Quality Time

ŠKODA’s success and growth are reflected in the development plan for the plant on the gentle foothills of the Orlické Mountains, also known as the ‘eagle mountains’ – and the town’s coat of arms features that proud master of the skies. Historical records mention the place for the first time in 1544, and its castle was the main attraction until the arrival of the carmaker. Kvasiny currently has a population of around 1,500, although the ŠKODA plant employs more than four times that number. Cars have been built here for over 80 years, originally under the brand name of Jawa, while the first Superb type saw the light of day in 1947. The site has produced over 1.5 million cars in total, and now occupies ten times the area enclosed by the original factory walls. The milestones in this expansion process are marked by the Superb model series (see info box).

“Kvasiny is a plant that lives,” says Robert Pek, who has experienced the changes that have occurred since the turn of the millennium first-hand. As an interpreter, he accompanied the new plant director back then during construction. Today he describes the atmosphere like this, “We are living the new age of ŠKODA here. And our family of employees is getting bigger all the time.” While a lot has changed in terms of appearance, the inner values have remained the same. The site has a tradition of manual work in the production of cars, although electric hands are now taking over some of the dirty and heavy work. There are many areas in the plant where one can find such logical and symbolic helping hands between the past and the future.

The part of the future that paint specialist Karel Macháček is currently working on goes by the name of Samoa and is a very special hue of metallic red. “As far as technology goes, it’s a complicated application,” says Macháček, “but we like these types of challenges.” A new paint colour called Business Grey came along with the new Superb. Pavel Mizera, who bears overall responsibility for the paint process, knows that a wealth of experience goes hand in hand with high quality. On the new Superb, even the fuel caps are painted in Kvasiny. They were the last blank spot on the paint map. Mizera gazes out over a row of car bodies in gleaming matte gold that glide into an application cage for a special stage of their treatment. There, a descending spray of mist will wash away the last specks of dust, after which the car bodies – already recognisable as Superbs – will be gently stroked with brushes made of emu feathers in order to prevent the build-up of electrostatic charge. The doors are opened by employees in white coats, who call what they do an “operation”. After all, why shouldn’t wellness treatments also extend to cars?

Including all the priming and drying stages, the conveyor lines in the paint shop cover more than seven kilometres. Those in body production are shorter. That said, the new production hall is enormous. Measuring just over 100,000 square metres, like a huge construction kit. On the Superb’s first outing in its automotive life, it is lifted, pushed, trimmed and caressed. But its genes first need a robust foundation – so the wheel well, front end and longitudinal beams are welded to its underbody. Visitors are immediately struck by how quiet and orderly it is in this enormous hall. The production lines have been restructured and expanded. It is very easy to follow the creation process of the Superb. In the middle of the body shop, robots act out fascinating choreography as they enclose, lift, turn and work on the Superb. From the left and right sides of the hall, workers manually feed preassembled components into the core line’s automated processes. At any given time, 58 cars are on the line, with “assembly” signs at individual stations. Considering production as a holistic process, it is more an awakening. The new Superb required the introduction of new equipment and tools, and a new logistics hall has been built. The body, whose silhouette now clearly reveals it to be the Superb, takes an undulating course through the hall, often suspended just below the high ceiling. There’s no question that the people in Kvasiny have the energy required.

One Superb per shift is completely removed from the assembly process and examined at a measurement and test centre designed specifically for this purpose. The room reserved for this fitness check has special security features. All the data needed for the constantly changing and improving automotive production processes of the future are gathered here. Insights that have a direct effect on adjacent linka, as the production line is called. One of the key moments in the life of a Superb is akin to a pit stop in Formula One. Speed and precision are crucial. This is the step that production specialists call the “marriage”, which joins the two main components of body and engine together. The body is elevated to approximately 1.80 metres in order to install the powertrain preassembled by Petr Barták and other operators. The Superb loses its single status in just two minutes of assembly – a shotgun wedding. And the process continues at roughly the same pace. The line weaves through the hall, but the principle remains the same. The components needed for installation are preassembled on the sides of the hall before being fed onto the line. Barcodes ensure that the correct dashboard will be assembled at the station operated by Martin Pražák. And the process keeps on going like a string of beads. Wiring harnesses are laid under the carpet, window regulators and windshield wipers are mounted, and the correct software is installed. The parts are brought in alternately by workers and by self-driving electric transporters. The latter announce their arrival with music – heavy metal, of course!