Setting Standards, The German way!

Setting the standards, German way!

Where the world is still striving hard to achieve the German standards of manufacturing automobiles, the Germans have proven yet again that they are much ahead of their time.

But what next, once you have pioneered the process of automobile manufacturing? You try and reduce the impact of the process on the environment.

And that is what the VW Group is aiming at since 2011, when it first launched its ‘Think Blue. Factory.’ program, through which it targets a per car reduction of 25% in the impact caused by the manufacturing process, globally.

The program is concerned with efficiency improvements in production and the expansion of environmentally aware energy supplies with main focus on five key areas, ‘Energy Consumption’, ‘CO2 Emissions’, ‘Water Consumption’, ‘Waste Generation’ and ‘VOC Emissions’.

‘Think Blue. Factory.’ was first adopted by the Volkswagen Pune Plant in 2012 and as per Mr. Andreas Lauenroth, Executive Director – Technical, Volkswagen India Private Limited and Head of Volkswagen Plant in Chakan, “All the employees at Volkswagen Pune Plant have undertaken ‘Think Blue. Factory.’ programme as a part of their everyday working and lifestyle. With innovative and effective ideas from our teams taking concrete shapes, we have been able to achieve some of our goals well before the set timeline of 2018.”

Just three years into the program and the plant has already seen such great success and that can be seen from the following figures:

‘Waste Generation’: Target achieved and surpassed!

Amongst the five key measurable areas, maximum reduction has been achieved in the area of ‘Waste Generation’. As compared to the base value of 2011, the Volkswagen Pune Plant has been able to reduce specific ‘Waste Generation’ by 30.5% (8.1 kg/car in 2011 reduced to 5.63 kg/car at the end of 2014). The main measure contributing to this achievement was the recycling of paint sludge.

‘CO2 Emissions’ & ‘Energy Consumption’: Success around the corner!

Volkswagen Pune Plant has closed in on the targets of two more key areas of ‘CO2 Emissions’ and ‘Energy Consumption’ by the end of 2014. With specific reduction of 21.2% and 20.6% in specific values respectively, the targets are around the corner and will be achieved well within the defined timeframe of 2018. The efficiency has been achieved through optimization of current processes and new installations without having any effect on the employee working conditions.

‘Water Consumption’: Inspiring results recorded

A reduction of 14.4% has been achieved by Volkswagen Pune Plant in the area of specific ‘Water Consumption’.

‘VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) emissions’: The Way Forward

The fifth defined area under ‘Think Blue. Factory.’ initiative is that of ‘VOC Emissions’ which are mainly derived from the Paint Shop. Various measures are being studied for reducing ‘VOC Emissions’ and the best practices will be implemented in the coming years. 

The plant has already achieved an impact reduction of an amazing 17.3% in just 3 years and is thus, well on track to surpass its targets.

More about the plant: Headquartered in Pune, Maharashtra, the Volkswagen Group is represented by five passenger car brands in India: Audi, Lamborghini, Porsche, ŠKODA, and Volkswagen. The group has been present in India for the last 14 years, has over 25 models in India, 262 dealerships and operates through two plants – Pune and Aurangabad. The Pune Plant has a manufacturing capacity of 130,000 cars per year whereas the Aurangabad Plant serves up to 89000 units, annually. Volkswagen Group India is a part of Volkswagen AG, which is globally represented by 12 brands - Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Ducati, Lamborghini, Porsche, Scania, SEAT, ŠKODA, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles (Volkswagen Nutzfahrzeuge), MAN and Volkswagen Passenger Cars.

Akshay Goel

Team Motorzest