Flexible Magna Manufacturing Solutions: The Key to Success in the Automotive Industry

 

The automotive industry is undergoing a profound transformation driven by new trends and market conditions. Increased competition, a greater number of model variants, and heightened individualization of vehicles are making production more complex.

Additionally, sustainability goals have become an essential part of every production strategy in the automotive industry.

These factors collectively increase the cost per vehicle, making it more challenging to produce profitably. Magna as a contract manufacturer can support customers with tailor-made solutions for all manufacturing tasks.

Challenges for Manufacturers

Automobile manufacturers face the difficult task of integrating high-volume models and niche models into their production infrastructure.

The volatility and unpredictability of unit numbers further complicate planning. The higher number of variants places greater demands on the workforce, production facilities, and supply chains.

Contract Manufacturing for Capacity Optimization

Outsourcing certain model series to an experienced contract manufacturer like Magna can help automobile manufacturers address these challenges. By reducing complexity in their own plants, manufacturers can optimize their operations more easily.

A contract manufacturer that builds models from different manufacturers on shared production lines can also reduce costs per vehicle by spreading them across higher overall volumes.

Flexibility in Focus

For the contract manufacturer, multi-OEM manufacturing requires high flexibility at every process step. Magna, for example, already implements multi-OEM projects in Europe and China.

Magna can absorb certain fluctuations in unit numbers over the product lifecycle. The company can produce different models from several OEMs and different platforms on the production line.

Under the “Flexible Manufacturing Solutions” initiative, Magna has begun transforming its plant in Graz, Austria, to produce multiple platforms, drive types and derivatives on the same production line.

Optimally Utilized Capacities and Experienced Workforce

OEMs benefit from short integration times and a correspondingly quick market entry while optimizing their own capacities. They also gain from Magna’s experienced workforce, which is already familiar with cross-OEM manufacturing, and utilize the existing infrastructure and processes prepared for this purpose.

Innovations in Body Shop and Assembly

The shared use of the body shop for different programs allows Magna to produce different derivatives with reduced integration time and costs.

Magna uses modular framers to produce different body types and platforms on a common line. These framers are automatically changed depending on the vehicle arriving next on the production line.

The rotating transportation units can accommodate up to three different framers and automatically switch between them. For example, after a sedan has been produced, the framer rotates, and a SUV body comes onto the line.

The core element of Magna’s flexible production is the marriage station, where adapters adjust their position based on the wheelbase and track width. In that way various models such as coupes, sedans, or SUVs can be produced one after another.

Additionally, it allows a wide range of powertrain options from internal combustion engines to plug-in hybrids and fully electric vehicles.

Optimized Supply Chains

Logistics will be moved closer to production to optimize supply chains, significantly reducing internal material transport and costs.

An automated storage and retrieval system for sequencing reduces walking distances for logistics staff and the space required for parts containers.

These measures ensure that supply chain management, previously carried out externally, can now take place on the plant premises, increasing transport capacities and reducing costs per vehicle.

In conclusion, flexible manufacturing solutions are crucial for the automotive industry to manage the complexities of modern production. By partnering with Magna, manufacturers can leverage their expertise in contract manufacturing, optimize capacities, and adopt innovative technologies.

Magna’s proven track record in multi-OEM projects and its ability to produce various models on shared production lines make them the ideal partner to achieve greater efficiency, reduce costs, and meet diverse market demands.