Výroba a logistika / modernizace-PXL

Staying Ahead of Mass Production

While building battery production in the brand-new M8 hall, a so-called pre-series centre was also established in the M6 hall. Škoda Auto and its partners intend to continue utilising its capabilities.

The team at the VSA pre-series centre, which was established in Hall M6.

To accelerate the launch of the new production lines as much as possible, a unique pre-series centre (VSA) with a capacity of 15 complete batteries per day was established near the existing battery production in Hall M6 during the project's preparation phase. A team of specialists worked here to verify and stabilise production processes while fine-tuning the manufacturing procedures themselves even before the new M8 hall with modern lines was built.

"Development of the battery was nearing completion within the VW Group, but we already needed to test it in the pre-series phase. So we decided to establish a centre where we could test, improve and optimise both the product itself and the production processes," explains Martin Šipoš, project coordinator of the PPK department — Powertrain Production Planning. The centre also tested production ergonomics and battery manufacturability, and developed testing software. Based on the insights gained, specific technical solutions were developed that helped accelerate the launch of production lines and the ramp-up to full production capacity.

"In total, we have so far produced more than 300 batteries for testing by Technical Development and Quality, both for the base project and for model maintenance. As part of the testing, crash tests, leak tests, temperature tests, functional tests and driving tests were conducted. For these purposes, we also manufactured batteries with discharged cells, so-called dummy batteries," says Petr Janků, a battery assembly planning specialist from the PPK-E/1 department.

In the future, this centre will facilitate further battery development as well as the implementation of changes in production or the launch of new lines. "We can test various changes without causing downtime on the production line. We plan to use the centre's capabilities to verify and optimise processes for every new battery type," says M. Šipoš. This is precisely how the pre-series centre saves Škoda Auto money (as well as its partners within the VW Group, whom it can assist with battery development). "Testing changes on the production line is far more demanding and costly than testing them here," adds M. Šipoš. Škoda Auto can use the insights gained to make timely adjustments to both the battery design and documentation, as well as the production lines themselves. This saves both time and costs.