The future of the European dies

However, in recent years this has changed for the better. For example in 2005 the readers and readers of the magazine automotive-und-sport chose cars of Audi AG the best car of its kind in four categories.

Today, the Audi brand is linked to a European leader, whose name is synonymous with the highest sportsmanship and quality. To achieve these high goals also we had to do the homework with regard to the manufacture of dies.

In recent years, Audi and all automotive and media service sector have had to face enormous demands to become more efficient and innovative sector. Some examples are the technology of aluminium or reduction of times in passing.

However, the successes in terms of production have not been avoided dramatically worsening of the situation on the market for the manufacture of dies and equipment. The overcapacity in the world and the creation of new skills in manufacturing in low-wage countries, and in Central Europe and East Asia, have been and are responsible for a dramatic fall in prices. In the past three years the market prices have fallen about 30-50 per cent.

We were all obliged to lower the costs of production for the media service. However, the fall of market prices was clearly superior to the possibility of cost reduction with increased productivity.

The competition has sharpened much at all levels. The market of manufacture of dies and moulds is increasingly global and that means that the number of our international competitors has increased significantly.

All this must be added, and here I am referring to Germany, major disadvantages of costs it relates to salaries and the additional costs of salaries. These factors contribute even more to a bitter fight in the market for the manufacture of dies, moulds and equipment in Europe and Germany.

Then, what chance have? You can choose a strategy of "dumping", hoping to overcome the slump. Another possibility would be that the sector and companies face the situation and the challenges of the future.

Then, I would like to introduce the principle of Audi, not as a universal panacea but rather as a resounding success of promising prospects.

Let us imagine that the requirements of tools and equipment manufacturers have always been particularly high.

For example, the number of variants of Audi AG cars has increased from 7 to 22 models between 1994 and today. In the next few years this number will experience a significant increase.

Why? Only with a continuous expansion of the range of products, for example with new series of models, we can meet the wishes that are clients of a greater individuality. This required strategy of the automotive industry, fulfilling the wishes of the clients, makes also the manufacturers of molds and equipment will have to act. We should be even faster, more precise and more reliable.

Thus the manufacture of dies for Audi, for example, can produce a complete kit of dies for a sidebar frame in six months, which assumes a time of manufacture of a 40 percent less in comparison with the year 1996.

One thing is the time and money. Thus in the past four years we could download necessary manufacturing costs, even for a framework of sidebar, around 30 per cent. All this despite the clear rise in wages, material and energy costs.

We found ourselves and we find that the words of the new Chancellor, with the task of "squaring the circle", but the "roundness of the cube". By this I mean that we are going one step ahead of the policy in this regard.

The future

Now I would like to inform you about the plans and objectives that we have developed in Audi oriented towards a sustainable future and that, in part, have already put into practice. Our motto is the following, and what I say is what I think: our priority is to satisfy the wishes and the needs of our customer service means.

We want to provide customers our dies and equipment of body with the highest possible quality at competitive prices and with a few times in passing as low as possible. In order to achieve these objectives, guide all our processes towards three key factors: quality - cost - time limits.

Many of you everything you have just submitted not them sounds new or revolutionary, but what is behind the manufacture of dies of Audi?

In recent days we have incorporated a program called "Speed", whose objective is to ensure long-term competitiveness of the manufacture of dies for Audi. "speed" in English means speed. And this is precisely the key to success. We must react more quickly to changes in markets and will do so. The program "speed" should be viewed as a stop in boxes in the DTM. The team only can return to fix a car for the race as quickly as possible if all processes are fully synchronized.

For the manufacture of dies of Audi "speed" is the integration of the three main strategic themes: processes, methods, workers. With integration, I refer to the simultaneous work at different levels. Then I would like to comment further on this system.

A level of our program "speed" is "synchronized manufacturing of dies", which is the product of experience and the know-how of our workers. Synchronized means: Standardization of individual processes, for example in the manufacture of dies, and the standardization of products, for example in bending technology.

An important structural basis in the synchronized manufacturing of dies is KVP. Only if we are able to continually optimize our products and processes we will be competitive in the long term. Therefore, we are dedicated to the development from within outward.

To get closer to our goal, the improvement at all levels, we must bid farewell to the beginning of the current workshop and go to a system that offers greater transparency and efficiency in our way of action.

For this reason, in Audi, our model is our own manufacturing of vehicles. In the manufacture of dies, this principle is called rhythm and flow. Another important part of the program "speed" is the "digital manufacturing of dies and molds".

Those of you who have learned the craft of a manufacturer of molds from scratch, will agree with me that in the past 20 years we have experienced progress really fast in CAD/CAM. Today we can digitally reproduce chain of processes in the manufacture of dies and equipment and machine and measurement technique. All chains of processes we coordinated our projects through time planning and control of digital projects.

Our simulations of movement and transformation tools allow us to make efficient and effective feasibility analysis in an earlier project phase. Thanks to the semi-automatic production of the steps of the process, for example CN programs and buildings, we can increase the security of the process and the speed of manufacture.

We coordinate our projects and process chains linked to them with a digital control workshop, including the follow-up of costs.

For us the digitization is the future of the manufacture of dies and equipment. We therefore support the development of encoding digital technologies, for example through University projects and research.

Our partners ask to do a logical use of the latest digital technologies.

Our motto is: "Without security software there is no hardware". Both synchronization and digital manufacturing are as good as the people who drive and are engaged in these processes of change.

Each modification requires that workers involved have special abilities. Our role as entrepreneurs is to provide our employees know know-how and capacities so that they can use these capabilities on the day to day.

In the third tier of our "speed" program we focus on the factor of human success, in other words, in a logical development of the staff and the organization. From our point of view, we must offer to our employees, since the operator up to the director, the base to be perfectly prepared for the challenges of the future. We believe that the basis of our success is still in Group and team work, that for some years now has given us good results.

From there the phases of training "Job training" and "Training outside of work" have been built. Another phase is "development of the management team." The objective is to form to address and promote thought and integration capacities over any departments limit strategic. A measure to promote the breadth of training of our employees and our workers is a work rotation directed and continuous.

The program of development of manufacture of dies, designate interdisciplinary groups with workers in all areas, sites and hierarchies. And I would like to emphasize the word "designate". With it I mean employers and employees to evolve together. In this group shall be classified during a period of six months according to individual requirements and needs of the manufacture of dies and molds of Audi. The integration of workers at all levels, hierarchies, and places is also the motto.

In addition, we work closely with many universities. For example, we actively influence on University content and so we can integrate practical experience in the races.

Our workers teach at universities. So we can present our demands to future graduates and graduates directly in situ and increase at the same time the prospects of working of these graduates and graduates.

It is also necessary to strengthen the internal competencies of Audi and transmit faster and better way retrieved know-how. This has created the center of manufacturing skills, tools, also called KCW by its German acronym. In this Center, have been integrated all offers of training past and future into a single global concept. If we do not have first-class and motivated personnel, we can not guarantee the necessary quality standards. We believe that the long-term and strategic personnel development is based on the success of the manufacture of dies and molds.

We can only work successfully and move forward if we understand that we must make the changes needed at three levels (processes, methods, workers) as soon as possible. Only in this way we can maintain our competitiveness in the long term.

Key to the future

In order to guarantee a sustainable future for the manufacture of tools and equipment, it is necessary to make some substantial changes.

• Orientation to customer it should be moved to be the focal point and we will have to focus on reducing costs and speed, without neglecting the quality.
• This only will be possible through the modification of the complex processes of workshop towards a principle of flow and the logical enhancement of processes and methods.
• The human factor, as to the best training possible for managers and workers, is the key to success.
• To be able to deal in the future to global competitiveness from Europe, an effective and continuous innovation management is essential.
• The past has taught us that European companies have been able to benefit, and may still do so, especially his own force of development and innovation.