MAN Truck & Bus
Foundations laid in Krakow
Ceremonial act The foundations are laid for the tripling of the Krakow plant. Pictured: Michael Kobriger, Executive Board Member for Production and Logistics MAN Truck & Bus SE, Dr Richard Slovak, Plant Manager Krakow MAN Trucks Sp. z o.o., Alexander Vlaskamp, Chairman of the Executive Board MAN Truck & Bus SE (from left).
A new building for the construction of cabs, a new hall for truck modifications, new warehouses and staff rooms, a significantly higher capacity and extensive technical improvements: MAN’s Krakow site is to undergo a massive expansion. The group is investing some € 130 million to make its Polish plant fit for the future.
The foundations of the extension were laid on 20 January 2022. The ceremony was attended by many employees, together with Alexander Vlaskamp, CEO of MAN Truck & Bus SE, Michael Kobriger, MAN executive board member responsible for production and logistics as well as representatives from politics and business.
“The expansion of the plant is a key building block in our transformation. Our changes to the production network will make us significantly more competitive in these challenging times. In Krakow, we are creating an extremely flexible and variable site, which will allow us to manufacture everything from our light to heavy goods vehicle ranges on one production line,” explained MAN CEO Alexander Vlaskamp.
Signature pointing the way Alexander Vlaskamp, CEO MAN, signs the erection certificate, which is then embedded in the foundations
Krakow to be trebled
Many new sites are currently coming on stream as part of the restructuring of the MAN production network. Extensive investments are on the cards, especially in the areas of digitalisation, automation, customisation and modern production halls. This restructuring of the group was agreed in the traditional Munich company’s “pact for the future”.
The Krakow plant is to be extensively expanded and modernised as part of this transformation and the “NewMAN” strategy. Production capacity will increase considerably, new jobs will be created, and the area of the plant will be enlarged. By the end of the expansion work, MAN Krakow will be one of the region’s biggest employers. “To give you a picture of how big a change this is for Krakow, we will be approximately three times the size,” said Anna Bentkowska, head of the project to transform the Krakow plant. This is so that in the future, they will be able to work with the Munich plant to fulfil all MAN customers’ needs, says Bentkowska. After the expansion, Krakow will employ around three times more staff than before, creating some 1,500 extra jobs at the Polish site. The area of the extended plant will increase from 24 to around 41 hectares.
NEW HALLS FOR CAB PRODUCTION AND MODIFICATION
The two most important new features will be housed in halls 5 and 6 from September 2022. In the future, around two thirds of all truck cabs will be built in the 26,000 m2 hall 6, with the remaining third coming from Munich. The new hall 5 will be a 10,000 m2 space for truck modifications. This is where trucks are converted and modified to meet customer requirements. MAN will be assembling a new team for this task, to be trained by their colleagues at the Munich plant. “As a strong partner in the truck network, we will structure the Krakow plant to enable us to build up to 300 units from all model ranges and up to 300 cabs a day in the future, working three shifts,” explained Bentkowska.
A ladle of concrete for the future Michael Kobriger, Executive Board member for Production and Logistics, during the laying of the foundations
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Individual customer service Truck modifications will take place in the new hall 5 on 10,000 square metres. Trucks will be modified there according to customer requirements
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Excavators march The construction work has long since begun, and everything should be ready in September 2022. Around 1,500 additional jobs will be created at the Polish site. The area of the enlarged plant will then cover around 41 hectares, compared to the previous 24 hectares
New buildings for employees and a source of bioenergy to ensure CO2 neutrality
The site in southern Poland is also set to play a key role in the introduction of new goods vehicle technologies and modern solutions in the fields of digitalisation, e-Mobility and autonomous driving. This will generate new jobs, new buildings will be constructed, new equipment procured and forward-looking topics tackled.
The work will also create additional parking for newly built vehicles, delivery zones for components and a host of new social facilities for staff such as canteens, offices, parking spaces, changing rooms and bathrooms in Krakow. The truck assembly hall and its associated warehouse will also be significantly enlarged, and a new source of bioenergy will ensure that the plant is CO2 neutral, and thus sustainable, in the future.
“Going forward, Krakow will be a highly efficient site and will play an even more important role as a volume-balancing plant. Around three quarters of all MAN trucks and HGV cabs will be assembled here in the future. The ‘Truck Modification’ section is also to be built in Krakow, where our trucks can be individually tailored to our customers’ requirements,” said Michael Kobriger, MAN executive board member responsible for production.
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Impressions of the festive ceremony with many guests
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