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Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles opened a new production plant in the Polish city of Wrzesnia at the end of October 2016. The factory manufactures the latest generation of the Volkswagen Crafter and the similar TGE model from VW’s MAN Truck & Bus division. The facility covers about 220 hectares (about 544 acres) and has the capacity to produce up to 100,000 vehicles per year. It includes a modern paint shop and halls for bodywork construction and assembly, as well as a supplier park with logistics operations.
The facility has quickly established itself as a leader in efficiency within the VW Group and part of the reason lies in its high-efficiency lighting system. Zumtobel was awarded the contract for this major project in Wrzesnia in 2015 following the submission of a detailed lighting concept. Alongside luminaires and controls for the assembly and production halls, the complete solution includes efficient lighting for the offices, high-bay storage facilities and outdoor areas, and safety lighting.
Initial Volkswagen planning was based largely around conventional lighting, but based on efficiency calculations and the technological progress of LED technology, Zumtobel convinced the planners to light the entire project with LED. The decision prompted VW to classify the new production facility as a “Think Blue-Factory,” part of a program in which VW encourages plants to use resources more efficiently, reducing emissions and energy usage while minimizing both water consumption and waste.
“The new factory represents a clear statement in terms of environmental protection. We are really benefitting from the decision to use only LED – both ecologically and economically. LED solutions extend the service life and cut maintenance and operating costs, while at the same time ensuring a constant lighting intensity over the entire service life,” said Matthias Strutz, leader of electrical power supply planning at Volkswagen in Wolfsburg.
For the largest part of the project Zumtobel used its continuous-row system, a total of 16,000 Tecton C LED luminaires installed over a length of around 40 km. This continuous-row luminaire is optimized for a variety of different racking and surface lighting tasks, making it suitable for the Volkswagen Crafter manufacturing and assembly facilities. The project also used a host of other Zumtobel lighting equipment including its Craft high-bay fixtures for the paint shop, recessed Mirel Evolution luminaires and Panos downlights in offices, R2L2 LED lanterns and ForceLED fittings from Thorn for parking and exterior façade, Onlite Resclite to highlight escape routes, and all emergency lighting is monitored by Litecom, a lighting management solution from Zumtobel Group Services (ZGS).