Executive Summary International Study Mission to Germany 29 July to 3 August 2013: Cologne: Germany TÜV Rheinland has organized a study mission to Germany from 29 July to 3 August 2013, Cologne, Germany. This was the 6 th overseas study mission in this series organized by TÜV Rheinland Training and Consulting Division. This program was designed to provide an opportunity for the senior level management from Indian manufacturing industry to understand and share the manufacturing process through shop floor visits (at most innovative companies in the world like Daimler AG, A. Monforts Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH & Co KG., EDAG, DEVA Kunststoff Technik GmbH etc.), seminars and interactive sessions. The 15 member study mission comprised leading industrialists from 12 companies ie. Force Motors Limited, ACMA, Cast Craft Pvt Ltd, Entec Engineering, Maratwada Auto Compo Pvt Ltd, Metlonics Industries Pvt Ltd, Right Engineers and Equipment India Pvt Ltd, Sanatan Auto Plast, TAG Corporation, Technocarft Toolings, Transformers and Rectifiers (India) Pvt Ltd and Bairathi Shoe Company. It gave an opportunity to both large and small companies from India to learn from and share their experiences with the most innovative companies in Germany.
Program started on 28 th July 2013 (Monday) at TUV Rheinland Head Quarters at Cologne, Germany. Technical experts from TUV Rheinland Mr Martin Sperber, Mr Lukas Jakisch and Dr Hendrik Schabe have made presentations on various topics followed by interactive sessions and a visit to TUV Rheinland Solar testing Laboratory. Latest trends in Aviation, Wind energy, PV, Reliability Engineering, Safety and Quality were discussed during the group discussions. Prof Dr Hermann Thomann, Senior Vice President, Global Consulting of TUV Rheinland addressed the delegates and also made a presentation on the importance and challenges of Manufacturing Excellence Award.
Second day stared with the visit to Daimler AG, Dusseldorf. Delegates got an opportunity to visit assembly area, paint shop and QC area at Daimler AG. This was really a learning experience for participants to understand the manufacturing technology which Daimler used for the production of van at the Dusseldorf plant. For post lunch session, team visited A. Monforts Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH & Co KG. Since 125 years Monforts has been expert in machine tools and competent partner for turning, milling and drilling.
During the day 3 of the program, mission members travelled to Lemgo to visit DEVA Kunststoff Technik GmbH. Founded in 1977 and producing high efficient plastic injection moulding tools and moulded components for aviation industry. The product range of DEVA-Kunststoff-Technik- GmbH comprises approximately 1200 different articles, the majority of which are used in the many areas of aviation. Participants had an opportunity to interact with top management team of DEVA Kunststoff Technik GmbH. Mr Horst Windmann, Founder and Dr Marcus Bernads, Managing Director of DEVA Kunststoff Technik addressed TUV delegation and made presentations on their activities and discussed about the business process activities. They also organized a group discussion with participants followed by shopfloor visits. Day 4 (1 August), delegates made a visit to EDAG production solutions. EDAG Group develops production-ready solutions to sustain mobility in the future. At EDAG, they have provided a short visit to their concept car exhibition area. Mr Dirk Gritter, Mr Anil Sharma and Mr Frank Diiegelmann have made presentations on various topics followed by a shopfloor visit at FFT EDAG A subsidiary of EDAG.
The FFT EDAG Production Systems GmbH & Co. KG is a global provider of automated and flexible manufacturing facilities. In conjunction with EDAG, they are able to cover the entire process chain, from product development and accompanying production planning to the development and realization of production. Mr Peter Genn from FFT has briefed the FFT technology with a guided shopfllor visit.
On final day of the program ie. 2 nd August, participants made a visit to dept of production measures, quality and research projects of RWTH AAHEN University. Dr Reinhard Freudenberg made a presentation on various activities of University followed by a visit to various Research areas. The University is proving to be a hotspot with increasing international recognition where innovative answers to global challenges are developed. Visible evidence of this is the RWTH Aachen Campus that is being developed in close cooperation with industry and which is to form one of the largest research parks in Europe.
The study mission ended with wrap-up session at TUV Rheinland Academy on 2 August 2013 afternoon. Mr Kay Heiubach, Senior Consultant from TUV Rheinalnd Consulting GmBH made a key note address during the certification ceremony. The overall feedback from the participants is encouraging. The study mission provided an opportunity to obtain first-hand exposure to various innovative and successful Quality
techniques implemented in Germany and also provided an opportunity to learn good manufacturing practices and updated technologies