28.6..2001
New Opel Plant in Rüsselsheim Paves Way for 21st Century Car Production

With its new facility in Rüsselsheim, Opel is aiming to set pioneering new standards in terms of productivity, quality and flexibility. The company is investing around DM 1.5 billion in the new facilities. Production is scheduled to begin in 2002, when the all-new Vectra will be the first model to come off the production line.

The new Rüsselsheim plant has a planned annual capacity of around 270,000 cars, manufactured on a joint production line in three shifts. The facility is one of the biggest projects in the company's investment program in Germany.

"Thanks to the unwavering application of the enhanced Opel production system, advanced manufacturing layouts and innovative working structures, we have created the best possible conditions here in Rüsselsheim for assuming a leading international market position," says Opel's Managing Director Carl-Peter Forster.

For the design and planning of the new plant, Opel's manufacturing engineering specialists at ITDC relied more extensively on innovative simulation tools than ever before.

In the body shop, with an area of more than 54,000 square meters, 600 robots have been programmed for welding, bonding and handling operations to ensure consistently high quality. Several operations will be performed by laser welding.

The particular ground plan of the assembly building, which is shaped like a half star, provides a good overall view of the entire production area and short distances. The so-called "Business Mall" will supply the assembly shop with modules in precisely the right sequence. This makes warehousing and complicated pre-assembly processes almost superfluous.

In parallel with the construction project, every employee in the plant – there are currently over 7000 – will take part in the intensive training course to ensure the highest quality levels in the new plant.

Effective measures have been taken to guarantee high product quality from the start. For implementing the zero-fault principle, Andon systems are installed at every station. In addition, specific quality controls are integrated into the production line. For example, around 150 robot-controlled laser measurements ensure dimensional accuracy of the body shell. Besides this, ultrasonic tests ensure maximum weld quality in the production cells. The "Standardized Inspection Process" (SIP) monitors the quality at the end of each production stage. A complete checklist with all the necessary quality criteria ensures that a part can only move on to the next stage if it achieves perfect results.