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How has car manufacturing changed in the last 25 years?

Two employees recount the most significant changes that have taken place in the SEAT Martorell factory on the occasion of its 25th anniversary. Ergonomics and the presence of robots to handle the most cumbersome jobs are just some of the advances towards Industry 4.0. The production time of a new car has gone down from 60 hours to the present 16. The Martorell factory has grown in size, equivalent now to 400 football fields, and has produced close to 10 million cars in the last quarter century. The SEAT Martorell factory, inaugurated in 1993, turns 25 this year. “I was only 18 years old when I first stepped into the Martorell factory and I remember the Barcelona Olympic Games had recently been held. I was an apprentice and my colleagues and I had high hopes for the future – everything was new and we were told that it was the most modern factory in Europe”. This is how Juan Pérez, who currently heads the Press Processes, recalls those early days 25 years ago at the SEAT Martorell factory. Both Juan and his colleague Victor Manuel Díaz, who is responsible for Teamwork, Standardisation and Shopfloor Management, have experienced historic changes in the plant over the last quarter century.