In 30 years Volkswagen Slovakia has produced more than 5 million cars. The Volkswagen Slovakia plant in Bratislava is the only automotive plant in the world that produces renown vehicles from five brands, Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, SEAT and Škoda. Since 2013 they produce multiple e-cars such as Volkswagen e-up!, SEAT Mii electric, ŠKODA CITIGOe iV. Volkswagen Slovakia was the first manufacturer in the Volkswagen Group starting with E-Mobility production.

With the highest turnover and being the biggest private employer in Slovakia, the company further is the biggest contributor to the Slovak state budgets.

At the TU ACE Expert Talk “Production of the Future” Dr. Oliver Grünberg, Chairman of the Board of Directors, gave insights into the company´s  approach why Volkswagen Slovakia is so successful and how it prepares for the future challenges.

Dr. Oliver Grünberg started his talk with presenting the actual data of the company and mentioned that production of the future will be determined by the mission of the company, the product of the future and the surrounding setup factors. According to Volkswagen’s mission statement the company is “On the way to emission free mobility for all”, they are about to implement the CO₂-neutral and emission-free production. Materials are being recycled and also the used water is being reused. The product of the future is changing because the customers have demands on new built-in technologies in the car and service sector. According to Volkswagen and Dr. Grünberg the product of the future will be electric – battery-driven, autonomous, fully connected and CO₂-neutral. To meet their challenge of cost-effective and easy production, the product should be designed and engineered in a suitable way as well. The introduction of new production technologies and systems is hereby required. As the surrounding setup factors he mentioned three key categories: Digital Masters - Digitalization, Block Economy and the Naturocracy, the latter focusing on the current hot topics of climate change and sustainability which will drastically influence the automotive industry and its production.

Dr. Grünberg forecasted that due to the high cost pressure the company is and will be facing, the production of the future will be higher automatized and higher modularized, fully connected, CO₂-neutral and sustainable. To reach their goals though, the Volkswagen Group has already implemented strategic work packages in the production and logistics. On this basis, Volkswagen Slovakia has taken measures for the digitalization in production and administration.

To get more details about Volkswagen’s Digital Production Platform and its effects, click and watch the interview with Dr. Grünberg: