People
6 mins

Industrial makers

Industrial makers
#plants #manufacturing #operationalexcellence #automotive

Operating across 28 countries and catering to a wide spectrum of vehicle categories, OPmobility stands as a multifaceted global Tier 1 supplier—one of the largest on a global scale, driven by a commitment to genuine manufacturing excellence. Every day, in 150 production plants, our industrial makers give their all to uphold the highest production standards.

Our commitment to ensure flowless production

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OPmobility committed to ensure a flawless and safe production.
Our attention to every detail in our plants is what sets OPmobility apart to ensure flawless Start of Productions.
Christian Kopp, Senior Executive VP, President Exterior Business Group

Impact of standardization and sustainability on operational excellence

“An OPmobility plant is an instantly recognizable visual identity, color coding, a common DNA ,” says Marc Perraudin. “The visual aspect has a strong impact on manufacturing mindset and discipline – not only for us but also for suppliers and partners. It supports our organization’s drive for continuous improvement.”

 

The efficient use of standardized technology (robots, connectivity, automation) in all our sites is an illustration of our operational excellence worldwide. Our commitment to sustainability is also a major topic, on the site, with the use of renewable energies, and the matter of recycling.

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OPmobility operates globally, with 150 production plants in 28 countries.
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OPmobility operates globally, with 150 production plants in 28 countries.
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OPmobility operates globally, with 150 production plants in 28 countries.

Ongoing investment in improvement and innovation

For Christian Kopp, Senior Executive VP, President Exterior Business Group, this attention to every detail is what sets OPmobility apart: “That’s how we ensure flowless Start Of Productions (SOPs)—164 in 2023 without any serious disruption for our Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) clients.”

Austin plant, built in a record time

The core aspect of my work is ensuring that we always have the materials we need to respond to customer production demands, regardless of fluctuations in deliveries from our suppliers. Every day can bring an unexpected challenge!
Mabel Carvajal, Materials planner, Modules Business Group, Austin (Texas), USA
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A team achievement: production launched in 90 days

The Austin plant was built in only six months! When I started here at the freshly opened plant last June, we had just three months until the start of production. It was such an ambitious schedule and, as you can imagine, there were plenty of challenges to overcome: our team was still being assembled and the facility was more or less empty.

 

As we started to take our first deliveries from suppliers, my colleagues and I were at the forefront to handle the work from planning checks to labeling deliveries. Despite this tight timescale, our team has shown that it’s possible to rise to this incredible challenge, thanks to our collective team spirit!

 

We had great leadership and a lot of support from one of our Austin electric vehicle (EV) car makers, in terms of training. Also, in a tight labor market where we were having trouble hiring, we were able to count on support from our colleagues in Mexico. But most importantly, we had a clear objective to work towards. It was truly impressive that we managed to start production from scratch in just 90 days!

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The new OPmobility module assembly plant in Austin (Texas).

We’re now in the ramp-up phase and our next goal is to reach full capacity. So, we’re still hiring and still optimizing our workflows as we increase production for one of the car models we work on and get ready to start supplying our clients on other ranges. What I love about my job is that no one day is quite like the other: to keep our materials stock stable and prevent disruption for the client, we are always dealing with supply delays, technical issues, and anything else that comes up. But now that we’re operational, I have time in the evenings for exercise—I love playing volleyball, running, and working out at the gym—and meeting my friends!

A passion for mechanics and electronics

When Kunshan Lighting plant was acquired by OPmobility, we merged different organizations and started working to build up intra-company connections with the various R&D departments. Now, we work as one team and one company.
Eric Lai, Industrial Project Manager, Lighting Business Group, Kunshan, China
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Integration and leadership at OPmobility

 

I love mechanics and electronics so much that my hobby is collecting and reassembling cell phones from the 1990s and 2000s. Down to the lighting systems plant, of course, the scale of tasks I deal with is quite different: leading my team of around a dozen engineers, I am responsible for product launch, ramp up and continuous improvement.

 

When I joined OPmobility in 2022, I immediately felt at ease as part of this international company. Previously, I had often traveled to sites in EMEA and North America to support SOPs, so working globally was nothing new. Within a year, we have built a great team within OPmobility. There are cultural differences—both between countries and between R&D and production teams—but we share a common philosophy of excellence.

 

When it comes to starts of production and continuous improvement, we have the highest possible standards, and my role is to see that they are met, liaising with production teams and other OPmobility departments on a daily basis to ensure that our budget, schedule, and customer quality requirements can be adhered to. Thanks to our strong teamwork, we achieved several ramp-ups in 2023, also introducing new machinery to the plant without any disruption. I’m very proud of this.

Transformation of the Hlohovec plant

I have to look at our production processes from several points of view, starting with safety: all systems need to be totally safe; then there are capacity and quality considerations. From there, I coordinate with our suppliers.
Marian Pereslenyi, Supply Chain and Packaging Engineer, Exterior Business Group, Hlohovec, Slovakia
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Production increase and plant redevelopment

 

Here at Hlohovec, we are in the middle of a plant transformation as we begin supplying major car manufacturer for electric vehicle platform car production. To provide context, our previous supply contract involved handling 32 cars per hour. Presently, we are striving to increase our output to 60 cars per hour. Today, the electric vehicle model we produce is actually a three-vehicle range, entailing a new level of logistics and process complexity while requiring increased warehousing capacity. So we have completely refitted the Hlohovec plant, dismantling an old paint line to make space for new storage and increasing the footprint of the assembly line to more than twice its previous size.

 

As Supply Chain and Packaging Engineer, my role is to interface between the operators working on the production lines, my managers, our suppliers, and—of course—the client as we optimize the facility. Where we identify problems, I work on solutions. This could mean asking suppliers to change the way they package their deliveries, for instance, or re-organizing our internal processes to make them safer and more efficient. Every last detail is important. So my day starts with an internal logistics meeting and then one with our client; after that, the problem-solving begins! I prepare solutions, present them, and then supervise their implementation.

 

This transformation is an ongoing process which requires sustained effort, day in, day out, so I’m running a marathon—and save my sprinting for the football pitch, which is where I unwind after work!

 

 

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