Berlin Automotive Plant Upgrade, Germany

Visteon Automotive System is an enterprise of Ford Motor Company supplying integrated automotive systems. Its headquarters are in Dearbon, Michigan, USA.

The company has recently invested to upgrade its Berlin facility in preparation for the production of more instrument panels in a more environmentally friendly way for Ford. The value of the investment at Berlin is $34 million. It was followed later in the year by an investment in Visteon's facilities in Dueren, also in Germany.

PROJECT RATIONALE

The investments to improve facilities in the Berlin plastic plant are meant to improve the environmental performance of the plant, as well as the economic potential.

Dealing with the economic factors first, the company is hoping to expand its sales outside the Ford group. Currently, around 40% of the company sales goes to customers other than Ford. The Berlin project has to allow the company to pursue these opportunities profitably.

The project also has an environmental justification. Dealing with environmental standards are becoming increasingly important in both the developed world in general and the car industry in particular. Ford, especially, has made great play over making vehicles which are as 'green' as possible.

ECO-AUDIT SYSTEM

The project is therefore linked to an 'eco-audit' system which is designed to limit any environmental damage which the Ford plant is likely to cause. The environmental objectives are inspected on a continual basis along with other evaluation criteria within the plant, and their certification is renewed on a three-year basis by independent inspectors.

PLASTIC RECYCLING PROJECT

The Berlin plant converts 99.3% of all purchased plastic into radiator grills, consoles, instrument panels and door linings.

This low amount of waste is made possible through a detailed recycling plan. Scrap parts are recycled and sent back into production. To do this it is necessary to collect the scrap by type and colour to avoid mixing the different elements. With an annual production rate of 26 million parts, almost 2,000 tons of plastic waste is avoided in this way each year. The system should also make the purchase of raw material less costly, since less is being used.

A further example of environmentally friendly methods is the plan to switch to water-based glues in the glue and laminate facility. This results in an 80% reduction in solvent emissions. Since the beginning of 1998, the PVC (Polyvinylchloride) film on the upper part of the door panels has been replaced with a water-based enamel. This is a feature designed to reduce the levels of emissions, since the production of PVC is thought to be a factor in global climate change.

Irrigating the unavoidable streams of wastewater from production has ensured optimal treatment of the wastewater. The main effect was to reduce the water consumption of the plant by better use. The installation of the closed cooling system to reduce demand of ground water alone cost about $1.8 million out of the overall investment for the Berlin plant which was $34 million.

A further environmental feature of the facility is the recycling of warmth. Warm air from the paint shop is processed over a 'warming bar' which heats the incoming air. This helps the facility to cut its energy usage, and therefore costs. Finally, the plant also has a small amount of land devoted to wildlife, which is a purely environmental measure without economic advantages.