Peugeot plant in Kaluga
Goodbye stereotypes
“Forget everything that you were taught at the institute,” they say, they once greeted university graduates on their first day at work. I don’t know if this is true, but, being in the assembly building of the PSA / Mitsubishi plant near Kaluga, I felt that all my ideas about how the plant should look from the inside collapse one after another.
I expected to see a huge workshop, noisy and gloomy, gloomy workers in oiled overalls with sleeves rolled up to the elbow. Such paintings were remembered, obviously, thanks to the “production dramas” of the 60-70s of the last century, which my grandparents also watched. Instead, the Peugeot factory in Kaluga is in perfect order, light walls, clean floor, lightweight, openwork designs. The sparkling tool is neatly laid out in specially designated areas, most workers look no more than thirty, and the entire assembly complex is easily visible at a glance.
Not only that, to get into the assembly shop, I had to dress up a little. A protective cap, a long robe and special shoes - without them they will not be allowed to enter production. Safety comes first!
Peugeot plant in Kaluga
Incidentally, in the French Sochaux, where they release the 308s, not every workshop has such sterility. However, not least this is due to the fact that Kaluga does not yet have a full-cycle production - no foundry, no stamping, no welding. As already mentioned, cars are assembled in France, again dismantled into "large nodes" and sent to us. Moreover, the engines are transported to Kaluga by truck, while the rest of the parts travel in a train.
And yet, why collect and then disassemble again? The answer to the banal is simple: it is all about saving. After all, it is still cheaper to transport spare parts through customs than an assembled car. Along the way, this approach significantly reduces the risk of manufacturing defects during the assembly of cars in Russia. The parts of the disassembled machine are carefully stored in a separate container, signed and sent to us. After that, it is almost impossible to confuse something.
Peugeot plant in Kaluga
Five stages of excellence
Nevertheless, trust, but verify - this principle literally permeates all production. Cars at the Kaluga plant go through as many as five stages of quality control.
So, stage one. The body along with the suspension, transmission and wheels in containers on the train arrives in Kaluga. Here, this “car kit” is installed on a huge truck, like a gantry crane, and taken to the assembly shop, for incoming inspection. Under the bright light of large lamps, young girls look for scratches, scuffs, chips and other injuries. If they find, send the victim to the paint shop, if not, give the go-ahead for assembly.
From the truck, the body is loaded onto a special stand where the suspension, engine, gearbox and wheels are hung. The powerful paws of the lift carefully put the car on the floor, and the car comes to life! At the second stage of quality control, workers (here they are mainly young guys) check the angles of the wheels and adjust the headlights. A special stand with many buttons and knobs reads the VIN number of the car, determines its make and model, then displays the parameters by which the light is set.
The third stage of perfection is a walk to the test range for sea trials. And what not at factory turns! At the wheel of a Peugeot 308, I drove along rails and a broken highway, I tested the suspension on the Belgian pavement and pavers. On the track we came across everyone's favorite “speed bumps", and a steep climb, where experts test the parking brake, colloquially handbrake.
The next stage of quality control is pre-sale inspection and verification of electrical equipment. Here they check the external lighting, the light in the cabin, trunk and on the dashboard. For most cars, this is the last step. However, every twentieth car goes for repeated selective control - the fifth stage of perfection. Today about two hundred cars of five different models go off the assembly line. It turns out that on the day 2 cars of each model pass repeated control.
Peugeot plant in Kaluga
July revolution
And now “forget everything that you have been taught …” Yes, very soon the Kaluga assembly plant will become completely different! The fact is that in July 2012, the release of the Peugeot 308 ceased. A completely different model gets onto the conveyor. The update will affect not only the exterior of the car, but also the assembly process. By the end of the year, the plant area will increase as much as 10 times, up to 100, 000 m2. With the assembly of large units, the company goes on a full cycle. And for this it is necessary to build new buildings: a welding workshop, assemblies and paint booths. So in August we will definitely come here again.
