Mercedes-Benz is accelerating the transformation of its production network by reinforcing Berlin-Marienfelde’s status as the centre of innovation for MO360 digital production technologies, which are now enhanced with Artificial Intelligence (AI), humanoid robots and pioneering innovations such as the production of high-performance electric axial-flux motors.
In 2022, Berlin-Marienfelde established itself as the global centre of competence for the digitalisation of production with the Mercedes Benz Digital Factory Campus (MBDFC), promoting the development of future software applications in a real production environment.
The central basis of the activities is the Mercedes-Benz Cars Operations 360 digital production ecosystem, or MO360, which contains all the important software applications and data of the global production network. At the MBDFC, the development and testing of new processes and technologies has been combined with seamless and rapid global implementation of pioneering MO360 software applications for automotive production.
Mercedes-Benz has now enhanced its MO360 production system with AI features like the Digital Factory Chatbot Ecosystem and the MO360LLM Suite, and with humanoid robots from US-based company Apptronik, reinforcing Berlin-Marienfelde’s status as a centre for global innovation. Today, new production processes and features including those enabled through the Mercedes-Benz Operating System (MB.OS) are tested before they are sent to real-life production lines at other Mercedes-Benz assembly plants. Marienfelde, for example, played an important role in preparing the Rastatt plant for its ramp-up of the new Mercedes-Benz CLA, the first vehicle to incorporate MB.OS, which was presented only a few days ago.
Proving ground for highly automated robotics in production
Mercedes-Benz is committed to empowering its staff with state-of-the-art technology – and with Apollo, Mercedes-Benz brings one of world’s most advanced commercial humanoid robots into its manufacturing facilities. To underscore its commitment to deploying humanoid robots in automotive production, Mercedes-Benz will make a low double-digit-million-euro investment into Apptronik, which was founded in 2016 at the Human Centered Robotics Lab at the University of Texas at Austin.
Mercedes-Benz has been using industrial robotics technology since the 1970s to perform particularly monotonous and physically demanding tasks. Mercedes-Benz is currently testing the integration of humanoid robots in production with an initial focus on repetitive tasks within intralogistics. Apptronik’s Apollo can be used to transport components or modules to the production line for Mercedes-Benz’s highly skilled production staff to assemble, and to carry out initial quality checks of components.
