Cookie Consent by Free Privacy Policy website More than 1,000 jobs at new engine factory in Jawor: Mercedes-Benz Cars celebrates further progress of new high-tech engine plant in Poland
june 29, 2018 - Mercedes-Benz

More than 1,000 jobs at new engine factory in Jawor: Mercedes-Benz Cars celebrates further progress of new high-tech engine plant in Poland

  • Official topping-out ceremony in Jawor attended by Jadwiga Emilewicz, Minister of Entrepreneurship and Technology, and other Polish and German guests from Politics and Business.
  • Markus Schäfer: “This is a strong sign of our commitment to the location and to German-Polish friendship."
  • 500 additional jobs will be created at Jawor site - doubling the number of employees to more than 1,000 in total.
  • Jawor is among the first CO2-neutral factories of #mercedesbenz Cars and one of the first CO2-neutral factories of this dimension in Poland.

Stuttgart / Jawor – #mercedesbenz Cars has nearly completed construction work on its high-tech engine plant in Jawor, Poland - the basic structure of the new engine factory is in place. With this plant, the company is increasing capacities within the global production network of #mercedesbenz Cars. The CO2-neutral factory will employ more than 1,000 people, 500 more than initially announced at last year’s Groundbreaking.

The official topping-out ceremony was attended by Jadwiga Emilewicz, Minister of Entrepreneurship and Technology, Markus Schäfer, Member of the Divisional Board of #mercedesbenz Cars, Production and Supply Chain, Frank Deiß, Head of Production Powertrain #mercedesbenz Cars, Rainer Ruess, Head of production planning #mercedesbenz Cars and Dr Andreas Schenkel, CEO #mercedesbenz Manufacturing Poland, as well as other guests from business and politics.

The company has decided to create 500 additional jobs at the site to cope with high demand for its high-tech four cylinder engines. “In our CO2-neutral plant in Jawor, we will build highly efficient engines for our hybrid vehicles and conventionally powered passenger cars. The construction of this plant is an investment in the future and an important milestone on our way to the mobility of the future. This is a strong sign of our commitment to the location and to German-Polish friendship", said Markus Schäfer. Therefore, the Jawor factory will employ over 1.000 people when starting production by the end of 2019.

The factory will produce four cylinder Diesel and Petrol engines for hybrid as well as conventional vehicles and will supply plants of #mercedesbenz Cars around the globe. The different engine variants will be produced alongside the corresponding crankcases on highly flexible lines enabling quick reactions to market demand. The engines produced in Jawor will combine modern engine technology and partial electrification using 48 volt technology. Daimler relies on the coexistence of different drive technologies with an intelligent modular system consisting of highly efficient high-tech combustion engines in combination with 48 volt on-board electrical systems, as well as consistent hybridization and purely electric drives with batteries or fuel cells. These are optimally tailored to the respective customer needs and vehicle types.

“As a so called ‘greenfield’ project, the new engine plant in Jawor offers an excellent opportunity to establish an integrated production concept on a newly built site. Jawor will be our benchmark regarding green high-tech production. It is of course a challenge to transfer the same measures into existing, historically grown factories in our powertrain production network, but it is our aim to implement as many as possible, using Jawor to test feasibility”, stated Frank Deiß.

Industry 4.0 and Green Production

Mercedes-Benz Cars is among the first large industrial companies in Poland to sign contracts with local green power and heat suppliers and the site in Jawor will be among the first CO2-neutral factories for the company as a first measure derived from the “ Purpose” initiative of #mercedesbenz Cars. The initiative aims at a long-term orientation of decisions and socially responsible action.

100 percent of the electricity will be obtained from renewable energies and the heat requirement is obtained via a power plant directly at the factory fence, which provides the energy from renewable raw materials (e.g. wood chips). About 600 sensors will record energy consumption, which can be accessed and controlled on touch screens in real time, reducing the energy requirements of the factory. Industry 4.0 applications such as a real-time management information system and digital shop floor management will play an important role in the new engine factory. Within logistics, driverless transport systems will be used to transport materials, which can be tracked and traced at all times using RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), making physical inventory unnecessary. Other measures planned are the use of Augmented Reality and Big Data analyses to support the employees during the assembly processes, avoid errors at an early stage and prevent machine failures. The goal is to also become paperless in production and in administrative areas.

Jadwiga Emilewicz: “The #automotive industry is a key branch of Polish industry, that’s why it is so good that a company with such a long tradition and prestige has decided to launch a production of engines in our country. It is said that the engine is the heart of the car. Soon a large part of the hearts of German cars will come from Poland. The investment of Daimler AG certainly contributes to strengthening the trade relations between Poland and Germany. It is also a good basis for joint action for the development of #automotive technology.”

Mercedes-Benz Cars is involved also outside the factory premises: interested Polish citizens had the opportunity to participate in competitions and other local events in order to get to know the company better and to inform themselves about possible future job opportunities. The company is committed to strengthen Jawor and the region, for example in cooperation with educational institutions. In May, students from a local School who had won a contest were invited to Stuttgart to visit the #mercedesbenz Museum near the Powertrain Lead Plant in Untertürkheim.

“In our new engine factory in Jawor, we will be setting standards in the area of Industry 4.0, resulting in efficient and flexible production processes involving ergonomic work places,” said Andreas Schenkel. “We have an excellent cooperation with Polish politicians and local authorities, our building contractors as well as with our competent, motivated employees in Poland and Germany. Currently, more than 900 people are working here on the construction site, enabling us to produce highly efficient engines in proven #mercedesbenz quality in 2019”.

The Jawor Factory has a production area of 180.000m², 40.000 m2 larger than initially planned, on a site of 50 hectares overall. Series production of engines in Jawor is scheduled to start in 2019.

Record sales for #mercedesbenz in Poland

2017 has been the fifth record year in a row for #mercedesbenz in Poland. The company has increased sales in the country by over 40 percent to a new record level, while being the premium brand with the highest number of registrations in Poland. Bestsellers were the GLC, E-Class saloon, A-Class and GLA. #mercedesbenz has been growing at double-digit rates in Poland since 2013. In the first quarter of 2018, the company has already achieved a new record in the country thanks to double-digit growth.

About #mercedesbenz Cars Operations

Mercedes-Benz Cars Operations is responsible for passenger car production at over 30 locations around the world. Three of them are currently being established. Within a flexible and efficient production network with around 78,000 employees it includes the central functions of production planning, TECFACTORY, logistics, and quality. #mercedesbenz Cars produced more than 2.4 million #mercedesbenz and smart passenger cars last year, marking the seventh record in a row. The network is based on the product architectures of front-wheel drive (compact cars) and rear-wheel drive (for example the S-Class, E-Class, and C-Class) as well as the SUV and sports car architectures. In addition there is a powertrain production compound (engines, transmissions, axles and components). Each of these production compounds is grouped around a lead plant that serves as a center of competence for the ramp-up of new products, technology and quality assurance. #mercedesbenz Cars is ready for the electro mobility: Around the globe electro hubs are built for the production of electric vehicles and batteries. The focus of day-to-day work is on the continuous improvement and refinement of state-of-the-art production methods, which allow future high-tech vehicles to be produced in a way that is efficient, flexible and environmentally friendly, according to the typical #mercedesbenz quality standards. All of this revolves around the employees and their expertise, whose work is systematically supported by ergonomic workplace design and intelligent automation. In addition to its own production plants, #mercedesbenz is increasingly leveraging partnerships and utilizing capacities at contract manufacturers as part of its growth strategy.