Spectacular assembly of a truck

1 – Body shop

Red-hot sparks and blue flickers. The body shop at the MAN plant in Munich offers a colourful spectacle: the galvanised body parts shine brightly between the orange tentacles of the welding robots. Row after row, they attach the outer skin of a new MAN truck. Up to 480 cabs roll off the production line here every day. "Everything is highly automated," says Dr Christoph Rimpau. Pride resonates in his voice. As Project Manager Production and Logistics, Rimpau modified the manufacturing process throughout the MAN plant network for the introduction of the current truck a few years ago - from Europe to South Africa.

Here in Munich, the preparations for the new vehicles have literally turned the main plant upside down. The body shop was given a new hall and the arsenal of robots was significantly increased: instead of 47, there are now over 190 robots working around the clock. A brand new combined heat and power plant was built for production. MAN spent 1.1 billion euros on modernisation and expansion at the Munich site alone, a large part of which went into production.

2 – Paint shop

After the body shop, the next stop is the multi-storey paint shop - incidentally the most environmentally friendly in Europe. After huge dipping systems, things get really colourful. Robots paint the lorry cabs, followed later by the finishing touches in the LED light tunnel. The painters were the first in the plant to integrate the current truck into their series production. The prototypes were already painted there. "It involved a lot of manual work at the beginning. We learned to do this step by step, and we have introduced more and more work steps onto the line," says Tim Hartgenbusch, head of the paint shop. The truck has now been running reliably in series production for a long time, partly because the employees quickly internalised the new geometry of the truck. This means that the painters memorise new profile lines in order to be able to recognise defects such as runs or inclusions more quickly. They also learn how to handle the new spray insulation. This helps to reduce interior noise in the cab.

3 – Cab equipment

The dried bodies move quietly from the paint shop into the assembly hall next door. The production line has been considerably extended in order to perfectly integrate the variance and equipment of the lorry into the cycle. Cab assembly has even been completely restructured: cycles have been synchronised and it has been expanded by twelve stations to a total of 70 stations. Here, the cab is fitted out step by step, various workers install the seats and recliners in the rest area as well as all the control surfaces and the entire interior fittings. The cab is then finished and ready for the next station.

4 – Truck assembly and marriage

Now it's time to assemble the truck: the large units such as the engine, tank and axles are inserted into the chassis and all the important lines are laid in the frame. This part requires a great deal of attention and concentration: the air lines for the air brake system and all the wiring harnesses have to be memorised for each model and positioned correctly so that the truck will work perfectly later on - often a task that requires millimetre precision. Now comes the "wedding": the cab is placed on the chassis. Four workers direct and screw. Team coordinator Rafael Czech accompanies them: "You have to take the pressure off, go with the flow." This is the best way for them to learn new processes and hand movements. In the meantime, everything is running like clockwork.

5 – Test line

Ultimately the test line awaits all fully assembled trucks. In six steps of 15 minutes each, all the functions and driving processes of a new truck are put through their paces. To drive through the test line, the truck has to prove itself from a standstill. Is the braking force right? Does the truck reach its maximum speed, does the gearstick work? Is the steering set correctly? Only when all six stations have been completed and a further, final quality check has been passed by MAN employees is a new truck considered ready. It is now ready for distribution.