During 2000, the Czech factories produced an average 1,673 vehicles a day. Felicias are also assembled in Sarajevo, Bosnia, as part of a wider Volkswagen AG project. Production is scheduled to start this year at an assembly plant in Russia as it will in India, where around 3,000 Octavias a year will be assembled. For all this network of assembly plants, though, it is the sprawling Mlada Boleslav plant that is the mother ship, where the jewel in the crown is the Octavia assembly plant. In the fractal factory, work is carried out by small teams working together.
Individuals concentrate on the overall task rather than on the single parts of a task.
This pattern is repeated throughout the whole manufacturing process and guarantees that the common aim of all the individual elements is the same as the overall aim. Uniquely in Europe, four suppliers have production facilities actu-ally within the plant, manned by their own staff. Johnson Controls, for example, makes the seats, seatbelts and runners, and Rockwell the doors, sunroofs, trim, and speakers. Siemens is responsible for the instrument panel, steering wheel, heater, airbags and pedals. And The Octavia's front end, which includes the bumper, headlamps, radiator, and grille, are handled by Expert.