„Die Zeichen stehen auf Forschung und ... - Wirtschaftsjournal

AUTOWELT Eastern Germany 2012
Making the most of one-off
opportunities
Porsche develops Leipzig works into a full manufacturing plant
wirtschaftsjournal.de/id12011001
On 20 January the 100,000th second generation Cayenne was assembled in Leipzig. To
mark the occasion, Chairman of the Executive Board of Porsche Leipzig GmbH, Siegfried
Bülow, said: "2012 is set to be an eventful and exciting year, in many ways. We will be
welcoming a large number of new colleagues, and celebrating the completion of new
buildings on the site and the 500,000th Porsche 'Made in Leipzig'. Last but not least,
we'll be commemorating our tenth year of production here." In an interview with the
Wirtschaftsjournal magazine he talked about the reasons behind the plant's success.
Wirtschaftsjournal: Why was Leipzig chosen as the
location for the Porsche plant?
Siegfried Bülow: In Leipzig we had a one-off opportunity
to build one of the most advanced car factories in the
world, on a greenfield site, within easy reach of the autobahn,
the airport, the high-speed ICE rail network and the
charisma of the city. In terms of licensing procedures and
official processes, Leipzig was a good choice right from the
beginning. These were important factors in favor of Leipzig,
and the decision to locate there was absolutely the
right one! In less than a decade we've got a first-rate automobile
factory with a highly-qualified local workforce, excellent
production methods, efficient logistics, very flexible
working hours, and customer event packages which are
second to none. Porsche Leipzig is a real success story, and
one that's set to continue. In October last year we laid the
foundation stone for an extension to the plant, because
starting in 2013 a new model will be rolling off the production
line here, with a working title of 'the Cajun'. The
construction sites extend over an area of 17 hectares, and
preparations are under way for a new paint shop and a
car body factory. Our assembly plant is going to become
a full-blown manufacturing plant. The success story of
Porsche in Leipzig still has a lot left in it.
WJ: What would you say characterizes the workforce
in Leipzig? How are you going to fill the 1,000
new jobs we've heard about, in light of the current
demographic trend?
Bülow: Typically, the Saxons are loyal and hard-working,
but what characterizes the people in my team apart from
that is their high skill level. All the employees at the plant
here are skilled specialists. They've learned their trades from
the bottom up, and add a very diverse wealth of experience
to the company. A lot of people in Saxony left to get
work in the old (former West German) states, but now thanks
to the healthy state of the economy they're coming back
to their home region. We think this is a significant trend
and we've got every faith in it. Porsche is creating 1,000
new jobs in Leipzig with the expansion of the plant here.
Recruiting and inducting new staff is a big challenge, and
we're putting a lot of our energy into finding skilled em -
ployees for quality control, car body construction, for the
paintshop and logistics. On top of that we're also increas -
ing the number of training places, which means we can
train up a new generation of specialists right here.
WJ: You've been involved in the Automotive Cluster
Ostdeutschland for a number of years now. What's
your incentive for making this commitment to the
industry above and beyond your role at Porsche?
Bülow: Automobile production can only be as good as its
suppliers, so it's essential to create a wide range of ca pable
service providers. We need to support these predomina tely
small and medium-sized companies by providing qualified
research and by looking for extra investors, both today and
in the long term.
WJ: Manfred Erlacher is the director of the BMW
works and also an active member of ACOD. Are there
any synergies as a result of his presence?
Bülow: Mr. Erlacher and I obviously create some synergies
through our combined work at ACOD. For example, we're
both very keen to build up supply structures. In practical
terms, that means getting everyone involved in important
issues, producing examples of good practice for new
projects and underpinning them with research activities.
BMW stands to gain from strong suppliers just as much as
Porsche in Leipzig. The OEMs working voluntarily for ACOD
(which also include Volkswagen, Opel and Mercedes) are
helping to get the region into good shape for automobile
construction.
Wirtschaftsjournal | Januar 2012
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