Mercedes-Benz Trucks: The World's Biggest Truck Factory | Full Documentary

[Music] the world's largest truck factory is located in Europe on pine here new truck rolls off the assembly line every 130 seconds up to 470 trucks a day the factory in southern Germany exports its vehicles to all corners of the earth the site is huge almost the size of a small city [Music] if you want to visualize it think of four hundred football pitches that's 2.9 square kilometers that's pretty big the list of different vehicle versions you can order is huge as is the range of colors there are more than 450 to choose from gunfire sometimes our customers come with color samples and ask to have that particular tone and that is how we end up with such a large number of colors since its introduction in 1996 the Actros has become the factories most produced truck it is the classic tractor for highway transportation the engines come from the company's own Factory in Mannheim damn weirdo if the engine is wonderful they should all be like that one truck every few minutes the largest truck factory in the world [Music] the mercedes-benz truck Factory in farhat almost 11,000 people work here producing trucks for the whole world one of five trucks in Europe comes from this Factory in Germany it is every third one the first truck rolled off the production line in 1963 powerful and robust fast economically reliable for every job in kilometer after kilometer mad is how the vehicles with the mercedes-benz star prove their worth on five continents a lot has happened since the 60s production no longer means strenuous manual labor today robots weld the truck caps machines are taking on more and more jobs reducing the burden on employees high rack warehouses are stocked and unloaded by robots truck assembly is like a giant 3d puzzle every day around 550 truckloads of parts come in everything from tires to radios all these things are assembled in the various production halls and in the end a new truck rolls from the assembly line every 130 seconds these chassis beams are the basis for every truck several hundred of them arrive at the factory every day every vehicle frame needs 2 of these longitudinal chassis beams these two elements are bolted onto cross members the frame used here has a large number of holes so that it can be used for a wide range of vehicle types and versions at the front the structure finishes off with the so called frame head the frame has already been marked to show which bolt goes where the markings for the bolts are done by laser they are marked up here by the laser system the laser markings tell the employee exactly which bolt with which diameter goes into which position the frame construction which is carried out at the station uses around 300 to 400 bolts per frame it is the basis for every truck that leaves this Factory the finished frames weighs several hundred kilograms and can only be moved with the help of automated transportation systems this is where the journey through the huge hall starts after about six hours of assembly a finished truck leaves the factory all cables are secured to the frame by means of cable ties it is already clear which parts will be added for example what kind of accessories the truck will have which brakes will be used and which rear axle version there are more than 400 colors a wide range of engines transmissions and bodies the gigantic number of possible combinations means that there are very few identical trucks built here each year to ensure that the assembly line always has the right parts in the right order they are always put together for a specific vehicle the assembly line should never have to stand still and there should never be a wrong part going back to look for a mistake wastes valuable time in this step the so called picking all the parts are put together for the next vehicle an employee sorts them into his basket in the exact order in which they will be used in production green and red lights show where the next part can be found [Music] only when all the necessary small parts are in the basket does the system give a green light [Music] [Music] frame construction is the first station in the huge factory this station alone is one kilometer long and has the size of 10 football pitches while the frame is being assembled the cabs are being put together here there are 550 different versions every cab consists of a base plate besides and a roof [Music] computer-controlled robots put the parts together the complete cab is now welded fully automatically and with millimeter precision then the driverless transport system moves the caps on to the next station the verification as if by magic a special camera system uses 150 reference points to check every cab only if everything is perfect is the shell allowed to leave the station as we hung we have our inline measuring system outside where all vehicles are measured if anything unusual is found then the cab's re measured using up to 1000 attributes the factory has a special measuring station specifically for this the measuring machines here work with lasers that provide an accuracy of 0.05 millimeters they show if the size and space between the holes and threads and surfaces are correct so that the employees can tell if the cab is assembled precisely as it should be or not only after a successful test can the truck continue on its way next the cab's come to the paint shop there each cabin gets a primer coating by passing through a dip tank it is the most important paint job in the life of a truck because this layer prevents rust [Music] doing a half forward roll the cab is submerged in the paint this ensures that there is corrosion protection in every nook and cranny [Music] I'm gonna follow its if we simply dipped the cab there would be a pocket of air that could not escape quickly enough by turning the cab we have changed it so that the air can escape can get out of the cab the cab in the paint have different charges so that they attract each other like magnets the primer has an optimal adherence to the cab this process is called cathodic immersion priming [Music] once the primer has been applied the cab moves to the next station PVC seam sealing robots apply PVC to seal all of the welds and cutoff points every opening is perfectly sealed preventing any moisture from getting into the vehicle another coat of paint is applied once again using electrodes the atomizer is positively charged and the cab has a negative charge so that the cab practically pulls the paint towards it because then these are high rotation atomizers driven by turbine it has a certain rotational speed and sprays out the paint accordingly on the outside there is a high-voltage field that makes the system very efficient and reduces the amount of material we have to use only four liters of paint are needed her cab the system paints the doors and add-on parts along with the rest of the cab to ensure they have the exact same colour the paint is completely dry after only 45 minutes every coating is then checked with the utmost precision the color blue comes in 40 different shades employees have to make sure they have a good overview of what is going on to ensure that each customer gets their truck with the exact colour they wanted sometimes it happens that our customers come with color samples and ask to have a particular tone and that is how we end up with such a large number of colors back in the assembly hall the frame construction is finished at the moment the frame is still upside down so that the axles can be lowered onto it several hundred screws and bolts hold this skeletal structure together a structure which will later support the entire truck these heavy frames can only be transported to the axle assembly with the help of a gantry [Music] now the axles are installed depending on the type each axle can weigh up to 900 kilograms the axles will eventually be responsible for accelerating and stopping the truck they are especially designed to deal with these deadly strains the man on the factory floor can only lift these pieces with the help of an engine hoist [Music] very carefully they lower the axle down onto the upside-down frame [Music] then the chassis is painted Nova gray is the standard color at the customer's request any other color is also possible such as red for the fire department the frame is not turned over until the color is dried now the axles are facing downward and the truck is ready to move on to the next station here the diesel engines and the transmissions are already waiting [Music] the men in the factory lovingly refer to this step as the engagement because it is here where the frame meets the engine that too of a trucks three most important components come together the frame is now the right way up the men can now slowly lower the heavy engine and attach the two [Music] Yvetta Moses were the engine which was delivered from Mannheim is put in we carry out a small pre assembly and then inserted into the frame this is what we call the engagement the wedding takes place a few stations further on that is when we put the cabin onto the frame the Actros engine is available in ten different versions from 328 horsepower up to 625 horsepower the 6-cylinder diesel engines consist of around 2,500 individual parts they are built in Mannheim in their in-house factory for commercial vehicle engines first the engine block is put on a so-called a GV short for automated guided vehicle and a G V is a driverless transport vehicle the engine now has an automatic chauffeur oh that transports it from station to station once the sliding bearing surfaces and the crankshaft crank pin are oiled is the crankshaft mounted on the engine block then comes the six Pistons with the connecting rods they are all put in by hand and bolted to the crankshaft [Music] every piece that is mounted on the motor has its own article code which is stored in the system before they are mounted the employees scan the pieces and check to see if they are the right ones for that motor all the pieces must be mounted otherwise the AGV will not transport the motor to the next station as soon as the engine logs on at the station the employee is shown which component he has to take out and how many that means that in this case he has to take out two clamps when he does this the white light turns off and the green one turns on and blinks so if the person working here forgets to take out a part then the engine does not leave the station and he notices oh I forgot something scanning the individual parts allow us to trace things back in case there is a complaint even the force with which the screws are tightened is saved in the system this is the code for the flywheel the code is now assigned to the appropriate motor the part is put in and checked by a scan after the exhaust turbocharger with the exhaust manifold has been preassembled the block is hoisted on to the cylinder head mounted and bolted next someone checks if all the cables are routed correctly and all connectors are connected properly this is done with the help of a tablet then we scan the barcode from the controller in order to be sure that we have the right engine then the employee has shown various components that means he works through the checklist if that's okay then he can set it to ok for example he checks to see if these locking components are properly set if that were not the case the vehicle would probably survive our test run but eventually fail in the field that's why he checks every single connection to see if they are secured and then he marks them with a yellow paint pen so that we can be sure that the cables have been correctly mounted before the engine goes to the in-house testing facility it has examined one more time according to a method adopted from Japanese production facilities an employee groups each component in a precisely defined sequence and checks it with his fingers and eyes from different angles to see if the parts have been assembled correctly if everything is ok the AGV brings the engine to the testing facility a robot takes the engine and carefully lifts it onto a dedicated testing facility transport vehicle now the motor is waiting for a vacant test bench Computers determine the sequence in which the motors are tested so that there is no idle time at the test benches as if by magic the AGV with the engine moves towards the next available test bench the AGVs have a conductor loop meaning that they draw their energy inductively directly from the ground there are lots of markings on the ground that the agb's use for orientation they then count the number of wheel rotations in order to know exactly when they need to turn to drive right into the test bench for the for one of these ATVs drives into a test bench it has to lift up the engine the test bench has a higher working height for safety reasons the vehicles use a very low center of gravity while driving the test bench up to four engines are tested here per hour to reduce weights a turntable system is used while one engine is being prepared outside another one is being tested inside when the one inside is finished the next engine can be brought in and the test starts immediately without any waiting time the 11 test benches carry out both hot tests and cold tests we use both variants and there are only 11 test benches because they are so effective the engine is attached to the test bench and filled with water oil and diesel then each engine goes through an automated performance program this is the first time the engine is actually started after the test the engine is checked for leaks an employee goes over every part one more time with the UV light the result grass green if we have the problem we see that immediately then we have a red area somewhere if it's a small problem it can be taken care of right away and then we run the engine again to see if everything is okay this is how they all should be test passed this engine can continue on its journey meanwhile back on the rotating table the next engine is being tested [Music] after the test the engine needs to cool down before the testing devices can be dismantled a lifter puts the cooled engines on a suspension track that takes them through the paint shop in a specific order the first station here is the scan cabin here a complete scan is made of the engine and a 3d image is created which is used for the paint job to follow in this way the paint robot knows exactly which version it has to paint and whether a new part has been added or not parts that are not supposed to be painted are taped now the engine is painted with a clear coat several robots paint the left side first and then the right side of the engine I see here is that the engine appears to be white that is simply because we are using a water-based paint and there is still water in the paint that makes it look white during the drying phase it loses that white color and slowly becomes transparent as we can see on finished engines in the background is a water wall the water wall takes the paint particles out of the air that means that through suction we get the air in the cabin to go through the water wall small particles get caught in the water bind with it and are later disposed of as waste after less than 60 seconds the engine is painted initially before it dries the new coat of paint looks milky white it takes a few minutes for the paint to dry and become transparent when everything is completely dry another quality control is carried out here to manually I do a quality check off the entire motor including the paint job to see if all the parts have been painted properly if for example a screw thread has been painted it has to be cleaned only then we ship the motor to Japan Russia or North America for example most however go to the factory invert 70 kilometers away here we see the results of 2500 parts that are now ready to go out into the world in this particular case it's a motor that is going to vote to our own factory where we assemble trucks you can tell because it is in a steel frame that is just a carrier and the frame comes back to us empty so that we can send out the next engine scene change strut got another location with test benches before a vehicle goes into production the motor transmission and axles are tested not just for performance reliability and fuel economy but also for the amount of noise they produce ever more stringent requirements demand the trucks have to be quieter even the gear wheels in the transmission are aligned so that they run as quietly as possible this room is equipped with microphones and sound absorbing walls we often in principle it's like being on the road where there's nothing in the way on the left and the right kind of ended but for the soundwaves there are no walls here they disappear in that part and are not reflected so that we can take field measurements as if the transmission were on a big field and all we measure is the sound of the transmission and not the noise reflecting from the walls so we just measure the source everything in this room is hidden in these sound absorbing materials only the test transmission is open surrounded by microphones the purpose of the test to determine which gear wheel makes noise and needs to be optimized but the transmission doesn't just have to be quiet it also has to function efficiently to achieve that another lab tests a truck skier changing characteristics under full load conditions day in and day out this is a truck that drives the same test stretch every day so that different modes of driving can be compared with one another the society this is actually a vehicle without tires or rear axle we've got the engine the transmission and the exhaust gas after treatment system in this test the truck drives the route stood got Hamburg stood got every day with different driving strategies sometimes the gear changes sooner when going up a hill sometimes later this then determines the optimal switching strategy to achieve the best possible fuel economy we can drive the route one day with 40 tons total weight a next day again with 30 and the day after that with 20 and can compare the results right away does this gear shifting strategy work with a full load with half a load with an empty truck and then we have a statistically valid result and can evaluate the fuel consumption on the spot back in rut to build more than 400 trucks per day requires almost 550 truckloads of parts every day five days a week everything is delivered here and needs to be distributed with precision ready logistical report of logistics and production work together very closely Logistics is actually at the core of the initial processes because they deliver the parts scheduled deliveries procure the parts and they have to deliver them to the assembly line finally the parts are put into a basket so every vehicle has the right part at the right place at the right second it's like a beehive automated conveyor belts move boxes from A to B and back again to save storage space only parts that will be used in the next few minutes are placed onto the conveyor belt this is all backed up by an ingenious logistic system every box that is delivered is scanned and then registered in the system so all of the small parts in these boxes are sorted the parts carriers are placed in the high rack storage area until they are needed in production [Music] the warehouse is staffed by 12 huge robots the so-called automated storage and retrieval system or ASRs for short they put away all the boxes that come in and take them out again to a SRS is there to look after storing and retrieving small parts these machines can move up to about 35,000 units per working day no human could do that much [Music] but the boxes are not just stored away the machines store them and automatically retrieve them in perfect order so that they arrive at the assembly line exactly when they are needed that means there is always room on the assembly line there are never unnecessary parts lying around somewhere small parts move around the factory all day long as if by magic [Music] youngja Bowens we have all sorts of things in stock here from screws to radios and cable ties everything that fits into small containers is stored here except for hazardous substances not a single screw is lost the system always knows exactly where each box is at any given moment every carrier in other words every box has a barcode the scanner registers it and the system then knows exactly where which carrier has to go the system makes those decisions and fractions of a second the boxes are sorted into these wagons like in a supermarket they're called baskets and they are sorted in such a way that the employees on the assembly line can take out the right part in the right order small parts are delivered right to the assembly line on the carrier's larger parts are put into the baskets by hand if someone grabs the wrong part here then it will not be available later for assembly that is why there is a control computer which shows which part is sorted into which compartment in which quantity [Music] is this team this system has one important advantage not only does it show me which parts I have to get but also where I have to put them in the basket you can see that here with the different colors one red on blue and one yellow for the employee that means that a yes to get that part and be put in the correspondingly coloured compartment in addition each part has its own name they are called things like Superman compass white chocolate or crossbow the names are there in case of an emergency if the computer system suddenly crashes the employees can work with a handwritten list words such as cupcake and crocodile are easier to remember than long parts numbers this way even a power outage will not stop production in this department [Music] once the baskets are packed they are brought to the assembly line once again that is taken care of by the driverless transport vehicles the so-called AGVs [Music] yeah in this man venom here we use the AGV to get the filled baskets from the starting point to the processing point the assembly point this transportation system simply bridges that gap think of it like a train it drives along its track and has a scanner that recognizes me that means it stops automatically nothing can go wrong when I move away again the system continues automatically it takes a second and then it starts up again the interior of the painted caps is now installed one of the first assembly processes is the installation of the cockpit it is delivered together with the cab into which it is to be mounted whether it is right-hand drive or left-hand drive the system always knows exactly which vehicle is next and always has the proper instrument panel ready to go the cockpit is bolted to the a pillar and the front end using a torque wrench the employees tighten the bolts with the necessary tension we work in two shifts putting in up to 438 cockpits a day if you add up all the days that people have been working here then that's several thousand next a robot glues in the windscreen the windscreens also arrived at the assembly line in the right order the robot picks up the windscreen takes it to the glue nozzle where the glue is applied at the same time another robot is measuring the cab where the windscreen is to go then it is put in with millimeter precision now the seats are waiting to be put in they were just delivered precisely as ordered by the customer we have every kind of seat there is the driver seat a passenger seat and the jump seat the new actress even has a reclining seat that swivels that you can turn these seats are of course available in a multitude of variations variations include leather or partial leather upholstery with or without seat heating and there is a comfort version so here too there is incredible variance next are the cabs doors after being painted they went to a separate production site for preparation to ensure that the parts are fastened with the right amount of torque each bolt has its own cordless screwdriver thus avoiding mistakes [Music] now we move on to the interior the employee installs and connects the cables for the steering wheel in a few easy steps he uses an electronic torque wrench that measures and saves the bolting parameters in the system a record is kept on who tighten the steering wheel when and by how much [Music] what is called the bonnet on a family car here it is called the front gate two employees put it into place and then bolted on by hand to prevent scratches and for better ergonomics two of us worked together to put it into place as soon as we place it it can no longer fall off in the second step it is then screwed down the next step is the actress sign we put it on with the template and then press it tightly so that it can never come off again and then it can be shipped to the customer every third truck on German roads was built invert every fifth truck on European roads in two shifts around 11,000 people work here producing up to 470 trucks a day here is where the assembly line reaches its high point the so called wedding this is where the cab is put onto the frame six different models leave the factory's assembly line randomly mixed impossible to think what might happen if the wrong cab showed up for the wedding off tied out the wedding because in this step we are marrying the two main components of the vert the cab which is built at the same time as the frame that is why we call it a wedding and why it is the most important process for us the two largest components come together and under next are the tires then the truck can finally stand on its own [Music] slowly but surely the trip through the factories coming to an end in a few minutes the truck will be finished now the employees are filling the vehicle with all the fluids it needs in a few seconds they will bring the truck to life the thing that survived we're ready we're now preparing the vehicle that is we're pressing diesel into the filter and once we have achieved a certain pressure in the system we can have the initial ignition and that is about to happen the systems blue light is on that tells us that there's enough coolant in the vehicle works this morning there were about 10,000 individual pieces now the six cylinders are running and all the functions will be tested one more time the last big technical test is carried out on one of the five in-house chassis dynamometers this is the testing ground for every truck in around 10 minutes the truck goes through a wide range of tests only then is the truck allowed out onto the road the final check takes place at the so called paint transfer square a new truck rolls through these two gates every 130 seconds but only if it is perfect every scratch no matter how small is located and if necessary repaired yeah I have a look at the whole thing to see if I can find something because this is the first check of the drivers cap after the assembly line process the light has to be that bright so that I can see everything because if it were dark or the angle of the light unfavorable you couldn't see minor dents that's why it's that bright here if there is a scratch the truck is sent back to be reworked depending on the part it will either be replaced or as in most cases repainted the most common problem are scratches on the cabin that were made during the assembly those parts go back to the paint shop and are repainted scratches and dents are entered into the checklist everyone who evaluates the truck later on can see where the scratch was and which part was affected as far as I'm concerned the truck is okay I didn't find anything and depending on how much details I have to enter on the record it takes two to three minutes to check a vehicle roughly every 130 seconds a truck leaves the paint transfer square and so finally leaves the kilometer-long production hall about one-fifth of the entire truck production invert is loaded onto ships and sent abroad there is Container Terminal right beside the factory in the past 50 years more than 700,000 deconstructed trucks so-called CKD parts have been sent off by ship ck d stands for completely knocked down that is completely taken apart the trucks are packaged as a construction kit either in boxes or like the cab's mounted on wooden frames special packaging was developed in the in-house carpenter shop yeah we use one part to test how we are going to build the packaging if prototypes are worthy then we go into mass production and the supplier who is going to carry out the mass production gets the prototype from us with every facelift and every change in the vehicle the packaging also has to be changed the goal is always to put as many parts as possible into the least amount of space while ensuring maximum protection packaging like that is called kalo equal in our colleagues carried out a study for a client in South Africa on tanks they check to see if the tanks could be transported safely and damage free and if everything fit the kind of final inspection before we send out the Kolo for smaller parts there is the so called shake test to simulate travel at sea after all the box is being exported travel for weeks on end here the testers can find out if the packaged parts arrive undamaged at the customers doorstep just like in a model kit the boxes have every part you need to build a truck to ensure that the customers know how to put the pieces together the factory offers to come to the customer and assemble the first truck together when they do that they also write assembly instructions specifically for the customers trucks the first time they put it together they do it with the health of our employees they get their first touch and feel of the truck and take this knowledge with them when the trucks come out of the boxes in their factory then it's just an ongoing process every screw is only in the assembly set once if it is used in the wrong spot it will be missing somewhere else with the help of very detailed assembly instructions and an intense exchange with the partners such mistakes are avoided [Music] all the boxes go to the overseas shipping container and are stored according to a very exact positioning plan every box has its predetermined place in the container to avoid imbalances later on doesn't Connecticut hoodlums this one is going to Russia to a customer in Tartus tan and Chelny for shipping it is now going up the Rhine to Rotterdam from there it will go by sea to San Petersburg and then we'll take it by truck to the assembly Factory in Charlie before it goes employees secure the valuable cargo so that nothing is damaged along the way finally the container is given a custom seal now the container can start its trip to Russia first a container stacker puts it onto a truck while this is happening the container is also being weighed by the stacker this is essential for the balancing of the ship an empty container weighs around four tons depending on how it is packed it will weigh between 12 and 22 tons [Music] the truck takes the container to the harbor a mere 500 metres away they're one of two container cranes puts it on the ship at the same time empty containers are being taken off the ship creating a perfect cycle they're having fun when the truck comes from over there from us from our factory to the Rhine River Harbor it unloads the full container picks up an empty one and brings us the empty container so actually it's a closed loop of only a few minutes some trucks are picked up personally in the customer center a lot of times businessmen and drivers want to pick up their vehicle after a tour of the factory on average there are 120 deliveries that our handle here per day when things are busy that can rise to up to 200 per day the employees in the customer center are at the customer's disposal to explain everything about the truck and to answer questions after all you don't buy a truck every day this morning it was 100,000 individual pieces now the Actros is ready for the road and is starting its life as a truck the first drawings and studies on this model were carried out more than a decade ago now this truck is at home on roads all around the globe and II sugata played a significant role in designing the actress before it was introduced into the market his drawing show how futuristic the vehicle was supposed to look back then some elements of that were actually integrated into the final product that was at the very beginning so to speak we simply developed completely crazy forms surely from an exterior perspective what remains is the distinctive front of the vehicle the vehicle had to appeal to a very targeted audience with a strong sense of taste the design has to be so precise that you immediately feel it's reliable it has to look as if it's been formed out of one solid block as head of design Kai's Eber is the man responsible for the appearance of the vehicle today something which is in principle a large tool but buyers do not reach their decisions just on the basis of quality running costs and performance the truck has to grab them right from the start Elizabeth the sparks are everything that the truck can do it has to show that it can do the design has to be very honest it's really true form and function interact there is no superimposed styling it is the largest truck Factory in the world almost 11,000 people work in an area covering 2.9 square kilometres since 1963 the factory in Barratt has been producing up to 470 trucks per day every third truck on German roads was built here every 130 seconds a new truck leaves the assembly line the engines for the trucks are produced in the company's own engine factory in Mannheim self-driving robots transport heavy parts from one station to the next and ensure that within the space of a few hours a diesel engine is created from 2,500 individual pieces invar up more than 550 truckloads of parts arrive at the factory every day stockpiled in a huge high rack storage area 35,000 boxes are moved in an out here every day on the assembly line man and machine work hand in hand to assemble the trucks and in less than one day a truck is assembled and can leave the factory 1/5 of these are taken apart and shipped as a construction kit overseas they leave from the container harbor located 500 metres from the factory five days a week two shifts per day and tomorrow it's back to the beginning when the next morning shift starts in the largest truck Factory in the world

Channel: WELT Documentary

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Keywords: full documentary, full documentaries, hd documentary, hd documentaries, free documentary, welt documentary, welt documentaries, full length documentaries, documentary film, top documentaries, reports, factual film, mercedes benz, mercedes benz trucks, truck factory, truck factory documentary, mercedes benz documentary, mercedes-benz factory documentary, truck documentary, monster truck documentary, mercedes benz plant, german truck, german trucks

Id: a3moToOCXqE

Length: 48min 38sec (2918 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 17 2020