MAN Truck Bus today began the construction of a new cab paint shop with the official ground-breaking ceremony attended by Dieter Reiter, the mayor of Munich. A new modern and efficient base coat line will be established right next to the current paint building in a hall with a total floor area of approximately 18,000 m² over five main levels.
The new base coat line will begin operations at the end of 2017. The overall level of investment is approx. € 80 million. The investment is part of the future programme of MAN Truck Bus AG.
The highly efficient painting process in the new hall consists of pretreatment, cathodic dip coating by rotation, seam sealing and filler application. The rotation process in the dip painting enables a significant reduction in the use of consumables and chemicals through the application of the latest systems engineering. In addition, very effective cleaning means that the level of particulates in the exhaust air is reduced by 90 percent and water consumption is cut by 80 percent. Furthermore, the use of innovative and resource-saving technologies enables MAN to reduce emissions in the processes concerned by half, to lower paint use by 15 percent and to cut energy consumption by 25 percent.
“The investment in the new paint shop represents a key milestone for the Munich site. The new facility will allow us to significantly increase efficiency in the cab paint shop and also achieve further improvements in paint quality. The new systems are equipped with the latest environmental technologies and are thus another significant contribution towards our strategic objective of a “Green Factory”. Overall, the new system allows us to create an essential and sustainable basis from which we can create innovative processes and attain low environmental impact and maximum efficiency for both current and future premium truck generations”, Dr. Carsten Intra, Executive Board Member for Production Logistics at MAN Truck Bus AG pointed out.
Saki Stimoniaris, Chairman of the works council, also highlighted the importance for the future of the Munich site: “The investment in the paint shop plays an integral part in our securing of both the site and employment. This means we are securing jobs in our cab production of which the paint shop is a part, and much more besides.”