Taking off in the middle of the transformation

Automotive engineering is being rethought

TF: Prof. Dudenhöffer, tell us what characterizes your event and what is the goal of the organizers?

FD: "What we are observing is a significant change in manufacturing structures in the automotive industry. The process was initiated by Elon Musk with Giga-Casting. Mega-casting has now become a trend in China and even Europeans, such as Volvo cars, are starting to use these machines.  Mega-casting is associated with standardization and high volumes. Think of car factories that produce 1.5 million vehicles a year instead of 500,000. In other words, we are moving towards completely new value chains in automotive manufacturing. Large plants allow cost reductions like Henry Ford's assembly line introduction, but at the same time everything has to be redimensioned.  You don't just set up a machine that presses aluminum with 12,000 tons of clamping pressure, everything really changes. And that applies to the mechanical processes and the digital processes. Car manufacturing is being rethought."

Ola Källenius and many others

TF: The agenda arouses curiosity about different industry sectors and the list of speakers reads like a who's who. Tell us who you have invited and what formats and topics you will be offering the participants.

FD: "We are focusing on the entire vehicle industry, i.e. passenger cars and commercial vehicles. Commercial vehicles in particular are much more specific and have a smaller production volume. However, aluminum casting is also used here, for example in the battery sector for electric trucks. DaimerTruck will be there, as will Mercedes with its CEO Ola Källenius and a factory tour of the 56 in Sindelfingen. NIO will also be exciting, as China is becoming the new normal in the automotive industry. And because China is becoming so important, we also have a delegation around the Major of Beijing Chaoyong, the district where the really big car plants are located, such as Mercedes-BAIC with us. More than 50 companies are presenting their innovations for the New Manufacturing World - machine builders, suppliers, car manufacturers and, of course, tech companies that are mapping digital production with cloud and cyber security"

No risk. No fun

TF: The event title NEW MANUFACTURING WORLD implies that we are opening a new chapter in industrial history, even though automotive production has been running perfectly well for 100 years. Where are we in the transformation and what is the NEW?

FD: "There are two worlds today. On the one hand, the world of combustion engines and, on the other, the world of battery electric vehicles and fuel cell drive systems. The New Manufacturing World has a lot to do with battery-electric vehicles. And we are already very advanced in this area in China. But as I said at the beginning, Volvo in Gothenburg is also addressing this issue, as is Honda in the USA at its plant in Ohio. And Daimler Truck in Wörth is also making progress with production processes for zero Co2 commercial vehicles. The transformation is not taking place regionally in lockstep, but quite clearly - the pace is being set in China. Transformation is also risk... and as Wendelin Wiedeking once said nicely " No Risk, No Fun" ... by fun he means profit"

TF: Thank you very much, we wish you and all participants an interesting event, fruitful insights and good networking - Glückauf!