Mechanical Technology

Mechanical Technology — July 2015

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Special report

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its doors ten years earlier and was

contracted in 1958 by Daimler-Benz

to assemble Mercedes-Benz products.

This first unit was dispatched to John

Williams Motors in Bloemfontein. Since

then, MBSA has entrenched its place

in the South African history, having

produced 24 different models with the

number of units produced per model

steadily climbing. The East London

plant is on track to double production

this year – the significant majority for

the export market.

“MBSA continues to create jobs, de-

veloping the economy and transferring

essential skills. Over the years we have

always placed emphasis on superior

quality in the products we deliver to our

customers. For us excellence is the norm

and should not simply be an expectation

of something that can be achieved in

the future. It is also fitting that the one-

millionth Mercedes-Benz passenger car

produced here today is the latest gen-

eration C-Class, which was deservedly

announced as the 2015 World Car of the

Year in April 2015,” says Mercedes-Benz

South Africa CEO and executive director

for manufacturing, Arno van der Merwe.

Markus Schäfer, member of the di-

visional board of Mercedes-Benz Cars,

manufacturing and supply chain manage-

. A vehicle enters a chemical dip tank during pre-treatment. The entire body is submerged so that all crevices can receive chemical treatment.

. Protected robots seal the underside of the body before painting.

. A pre-treated vehicle enters the painting line. Each vehicle receives three coats of

paint, starting with an inspection stage where any visible defects are removed.

paint is applied using robots. Once primer

is applied, the unit enters the primer cur-

ing oven, before being transported to the

primer preparation deck, where it is again

checked for defects and prepared for top

coat spray-paint.

The second coat or base coat is roboti-

cally applied in the specified colour of each

vehicle. This is a fully automated high qual-

ity process to ensure consistency. Following

passage through the base coat curing oven,

a clear coat layer is applied to give a gloss

finish and scratch resistance.

The quality and finish are inspected at

the polish line and in a final step, a wax

coating is applied to critical areas of the

under body to provide long lasting corrosion

protection.

Stringent quality assurance is enforced

by a dedicated quality team, which works

to global quality standards. These standards

and automated processes applied in MBSA’s

new paint shop have significantly reduced

rework on car bodies, to the point where

South Africa is very nearly matching the

throughput statistics of its German manu-

facturing plant in Bremen.

ment adds: “South Africa is an important

location in our global C-Class production

network. One million Mercedes-Benz

passenger cars made at the East London

plant illustrates the remarkable develop-

ment this location has seen over the

years.”

Models produced in East London

The model line-up from the plant over the

years include, amongst others, models in

the Ponton series from 1958 to 1962;

the W110 and W111 Fintail from 1962

to 1968; the ‘new generation’ W114 and

W115 from the late 1960s; the W116,

the first true S-Class, from 1973; and

the W124, the first E-Class, from 1986,

winner the Car of the Year title in 1987

with the Mercedes-Benz 260E.

C-Class production started in 1994

with the production of the W202, the

first official C-Class. The W205 C-Class

currently being produced is the fourth

generation C-Class to be manufactured

in the East London plant and, as part of

Daimler AG’s flexible production network,

The assembly shop at Mercedes-Benz’s East London plant, which has now produced its

millionth vehicle.