India emerges as key training hub for Mercedes-Benz

New Delhi: India has emerged as a key training hub in production processes for workers of German luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz globally, with its employees in Brazil becoming the latest group to learn at the firm's Chakan facility in Pune.

Around 30 workers at the company's newly-opened Iracem polis plant in Brazil have undergone training at the Chakan facility. The plant in the South American country will initially roll out C-Class to be followed by the the GLA compact SUV with an initial capacity of 20,000 units per annum.

Mercedes-Benz India Managing Director & CEO Roland Folger said in a statement: "India is a forerunner among Mercedes- Benz's assembly plants globally, and in the past we have already supported the plant in Vietnam in the global network."

He further said, "Our contribution in training the Brazilian colleagues also strongly underscores our prowess and rich experience in local production of luxury cars, which we have pioneered 20 years back in India."

Both the teams gained in creating trust, a bond of friendship beyond cultures and continents, and being an ideal example demonstrating the strength of collaborative working, he added.

Although the Brazilian workers were also trained at other global facilities of the company, India was a key location as the plant in Pune produces the C-Class, which is also being rolled out from the Iracem polis plant.

A Mercedes-Benz India official said that being a part of a the parent's global assembly network such cooperation would be continued in future also.

Mercedes-Benz India Executive Director, Operations, Piyush Arora said the training was targeted to build a competent team required to smoothly start-up and run the production process in Brazil.

"We trained our Brazilian colleagues on how to build a product in the right sequence, with the right tools, in the right time," he added.

The training module developed by Mercedes-Benz India, also detailed the different processes and systems involved in manufacturing the vehicle, including all aspects of vehicle manufacturing comprising quality, body shop, paint shop, assembly, logistics and planning, the company said.

The global production network of Mercedes-Benz Cars comprises 26 locations, which are organized in production compounds according to the vehicle architecture. This network includes facilities in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam besides the new one in Brazil.

"With the local production, we are strengthening our global competitiveness and will be closer to our Brazilian customers and their needs for passenger cars of the premium brand Mercedes-Benz," said Markus Schafer Mercedes-Benz Cars Member of the Divisional Board, Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management.