Hungarian automotive industry: week 4

Manufacturers

Opel appointed a new CEO last week to manage the Szentgotthárd-based Opel plant. Former plant director Tamás Solt will be replaced by Grzegorz Buchal, who began his career at General Motors in 1997 at the Gliwice Opel plant.

Reshuffling at Opel management

Csaba Mákos, the interim executive director, will continue work as operating manager at Powetrain Tychy, Poland, while Solt will be transferred to oversee Opel's Aspern-based operation.

Tamás Kovács has been appointed as a board of directors member responsible for technical affairs at Kecskemét-based Mercedes-Benz Manufacturing Hungary Kft., thus increasing to two the number of Hungarian members in the company's management.

His predecessor, Matthias Buchmüller, will be relocated to the German car maker's Rastatt operation.

Mercedes Kecskemét appoints Hungarian management member

Mozdony és Vasúti Járműjavító Kft. has purchased the equipment park of MÁV Vasjármű Kft, currently under liquidation, and is renting GYSEV's former servicing halls, securing 176 jobs at the Szombathely-based operation as a result.

Suppliers

Róbert Keszte, Budapest plant director at Continental Automotive Hungary Kft., expressed his concerns last week regarding Hungary's labour force.

According to Keszte, this area poses a significant challenge for Hungary as in addition to cost effectiveness and quality standards, a high-quality labour force is also crucial to achieving competitiveness.

Charging station developed by local engineers handed over in Szombathely

However, engineers are being sucked up by the industry in an instant and the availability of skilled labourers is decreasing.

The new Gyöngyöshalász-based Apollo plant has recognized this problem in time: although tyre manufacturing is only scheduled to start in Q1 2014, the company will start the training of its new workforce in September by launching a tyre and rubber manufacturing technician course in Heves county.

Trend

Last week, Mihály Varga, Minister of National Economy, Tibor Bolla, chairman and CEO of Budapest transport company BKV Zrt., signed an agreement on the development electric vehicles.

National Economy minister Mihály Varga and BKV CEO Tibor Bolla sign partnership agreement

Three local engineers have developed a new charging technology in Szombathely. The 22 kW charging station is capable of recharging an EV in 30 to 300 minutes.

Production line

The automotive industry is increasingly requiring fully-automated systems that are easy to relocate and use self-optimizing algorithms – a factory that complies with market demands in a flexible manner. We interviewed two major robot manufacturers about future trends in robotics:

Tamás Mezei, CEO of Fanuc Hungary, said the Japanese parent company has been using network-operated manufacturing lines, a harmonized system of robots, CNC machines, PLCs and their ERP system, for a long time.

Automated solutions push forward in manufacturing sector

Today, this phenomenon is called Industry 4.0 – a manufacturing environment gaining popularity since the beginning of the early 2000s. Mezei says what we are experiencing today is a growing demand on well-designed, partially- or fully-automated production lines by manufacturing firms.

According to Dr. Johannes Franner, financial director of igm Robotersysteme AG, robots – especially in the last 15 years – have paid a significant role in the development of production systems and will continue to gain importance in accordance with the progress into Industry 4.0. Accordig to Franner, automated systems show the way for the future and progress.