Michael Oeljeklaus, ŠKODA AUTO Board Member for Production and Logistics, emphasises, “Our new paint shop in Mladá Boleslav is one of the most modern and sustainable facilities of its kind in Europe thanks to the use of highly innovative, cutting-edge technologies. A high degree of automation ensures the greatest possible precision and efficiency. At the same time, we do not make any compromises when it comes to sustainability; compared to conventional paint shops, for example, we use 210 grams less solvent and 17% less clear lacquer per vehicle. With the aid of a new exhaust air purification system, we have also been able to reduce the amount of paint residue by more than two kilograms per car body. Moreover, we use an all-new concept where the dryers are positioned across the body. This unique new solution makes it possible to use shorter dryer units while taking the quality and efficiency of all processes to a new level.”
The award will be presented at the 15th Automotive Lean Production Congress, taking place on 3 and 4 November at the ŠKODA Museum in Mladá Boleslav. The Automotive Lean Production Awards are presented each year by the industry journal AUTOMOBIL PRODUKTION and the management consultancy Agamus Consult. The aim is to establish an international benchmark for lean production and digitalisation for the automotive industry under the motto ‘Learning from the best’. Each of the best performers will be presenting their concepts and projects in lean production at the two-day event. ŠKODA AUTO previously won the ‘Special Award – Smart Digital Application’ for the dProduction project in 2019.
At the paint shop opened in Mladá Boleslav in August 2019, material and energy consumption, as well as waste generated during the painting process, have been significantly reduced thanks to innovative technologies and processes, with 66 robots performing numerous tasks. Every year, as many as 168,000 car bodies are painted at the paint shop in a three-shift pattern. The plant’s total painting capacity increased to 812,000 car bodies once the facility went into operation. ŠKODA AUTO has invested 214.5 million euros in the new building and at the same time created more than 650 new jobs. The 35-metre-high paint shop has seven floors, making it currently the tallest building on the grounds of ŠKODA AUTO’s main plant.
