Now that I have seen two major car manufacturing plants (BMW
and Toyota), it was extremely interesting to see how a smaller subsidiary car
company handled their own manufacturing facility. In this post, I would like to share some
initial thoughts on Skoda and their plant operations.
As I stated in an earlier post, Skoda was started in 1895 by
mechanic Vaclav Laurin and bookseller Vaclav Klement. They actually started under the name of
Laurin and Klement by making Slavia bicycles in Mladá Boleslav near Prague. In 1899, they began turning over motorcycles,
and finally in the early 1900s, they created their first successful cars. In 1925, as a strategic move, they teamed up
with Skoda Plzen and began to produce passenger cars, along with buses, trucks,
farm machinery, and aircraft engines.
After the Second World War, the company became a state enterprise and
took on the name AZNP Skoda. It wasn’t
until 1989, along with the political changes in the country, that Skoda found a
good foreign partner in Volkswagen.
Skoda would now be placed with VW, Audi, and Seat as the fourth of four
companies in the Volkswagen Group. A
couple decades later, the Skoda brand is very competitive in its market. Models such as the Fabia, Octavia, and Superb
compete well within the small car market niche.
At the plant located in Mladá Boleslav, both the Fabia and
Octavia models are produced. Two sister
plants in Vrchlabi and Kvasiny also exist in the Czech Republic where the
Octavia, Roomster, Yeti, and Superb II models are all produced. Another two production sites are in India and
Russia. Of the workers at the plant we
visited, 50% belonged to a union where they paid roughly 1% of their wages for
membership. Of the plant factory
workers, only 20% are female due to the work being more labor intensive. The average company worker age was 37. Each plant worker works an eight hour shift
in one of two shifts. Shifts run from 6am
to 2pm or from 2pm to 10pm. Each shift is given three breaks. Two five minute breaks and a longer 30
minutes break at four hours. As a
starting employee, one receives five weeks of paid vacation and various
discounts on cars, services, and parts.
Body Production
Our plant tour began in the body production plant. The plant has a capacity of 1200 cars per
day, but only produces 900 due to current demand. The first thing I noticed as I walked into
the plant was a much larger number of workers.
Compared to BMW and Toyota, Skoda did not have nearly as much automation
in this portion of the plant. I was
later informed that larger facilities, like those of Audi, utilize more
automation. I was also informed that
outside of the level of automation, most manufacturing processes have been
standardized between all Volkswagen group companies.
At Skoda, many smaller components and panels were being
welded by line workers. The parts were
moved by hand into jigs where they were welded.
The main platforms for Skoda actually were shipped in from VW and they constitute
the base of all Skoda cars. After
preliminary welding processes, automated robotic arms weld most of the
remaining car pieces together. In
general, the lines were much more cluttered than at BMW, but comparable to
Toyota’s plant. I think Toyota’s plant
had this look only because of its age.
It was constructed in the 1980s, where Skoda was likely revamped after
the VW take-over. On the actual line,
the cars showed signs of being scuffed up and welding marks and burns were also
prevalent. This was surprising to
see. Most of that was cleaned up later
on, but this is something I do not recall seeing at either BMW or Toyota’s
plants. At Toyota, I was asked to take
off my belt simply because it was a threat to the car finishes. I wasn’t even going to touch the cars and
they had me do this. Standards at Skoda
appeared to be slightly more relaxed.
Quality checks along the body lines were also completed in body
weld. Some were completed via x-ray,
while others utilized hammer and chisel to check welds or cross section cutouts
to inspect the steel.
Motor and Gearbox Assembly
The next portion of our tour was in the motor and gearbox
assembly workshop. I was unable to see
this complete process at Toyota, but it did resemble that of BMW’s
process. Motors were pushed along the
line as they were assembled. Many of the
parts used on the motors were actually imported from Germany. I believe it was said that only the block and
crank shafts were produced in the Czech plant. These motors were standard stock used in all
VW Group cars. After assembly, the
motors were later placed on skids ready to be taken to their corresponding car
body in the other workshop.
Here we were
explained that the production lines worked with a barcode system. Each ordered car was assigned a barcode. Using this barcode, it could be determined
which parts it needed for assembly. We
also noticed the use of what I will call “goal” boards. Each line contained a score board that stated
the day’s production goal, the current amount already produced, and the
remaining units to produce for the shift.
This was to motivate workers to complete their day’s quota. Outside of these items, MANY Toyota
Production System standards were being utilized. Kanban, Andon, Takt Time, order sequencing,
Just in Time, removal of doors during assembly, and others were all integrated
into the production system at Skoda’s plant.
They also utilized a system they called “Raku Raku”, which was a method
used to create an easier work environment for workers ergonomically. This was implemented through “floating”
chairs that workers could sit on to move in and out of moving vehicles on the
line. These were similar to ones I saw
at Toyota. Another unique feature I saw
was Skoda’s kanban technique. Like BMW,
they used pictures occasionally. Instead
of animals, however, they used colored shapes or pictures to assist in matching
labels.
Final Assembly
The last part of our tour was in the final assembly
plant. He we saw the Fabia (with a Takt
time of 1:00) rolling through final assembly and inspection processes. In terms of quality in the work processes, I
did notice water marks left on the car bodies after the water/rain leak test on
the line. I wasn’t all that impressed
with this. They did, however, protect
the cars well once preparing for shipping.
A white plastic was placed over the paint to protect the cars from sun
and rain while they were shipped from the plant.
It was clear in this portion of the assembly process that
many things looked like Toyota. A cable
was available for workers to stop the line.
Lights indicated stopping points during the line motion. Sounds would indicate which portion of the line
needed assistance. Sometimes these were
even animal sounds. Work teams consisted
of 15 members, each with a leader to assist them. The workers wore white, while the leaders
work black.
I did note a unique method of using the “supermarket” system
for assembly part bins for the line.
When putting a bin of parts together, a worker would simply scan the bar
code of the car whose bin was being assembled.
The “supermarket” shelves which contained needed parts for that order
would light up green to indicate what the bin needed. This system seemed to work rather
effectively.
Another interesting feature of the assembly process was
lines that belonged to outside companies.
Siemens owned the production line making the front consoles. Johnson control owned the line (in fact, an
entire building) making car seats. It was
a great way to have work outsourced while still keeping it inside of the plant
itself.
General Comments
In general, the plant was impressive, as were the BMW and
Toyota plants. I think the biggest two
things standing out in my mind at the tour’s end were the following: 1) Skoda is basically replicating Toyota’s
production process, but not executing quite as well. 2) The plant is less automated, and small
things, such as scuffed up metal surfaces and weld marks, made the quality of
production appear much lower. The
company was certainly producing cars at a good pace, and overall, the quality
appeared to be superb. I personally
would hesitate to say it is being done at the same level as at Toyota or BMW,
however. No apparent competitive advantages
appeared to be present within their manufacturing processes. Skoda is certainly a niche car market
company. Its main competitive advantages
are likely its design and functionality.
These will certainly be explored more in the final project report.
