Key cornerstones at the site

The cornerstones at the Brussels site are Production, Logistics, Quality Assurance, the Center for Analysis and Preseries (APH) and Environmental Protection.

Production and Logistics

Production on the road to electric mobility: Efficient production systems and the use of new high-tech solutions are the basis for the future vision of digitalized production.

• Audi is synonymous with the highest quality standards, including in times of change as it transforms into a mobility provider.
• With a clear target vision, the company is placing the strategic focus of its production and logistics processes on future requirements.
• The focus is on people: Context-sensitive assist systems support people efficiently, including through new forms of human-machine interaction. They ease the strain on resources, while boosting process reliability and ergonomics at the workplace.
• Measures to increase flexibility lay the foundation for future models, helping electric mobility and key technologies to be implemented even faster in future as a result.   
• Audi has secured important production capacities for its ongoing growth with the plant in Brussels. The processes have also been optimized per the Audi Production System (APS).
• Major features of the APS are group work and continuous improvement processes. To optimize process chains, Audi has closely integrated the external suppliers and service providers into the production process. Short throughput times in production, low inventories and a high added value are the objectives on which Audi Brussels focuses.
• The Brussels site also has its own battery manufacturing facility to produce the batteries for the e-tron and e-tron Sportback. The Belgian site is thus a key plant for electric mobility within the Audi Group.
• Logistics at Audi ensures that vehicle production and market supply are punctual, flexible, and efficient. Smart Factory principles are anchored throughout the logistics.
• “Automotive Park” logistics and supplier center “Automotive Park,” the state-of-the-art logistics and supplier center is connected with the assembly shops by a bridge.  It provides the infrastructure for efficient processes in the supply of materials to the Brussels plant. Every day, trucks and trains deliver over 3,000 parts and components from more than 300 suppliers. Close integration of external suppliers with the plant’s internal logistics processes boosts productivity on a sustained basis.
• Smart logistics includes automated parts transportation, but primarily relates to digital processes. Driverless floor conveyors have been used at Audi for automated material transport within the halls since early 2018.

Quality Assurance

Precision and robustness of complex vehicle functions as well as the perfection of materials, workmanship, and impression are the core of Audi’s traditional promise of quality.

• Quality assurance is very important in the age of digital, connected and sustainable mobility.
• Taking a step beyond conventional quality assurance, the team is responsible for anchoring quality in products, processes, and services – and are doing so consistently.
• The quality management system and consumer protection provide binding standards. This allows quality to be managed in a central and process-oriented way.
• Further responsibilities with a managing function arise from corporate programs such as automotive security, or function orientation and systems engineering.
• This way, quality remains a fixed and consistent part of Audi’s DNA even in times of fundamental change.
  

Center for Analysis and Pre-Series (APH)

• Audi Brussels has a modern center for analysis and pre-series. This links Production and Technical Development, ensuring the high quality of the Audi e-tron and e-tron Sportback.
  

Environmental protection

Audi environmental program “Mission:Zero” encourages more environmental protection

Mission:Zero is the Audi environmental program for consistently sustainable production. All activities and measures for reducing the ecological footprint at the Audi sites worldwide, in Production and Logistics are bundled here. The focus is on Audi’s key challenges of decarbonization, water use, resource efficiency, and biodiversity. One of the key objectives is to achieve CO₂-neutral Audi production locations by 2025.

A car factory goes green – examples at the Brussels site:

• The Brussels plant is the first in the world with certified CO₂-neutral volume production in the premium segment. Audi Brussels compensates for all emissions that occur during production and at the location. This takes place predominantly through the procurement and production of renewable energy but also through environmental projects. Independent experts have certified the carbon-neutrality.
• Audi Brussels installed a photovoltaic system with a total area of 107,000 square meters (1,151,738.4 sq ft) at the site. The plant thus operates the largest photovoltaic system in the Brussels region and produces some 9,000-megawatt hours of electricity each year. This avoids the emission of roughly 1,881 metric tons of CO₂.
• The most stringent of environmental standards are applied at the Audi Brussels site. In 2013, the Brussels region recognized the plant as an “eco-dynamic company” – a regional environmental certification that is awarded every three years. Audi Brussels was awarded the highest rating of three stars. Since 2001, the Brussels site has also been certified according to the environmental audit of the European Commission (EMAS: Eco-Management and Audit Scheme).