Volkswagen's Incredible Glass Factory

The Volkswagen Phaeton – the company’s prestige luxury car – may not have set the world on fire but the factory in which it is produced is Something Else. Dubbed the ‘Transparent Factory’ because of its incredible use of glass, the plant is in Dresden, Germany.

Visitors are more likely to think it is an art gallery or modern office block rather than a car factory. Or, when cars are spotted behind the glass, perhaps an architecturally cutting edge car park? But then again, all the cars behind the glass are the same...

Located just 100 metres from the Dresden Botanical Gardens in the city centre, the factory benefits from a 6 million Euros (AUD$10.27 million) investment in its outdoor area (50,000 sq metres) to ensure it blends with the beauty of the ancient city.

Dresden’s municipal tram network plays an integral role for Volkswagen as specially developed tram cars ("CarGoTram") are used to carry prefabricated parts from the Logistics Centre outside the city to the Transparent Factory. This shuttle service is environmentally friendly and does not create extra traffic congestion for the city.

The factory’s landmark is a glass tower almost 40 metres high and visible from a considerable distance - finished vehicles are stored within it, ready for collection.

Volkswagen has invested a total of 187 million Euros ($A320 million) in the Dresden facility since the foundation stone was laid in July 1999.

The idea of a brand new and truly unique automotive plant in the heart of one of Europe’s most beautiful cities was turned into reality by Gunter Henn, the group of architects responsible for Volkswagen’s similarly remarkable Autostadt complex which is part of the company’s worldwide headquarters in Wolfsburg.

Volkswagen’s Phaeton luxury class vehicle is built behind 27,500 square metres of glazed facades in a production area covering 55,000 square metres. The glazed area and 24,000 square metres of parquetry floor create a light, airy atmosphere that has to be seen to be believed.

At the heart of the new production line is a ‘Slat Belt’ - all that it has in common with conventional conveyors is its phased movement according to assembly stage. The surface of the Slat Belt itself consists of 29 individual elements that are also fully lined with parquetry and carry the vehicles to be assembled. Other features include an induction power supply and a new indirect lighting concept. All parts required for the assembly process accompany the corresponding vehicle in a ‘components basket.’ Driverless buggies – one per body shell - move around collecting components, so negating the need for shelves along the production line.

Phaeton customers are encouraged to come to Dresden to see their car being built and receive VIP treatment when they collect their finished product.

But enough of the words – just take a look at the pictures!

So, would you guess that this is a car factory?

To avoid trucks arriving all around the clock, Volkswagen uses the Dresden tram system to bring components to the factory from the logistics centre at Friedrichstadt on the city outskirts. The specially developed trams are 60 metres long. However, the body shells do come on trucks.

The use of trams is an elegant, non-intrusive approach but when you see the size of the loads, it must be very expensive...

Even despite the blurb, the actual appearance of the factory is simply jaw-dropping. Visitors report that it’s this clean every day...

The body shell is built about 100 km from Dresden, in the same building as the Bentley Continental GT. It is painted there, and then transported to Dresden. This is what it looks like when it arrives.

Each Phaeton is individually hand built. Sometimes two people work on the car at once, but more often, one person works alone. Because each Phaeton is unique, all the parts and components needed to construct that specific car are picked ahead of time in the logistics centre and loaded onto storage modules. You can see two storage modules - one in front and one behind each car. The small square station in the right foreground contains specialized tools that are used to assemble the vehicle at that particular stage of its assembly.

The word 'assembly line' really doesn't seem to fit, but there is a moving line. You can see the two tiny seams in the floor, on either side of the car. The portion of the floor inside those seams moves in a continuous loop throughout the work area. It moves very slowly, about the same speed as a revolving restaurant.

At some stages of the build process, the vehicle is lifted up and moved around as needed. The overhead cranes lift the car up and the employee can then move the vehicle around as they want.

Once all the wiring, electronic components, and other necessary parts are installed in the body shell, the shell is mated with the running gear. The running gear is also assembled by hand, and brought to the main production area by an elevator. Magnetic sensors beneath the wood floor guide the driverless cart that contains the running gear to the correct position beside the overhead crane.

As in all car plants, the marriage of the running gear with the shell is a precise operation requiring great care.

Note that the small electrically-powered cart that was holding the running gear in the photo above has now moved out of the way. These carts are quite sophisticated, and move to the correct locations on their own, once the craftspeople are finished with them and initiate the movement process.

Once everything is aligned, the running gear is lifted until it slots into the body shell.

Once the Phaeton is on the overhead crane assembly, it stays there until all the required work on the underside of the car has been completed. When that is done, it is placed back onto a workstand at surface level.

The interior has been installed, fluids added to the car, and the wheels and tyres installed. The Phaeton is then moved into the light tunnel for a very thorough visual inspection. The next process is testing the car, on both dynamometers and on the test-track under the factory.

Phaetons that are built for customers who plan to pick their car up at the factory are placed into the glass storage tower after they have been built and the complete pre-delivery inspection process is completed. Phaetons that will be shipped overseas go to a different area, to be wrapped in protective packaging.