Škoda has added an up-to-date logistics base and logistics training centre in the latest round of modernisation at its Kvasiny assembly plant in the Czech Republic.
The logistics centre is home to the parts required for construction of pre-series vehicles, while at the training centre workers are being trained in handling small and large load carriers, automated guided vehicle (AGV) systems and trailers with E-frames.
The practice-based training includes handling in-plant IT systems, shelf and block warehouse logistics, goods in and out, ergonomics and various picking solutions. There is scope for virtual training, too.
The logistics and training centres are part of a €13.5m ($16.1m) multi-functional competence centre, which also includes a testing and quality centre, storage areas for pre-series vehicles and an event hall.
Frank Schreier, head of quality assurance at Škoda Auto, said: “Thanks to state-of-the-art technology, our new quality centre enables us to test and analyse our vehicles to even more stringent standards.”
With all the areas for vehicle testing and analysis now under one roof, the shorter distances between individual departments accelerates the inspection processes, allowing quicker evaluation of the results, the company said.
Among other investments ongoing at Kvasiny is the establishment of a new electricity distribution network and charging stations for electric vehicles, ahead of the start of production at the plant next year of the Škoda Superb plug-in hybrid.
Škoda said it had invested seven billion Czech crowns ($328m) in modernising production processes at Kvasiny. In the coming years, production capacity will increase to over 300,000 vehicles a year. The plant currently produces the Superb, Kodiaq and Karoq.
In the middle of last year, Škoda opened an automated small parts warehouse at Kvasiny, while in 2015, it constructed a new logistics hall at the factory as part of a general overhaul.
