Mercedes-Benz's Sindelfingen Plant To Be The World's Most Modern Car Production Units

The top brass from Mercedes-Benz and the world of politics laid the foundation stone for the company's new assembly plant which it says will be the world's most modern car production units. It's called 'Factory 56' and Mercedes-Benz Cars is creating a car plant of the future. "Our 'Factory 56' will define a new way of building cars. It combines three trend-setting features: It is consistently digital and flexible - and it brings the term 'green production' to life. As the inventor of the car, we are reinventing production," says Markus Schafer, Member of the Divisional Board of Mercedes-Benz Cars, Production and Supply Chain.

In 2020, the Factory 56 will start production of upper- and luxury-class cars and electric vehicles at the Mercedes-Benz Sindelfingen plant. Passenger cars, electric vehicles of the upper and luxury class and robo-taxis will be produced. These include the new generation of the S-Class as well as the first electric vehicle of the product and technology brand EQ.

The assembly uses renewable energies and reduces CO2 production, water consumption and waste significantly. On the roof of 'Factory 56' there is a photovoltaic system which feeds green electricity into the productions supply. This leads to a reduction of yearly 5,000 MWh of electricity. An electric vehicle of the product and technology brand EQ, for example the electric SUV EQC, could be charged 72,000 times a year with this. CO2 emissions at the 'Factory 56' will be reduced by 75 percent compared to today's S-Class production in Sindelfingen.

In the assembly hall itself state-of-the-art Industry 4.0 technologies are used. Driverless transport systems (DTS) with product baskets support logistics in the assembly and ensure the seamless supply of the required materials for the employees at the line. Radio Frequency Identification-technologies (RFID) are integrated into the 'Factory 56' because of which components and vehicles can thus be digitally tracked and linked with one another.

Mercedes-Benz is already gearing up for the future and artificial intelligence will play a vital role in the making of cars as also in cars. Clearly the future is here and Mercedes is inching closer to it than anyone else.