The "5-day factory": A unique recipe for success

The Knorr-Bremse Rail Vehicle Systems division's most modern European plant, employing some 1,000 people, is located in Budapest. A new building was constructed in 2010, which not only significantly increased the plant's capacity but also introduced new forms of production supply and control.

While the old factory still produced 6 days a week in a production organized according to the workshop principle, further bottlenecks were reduced with the construction of the new factory by investments, for example in an electroplating and painting line. A further decisive step in the direction of lean manufacturing was the conversion of the production principle to cell production. Through a continuous reduction of bottlenecks by means of value stream analyses and a close interlocking of the supply chain with the production system, the goal of a 5-day factory, which was issued by the management, could be achieved.