INDUSTRIAL VISIT REPORT

OF

VOLKSWAGEN, PUNE PLANT

SUBMITTED
BY

M.E. MACHINE DESIGN STUDENTS

UNDER GUIDANCE OF

PROF. D. N. JADHAV

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING,

SARDAR PATEL COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING,
MUMBAI-400058
2013-14

Table of Contents

1.

Background: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3

2.

Introduction to VolksWagen Pune plant: ------------------------------------------------------------ 3

3.

Production Line: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3

4.

Assembly line: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4

5.

Benefits from Industrial visit: -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5

6.

Vote of thanks: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5

1. Background:
After concrete efforts of our Department, the students of Sardar Patel college of
Engineering got this esteemed opportunity to have an Industrial visit to a prestigious
company like Volkswagen, India Ltd. We appreciate the efforts of the management of SPCE
& VW for executing this successful Industrial trip.

2. Introduction to VolksWagen Pune plant:

We reached the Volkswagen plant at chakan,
Pune. We headed to the Conference room and
were briefed about the Company by a
presentation from Mr. Chaitnya Halbe (Asst.
Manager- Communication).
The Volkswagen plant in Chakan occupies a
total area of over 2.3 million square meters
(575 acres), with buildings covering about
1,15,000 square meters.
A workforce of over 3,500 people was
engaged in building it during its peak
construction stages. The plant was built in
a record time of 17 months, with an
investment commitment of INR 3,800
Crores (580 million Euros) by Volkswagen
India Private Limited. It is the largest
investment by a German company to date
in the growing Indian market.

3. Production Line:
The plant has a production capacity of 130,000 vehicles a year, which in capacity was
maximised in 2011. The construction of
the plant commenced in 2007.
The Pune plant is one of the most
modern in the Volkswagen Group. It
has a high level of vertical integration
and a large share of local suppliers. The
facility is the only production plant
operated by a German automaker in
India that covers the entire production
process, from press shop through body

shop and paint shop to final assembly.

The facility uses futuristically designed state-of-the-art equipment. For example, the body
shop uses the Diode Laser Brazing (DLB) technology, whereas the Roof & Side Framer laser
technology is used for welding the roof to the body of the car. The facility is also one of the
few environment-friendly manufacturing plants around the area. For instance, the exhaust
of the paint shop is re-burnt and the resultant heat and energy is reused.

4. Assembly line:
A conveyor that is about 20 feet wide and includes a box that is preloaded with all the parts
required for this car during this assembly phase. (These boxes are restocked five times
during the vehicle's assembly process.) The circles along the sides of the conveyor are airconditioning vents, and each car rides on a platform that each worker can elevate to a level
that is comfortable for him or her. Inductive chargers beneath the maple flooring, like those
that recharged the old GM EV1, recharge the electric screwdrivers and torque wrenches.
The conveyor moves at a very slow pace, and there is no official time limit to get each job
done. If a worker feels he or she needs more time, the time is allotted, so that quality is
ensured. That said, the current production rate is a fairly leisurely 420 cars per day over two
shifts.
After one lap on the floor-mounted
conveyor belt, the body is placed on
one of 31 overhead carriers, each of
which can rotate the body to a
comfortable angle for the employee
to fasten underbody components.
Most work at the transparent
factory is done by hand, but robots
handle five operations. This one is
pressing
the
adhesive-bonded
composite-plastic spare-tire well
into the steel chassis. The spare-tire well arrives in the plant with the pneumatic
suspension's air compressor already installed.
After one lap of both the upstairs
conveyor and the suspension and
drivetrain loop, the Phaeton
moves down to the ground floor.
The two robots we see here are
installing the road wheels (farther
away) and the windshield and the

rear-window glass. Basically, the robots handle the work that is too heavy or uncomfortable
for the 227 line workers to perform.
Two instrument panels have just arrived on a carrier, delivered by an autonomous robot,
and seen pulling out from the front of the IP carrier. Many of these little robots run around
the factory delivering the boxes of parts and other components just in time.
At this stop, various hoses are connected to the front of the car, and coolant, brake fluid,
and gasoline are added to the car. We couldn't see a single drop of spilled fluid, nor could
we sniff a whiff of vapor.
Following all of this, a high-pressure water bath checks for leaks, several final system checks
are performed, and visual checks of the paint finish and panel fits are conducted in light
booths like this one.

5. Benefits from Industrial visit:

We got a great opportunity of visiting a Multinational Company. We saw a good sort of
organizational structure. We learnt about well automated production and assembly lines.
We saw an application Computerized Integrated Manufacturing (CIM), Computer Aided
Quality Control (CAQC), and computer controlled robots and material handling systems.
We saw various advanced manufacturing technologies like Diode Laser Brazing (DLB)
technology. We saw application of various industrial engineering philosophies like Just in
Time (JIT) and environmental and safety policies like Green Manufacturing, Think Blue,
Mach 18, OHSAS, etc.

6. Vote of thanks:
On behalf of all the M.E. Machine Design students we take this opportunity to thank the HR
team of Volkswagen, Pune for providing us with the practical information and well as
wonderful hospitality.
We also take moment to offer our greetings to the Prof. D.N. Jadhav (M.E. Machine Design
coordinator) and Prof. Rajesh Buktar (Head of Dept.) for organizing this Visit.

PHOTO