Reflecting VW's changing face
Phaeton's 'glass factory' is clearly a different way to build an image

DRESDEN, Germany - Its official name is Die Gläserne Manufaktur, The Transparent Factory, and it provides a fascinating insight into the state-of-the-art production process for Volkswagen's new Phaeton luxury sedan.

This top-drawer conveyance expands VW's range into the very high end of the luxury market, where the Audi A8 L, BMW 7 Series, Jaguar XJ, Lexus LS 430 and Mercedes-Benz S-Class currently rule the roost. But, if you think the maker of the 'People's Car' is out of its league in such regal company, a visit to the 'glass factory' could shatter your illusions.

Inspired by former VW Group chairman Ferdinand Piech, this distinctively different factory is a unique showcase for the build process designed to hike Volkswagen's brand image to elite status.

Unlike today's typical 'greenfield' auto plant site, this city-based factory is right in the heart of Saxony's capital, just a stone's throw from the botanical gardens. Volkswagen is also breaking new ground with this architectural 'crystal palace.' Piech's vision was to make the process of car building transparent, so customers (and city residents) could actually see the Phaeton being built before their eyes.

On that score, the L-shaped factory is clearly a success. The 90,000 square foot glass façade allows an inside look at how each Phaeton is virtually hand built in a 'clean' environment that's so eerily quiet, it's unlike any other manufacturing facility extant. The noise-producing 'dirty' bits of the Phaeton's creation - welding the bodies, priming and painting - are done elsewhere.

The finished bodies are shipped about 150 kilometres by truck from Mosel, near Zwickau. The other pieces needed for assembly, major sub-assemblies and some 1,200 pre-manufactured parts are then stockpiled at a special collection centre in Friedrichstadt, a few kilometers outside Dresden itself. Then, specially-developed just-in-time tramcars deliver everything to the glass factory, operating on the same tracks as Dresden's public transport system. The city is therefore placed under as little strain as possible in terms of additional emissions.

The planners also paid particular attention to environmental protection: 350 trees have been planted on the site. The depth of the building complex was designed so the groundwater levels wouldn't be disturbed. Special sodium vapour lights are even used to illuminate the grounds, operating in a yellow spectral range so the insects in the nearby botanical gardens won't be upset.

Everything reaches the plant in time-sequenced batches. The bodies are first elevated to a small storage area on the top floor of the multi-level plant, in clear view of the outside world. Actual construction begins when each Phaeton body is automatically transferred to a pedestal on which it can be rotated and tilted to provide easy access for plant workers. At this stage, it is also mated with a mobile storage container whereupon both are guided through the factory and steered into place automatically, using 60,000 under-floor magnets for accurate positioning.

True to the original concept, even the factory floor is different. Canadian maple is laid down where poured concrete is the norm in a traditional auto plant. The maple hardwood even covers the moving assembly line, too. The latter is only visible if you watch carefully.

The car body on its pedestal fixture - and its mobile container with all components needed to build that car - are situated on that moving floor section.

A two-man assembly team stays with them, for 30-minute segments, through the car's 36-hour build stage. About 40 cars a day are currently being built on two shifts, though 150 per day are possible on a three-shift schedule.

Once the painted body has been shrink-wrapped (to protect the finish during assembly), anywhere from 40 to 70 kilometres of wiring is installed. Then a hanging fixture, also able to twist and rotate, moves the Phaeton by monorail to a point where it encounters the only three robots in the entire plant. They install the spare tire, front and rear window glass, plus all five wheels and tires.

At the next stage, pre-assembled units such as the engine, transmission, driveline, fuel and exhaust systems are married for life in a quietly serene ceremony. The power tools handled by the workers are cordless electric (recharged on station between each vehicle movement). None of that pneumatic factory buzzing and burping for the white lab-coated glass factory employees.

Up to 280 completed Phaetons awaiting customer pickup are then stacked in a 130-foot high, 14-storey glass tower beside the entrance to the factory. Just like a giant 'Lazy Susan' dispensing tasty treats.

This visionary approach to the innovative assembly of a quality product has taken Volkswagen into a new dimension. A dimension that reflects a new face for the company's move upmarket.