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Big names such as BMW, Bosch and Audi have been among the most popular employers in Germany for decades. However, according to the Federal Statistical Office, only 10.2% of all first-year students in Germany were enrolled on an engineering degree course. A third of these were women.
Are we heading for a similar problem in the German automotive industry as in the German nuclear industry in the 2000s? Will we eventually run out of young engineers?
I would like to dedicate this issue to the topic of how to make a successful career in the automotive industry as an engineer.
Today I am talking to Dr. Stefan Loth, the former plant manager of Volkswagen’s main plant in Wolfsburg and then Chairman of the Board of Management at Volkswagen Saxony, who was responsible for the ramp-up of the VW ID and Audi Q4 family at the Zwickau plant. We know each other from our time together at SEAT.
Stefan, what is your dream car?
Stefan Loth: My dream car – all my life – is a Porsche 911 Targa. And if I still have the choice, preferably a vehicle from the 70s.
A dream vehicle!
Change in automotive production: electric, digitalization and sustainability
If we now look back ten years (that was exactly one year before the diesel crisis): What specifically has changed in the factory’s production technology?
Stefan Loth: Of course, the most obvious thing is that new electric vehicles have been set up in automotive production. Many production capacities were converted to electric and hybrid technology and entire lines were converted. And, of course, employees had to be trained in the new technology.
But there are other points that have changed massively.
Sustainability has become very important in the factories. Consumption of electricity, gas and water is analyzed and optimized. Packaging is also increasingly being converted to recyclable materials. The aim should be to achieve CO2-neutral production in the near future.
The next big block is, of course, the topic of digitalization and Industry 4.0. A lot has happened here in the last ten years – and we will see many more topics in the future.
Do you have any examples of digitalization and Industry 4.0?
Stefan Loth: 3 examples:
- Today, the systems and information systems communicate with each other. For example, there are digital control loops in which the current results and measures from audits or end-of-line inspections are simultaneously fed back to the body shop, paint shop or assembly line.
- At the same time, communication between man and machine has improved significantly. Instead of simple error messages, complex graphic displays and AI show exactly where the problems are in the production process.
- The factories are networked. This makes online diagnostics possible. For example, if I have a malfunction on a system, specialists around the world can use their online diagnostics box to help the maintenance staff on site.
In the future, AI will be used more and more in factories. At some point, it will be possible to automatically evaluate malfunction or production reports.
Challenges in production: flexibility vs. stability
I remember that we were working on a project that involved tracking: The customer orders their car and when the car is virtually laid out in the body shop, it gets a chassis number, and from then on I can track the car in the factory. And then we realized that this is extremely complicated and also very costly. Why is that?
Stefan Loth: There are basically two options in a car factory. I can assign the vehicle to be built to the customer when it is produced in the body shop (early baptism) or afterwards when it enters the assembly line (late baptism). An early christening forces the factory to adopt a very stable approach, while a late christening allows more flexibility in production. For example, if material bottlenecks occur. A decision must be made between these 2 scenarios.
The second question I have comes from an interview. It was said that some foremen worked as employees on the assembly line. There are not as many foreman positions as there are master craftsmen. Is that your experience? And isn’t that an advantage for the digitalization of production?
Stefan Loth: In principle, a factory has a certain number of foreman positions, which are ideally also filled by foremen. However, the number of foreman positions can change depending on how the company operates. At the same time, foremen retire or new ones are trained, which means that there can be both surpluses and shortages. This requires good personnel management and junior staff planning.
In any case, efforts should be made to ensure that master craftsmen and women work in the right positions.
Career in the automotive industry: The right start for engineers
How many vehicle start-ups have you done in your career?
Stefan Loth: Sehr viele! Zuletzt waren es bei Volkswagen Stefan Loth: A lot! Most recently, Volkswagen Saxony ramped up the VW ID4, followed by the Audi Q4 and Audi Q4 Sportback, Seat Born and ID5. Off the top of my head: In China the Sagitar, in Wolfsburg the Golf, Golf Variant, Tiguan and Seat Tarraco, at Seat in Martorell the Audi Q3 and the entire MQB Leon family.
The level of qualification: Is this particularly true for Germany? How is it throughout the network?
Stefan Loth: The level of qualification is very high in Germany because a great deal of emphasis is placed on training in industrial production. If we go to foreign locations where the qualification level is not so high to begin with, we carry out extensive training and education measures so that the people there can build the cars to the same standards as here in Germany.
Digitalization, Industry 4.0, systems that communicate with each other, AI, etc. – everything that is coming our way is now also coming to the new recruits, the new engineers who will be taking over the management of the automotive industry in a few years’ time. What do you think are the important aspects that young colleagues in particular should learn?
Stefan Loth: The most important thing is a passion for the engineering profession and automotive engineering. A good start is always a degree in mechanical or electrical engineering (or equivalent). That is the ticket.
You actually learn the rest on your professional path. Here are two personal tips
Start your career in a great company. This offers a lot of development and internal training opportunities and therefore many more possibilities and better positions in the future.
Take the opportunity to make valuable contacts and expand your professional network right from the start.
In the factory, we have four production stages: press shop, body shop, paint shop and assembly. We have planning, pilot hall, maintenance and much more. What would you say, is there an area that everyone should definitely have been to?
Stefan Loth: In my opinion, the ideal way to start your career after graduation is with a foreman position in production. This teaches you how to manage employees, how to motivate them and how to deal with absences. And you get feedback! The area is not important for the first job.
In order to become a production or plant manager, it is worth taking on different line positions in production beforehand, e.g. manager in assembly. Then you understand the processes and day-to-day business.
the automotive industry: focus on the future
When you look back on your career, what were the decisive events that shaped you in your career, that brought you forward?
Stefan Loth: There were certainly a number of decisive events that had a major influence on the course and development.
One example: At the beginning of my career, I remember very well a start-up of an improved gearbox in a gearbox plant in England. At the time, I had hardly any start-up experience, nor did I have the right English vocabulary for the store floor rounds. Thanks to the help of my colleagues and the direct feedback from the plant manager, we managed to get it right.
If the feedback was very direct – how do you deal with it?
Stefan Loth: That’s the good thing about production. The cards are reshuffled every day. That means wiping your mouth, learning from your mistakes. And the next day you can immediately start the correction loop.
You have accompanied the automotive industry for several decades. If you were to write a letter now as an outsider to the CEOs of the German automotive industry, including the suppliers, is there anything you would say to them?
Stefan Loth: That’s a very difficult question. I’m certainly not the one who can answer it “on my own”. I have therefore discussed this question with friends and colleagues with the following result: an intensive focus on usability, connectivity and digital services in the car strengthens customer loyalty. There is still a lot of potential!
Great conversation. Thank you, Stefan.
