The company's entire production and logistics system structure is showing its age. "Many of our logistics systems were established in the 1980s [and are] slowly declining technologically," Klaus-Peter Schmitt, Mercedes-Benz Diagnostic Competence Centre IT manager, told AutomotiveIT.
The ambitious logistics project was launched in January 2009 under the title "Automotive Supply MFA." Its managers developed an advanced material logistics strategy. The targeted processes included material planning, incoming goods, warehousing, assembly line supply and parts shipment. Time and expense are saved when items reach the assembly line quickly. Last August, the system went live successfully at the new factory in Kecskemét, Hungary. East London in South Africa, Hambach in France, and Beijing in China will follow.
Daimler wants the state-of-the-art systems in all of its Mercedes-Benz Cars assembly plants to be completed by 2020. That will enable the company to expand its model-line. There are expected to be more models in the A-Class's third generation, and the company will have to be able to support the new models logistically.
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