porsches
Source: Porsche
On the company's digital learning platform, all Porscheans (as the employees call themselves) were able to get fit for the topic of e-mobility.
“It wasn't a problem to inspire colleagues to become part of Porsche's new future story.
Right from the start, they were highly motivated to build the factory and then the first vehicles and put them on the road, ”says Luth.
In the new factory, people and machines work in a completely networked manner, with people mainly assembling the moving parts thanks to their better instinct.
The Taycan is built on four floors
Because the floor space is limited, production takes place on four levels.
This is also not an everyday occurrence in the automotive industry.
Fully automatic conveyor technology connects the production lines and transports the resulting vehicles from level to level.
If it weren't for Porsche, it could have been made as easy for oneself and built a factory on the flat land like others.
Zuffenhausen is home to the icon 911 and also predestined to become the home of the future icon, the Taycan
Reiner Luth, Head of the Electric Vehicles segment, Porsche AG
There were several reasons against this: emotional ("Zuffenhausen is home to the 911 icon and also predestined to be the home of the future icon, the Taycan," says Luth), technical ("We had the technical know-how at the location. With the 918 Spyder super sports car we have gained a lot of experience with high-voltage technology here ”) and economic (“ Every employee contributes part of his salary to the development of the Taycan. Everyone has invested in their future here ”).
The latter is unique in the automotive industry, says Luth and adds: "The success proved us all right that it was a good and right decision." In 2020 20,000 vehicles were delivered.
No assembly line = savings of millions
Porsche Production 4.0 is based on the rules of smart, lean, green.
The times when the conveyor belt dictated the pace of production are a thing of the past.
"We have eliminated the classic assembly line and are using driverless transport systems (AGV) instead," says Luth.
It's about flexibility.
“We don't have to create assembly pits like on the assembly line, which means we save costs in the high single-digit millions.” Every Taycan stands on such an AGV.
The systems also supply the employees with pre-assembled assemblies and materials.
QR codes on the ground show the AGVs the way.
They drive one behind the other remotely, communicate with each other and with the factory.
There are no assembly lines or assembly pits in the factory for the Porsche Taycan
Source: Porsche
Healthier work through new production facilities
Production 4.0 also protects the health of the employees: “The body can be swiveled 110 degrees in both directions on lifting hangers.
We create special ergonomic conditions for our employees who work on the sub-floor. ”Greater lifting heights allow assembly work that is easy on the back.
"And you have to walk with the vehicle, which is ergonomically positive compared to standing," says Luth.
For the workers, this means less stress and more job satisfaction.
Work better: The innovative form of assembly also makes it easier for employees
Source: Porsche
The factory of the future creates the conditions for a new flexible production.
“With the Flexi Line, we are well prepared for all developments in the production process,” says Luth.
The waiver of permanently installed conveyor technology makes it possible to build new model variants on the same production line without major modifications.
When we build a derivative like the Cross Turismo, we have rehearsed it beforehand in the digital twin
Reiner Luth, Head of the Electric Vehicles segment, Porsche AG
This is where the advantage of the “digital twin” comes into play again.
“When we build a derivative like the Cross Turismo, we have rehearsed it beforehand in the digital twin.
We also built the vehicle assembly so flexibly that we would be equipped for all drive technologies. "
Screen instead of clipboard
In the Taycan factory, screens have replaced the clipboard.
The electronic vehicle accompanying card, a digital file, documents the vehicle from the first spot weld to the final inspection.
No screw is left out.
If the employee in the final inspection wants to test the rear spoiler for its function, he does not have to operate a switch in the vehicle.
Instead, he taps on his smartwatch and uses it to log into the vehicle's onboard electronics.
In the future, manufacturing will be even smarter: Then the car itself knows what to do
Source: Porsche
This is a moment in Production 4.0 in which production and vehicle data merge.
"Today there is a lot of interaction," says Reiner Luth.
That could change in the future.
"Then the vehicle knows what it should look like and generates the work processes accordingly."
A special sound
When the finished sports car rolls into the final inspection, the inspectors have to forego one experience: the dark bubbling of the Porsche engine.
“Of course we love all V8 and boxer engines.
But the Taycan is something very special, ”says Luth.
It is a unique and special sound that has gone into a lot of development work.
The Porsche Taycan sounds like dynamic
Source: Porsche / Marco Prosch
"The noise is dynamic", Luth tries to hear the sound of up to 560 kilowatts [
combined power consumption in kWh / 100 km: 29.4 - 26.2 (NEDC), 26.6 - 20.4 (WLTP); CO2 emissions in g / km: 0 (NEDC and WLTP); electric range in km: 335 - 484 (WLTP EAER), 382 - 532 (WLTP EAER City); Stand 05/2021)
] powerful electric drive to put into words. "When you hear this sound, you can get goose bumps." It's like in a science fiction film. “And when you sit in it and feel the torque the car puts on the road. You just have to experience that. "
Further information on the official fuel consumption and the official specific CO2 emissions of new passenger cars can be found in the "Guide to fuel consumption, CO2 emissions and power consumption of new passenger cars", which is available free of charge at all sales points and from DAT.