Inside Volkswagen’s Kariega Plant: The science behind quality control
Willem van de Putte
Quality control to ensure that every Volkswagen that comes off the line at the Kariega plant in the Eastern Cape meets the most stringent parameters is a non-negotiable.
The plant that produces the Polo for export, Polo GTI exclusively for world export, the Polo Vivo and shortly the new entry level SUV for local and African consumption, has a lot going on in the background.
Using some of the most sophisticated high-tech equipment in the world to test steel, smells, water resistance, NVH levels, lighting, electronics, and basically anything to do with the vehicles, there are a lot of clever people analysing reams of data.
During the recent Volkswagen Indaba we had the opportunity to have a closer look at some of their work and while most of us are aware that a lot of testing is done, the minute attention to detail is almost staggering.
All about the smell
The most fascinating thing for me was the smell test.
Climbing into a new car there’s always that distinctive “new car” smell.
It’s not there by accident.
At VW, it’s been vetted by a dedicated smell team who have had their noses calibrated. Seriously.
There are a couple of things they have to adhere to like not wearing perfume or leather, a non-smoker or anything that can affect their sense of smell when testing.
The engineers then take a piece of the interior, say from the steering wheel, dashboard, or door card, put it into a glass container and heat it to an extreme temperature for two hours.
The lid is lifted slightly and then the four testers, well… smell it.
There are six ratings ranging from not perceptible, clearly perceptible but not offensive and unbearable.
If there is a sample that is unacceptable, the parts quality engineer is informed, who in turn informs the supplier. The remedy could range from putting the part on hold for further testing or getting new consignments.
The whole car is also tested for interior smells. Taken from the line, it’s placed in an insulated room and heaters are used to get the interior up to 50 degrees for five hours.
The calibrated noses are then called on to jump inside and use the same rating system.
If there is an unacceptable smell, the smell team is experienced enough to determine what it smells like and this will be traced back to a specific component and its chemical make up.
Testing for noise and rattles
Before the car is sent to a dealer or put on a ship for export, a sample is taken off the line and it’s put through a thorough noise and rattle test or NVH test. You know, those irritating rattles you can never find.
It’s put on a ramp and road surfaces are simulated at different speeds. Basically the car stands still but the programme allows the suspension to react as if it were driving.
An infra-red type camera is moved around the exterior and interior and it will immediately pick up the slightest noise and indicate it on the screen.
To test water ingress, a car is put in a test facility and thousands of litres of recycled water is monsoon-sprayed over and under the car for 48 hours.
But that’s not all
And as they say, that's not all.
A variety of stress tests are done on metal used in the production of the cars to test and maintain quality by a dedicated team of five engineers.
There are intricate computer programs, equipment and tools in the laboratory that test according to certain parameters that to a layperson look like ordinary curved graphs but it’s a complicated deep dive analysis.
In the laboratory next door sophisticated microscopes that use microns (one micron is equivalent to one one-thousandth of a millimetre) to measure and do further tests and analysis.
Interestingly, to the naked eye a combustion chamber looks and feels completely smooth. However, there are minute square patterns that allow the oil to circulate so that the pistons are constantly lubricated.
Most customers only get to see the end product of South Africa’s favourite passenger car without giving it a second thought.
But off to the side of the main plant, there are laboratories fitted with millions of rands worth of equipment and highly skilled and qualified people to ensure that only the best is good enough.