Volkswagen Anhui: Low-Code Accelerates Smart Factory Innovation

User pain points: Enterprises often face high costs and uncertain return on investment in the process of digital transformation. At the same time, companies want to validate innovative projects proposed by internal employees at a lower cost, so as to effectively respond to the rapid changes in the automotive market without compromising information security.

Solution: By using the Mendix low-code platform, business teams can digitally innovate in the shortest amount of time, with the support of the company’s IT & D department. Combine digitalization with the concept of lean and continuous improvement to continuously improve operational efficiency, reduce management costs, and comply with the company’s IT governance norms.

Implementation Results: Within three months of using the Mendix, the enterprise has 4 applications in the deployment phase, and the application-related productivity has increased by 20%. 40%. By actively participating in low-code projects, the factory’s employees have also significantly improved their mindset for digital transformation. This shift has enabled employees to have their finger on the pulse of digital developments and drive factories towards greater efficiency and intelligence.

Volkswagen (Anhui) Co., Ltd. (formerly JAC Volkswagen Co., Ltd.) was established in 2017 as a joint venture between Volkswagen Group and Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Co., Ltd., and is the first joint venture of the Volkswagen Group in China focusing on new energy vehicles. In December 2020, Volkswagen Group increased its stake in JAC Volkswagen Automotive Co., Ltd. to 75%, and the joint venture was officially renamed Volkswagen (Anhui) Co., Ltd.

Volkswagen Anhui Smart Electric Vehicle Production Base, which covers an area of 510,000 square meters, started construction in July 2021 and was completed in just 18 months, and is now equipped with first-class equipment and infrastructure. The first model will go into production at the end of 2023; The Volkswagen brand ID.UNYX for the domestic market was officially launched in July this year.

The Smart Efficiency division is responsible for the transformation of smart factories at Volkswagen (Anhui) Co., Ltd. In Volkswagen Anhui, we will develop a smart factory strategy and roadmap, build an innovation lab, and integrate digital requirements. The introduction and promotion of Mendix is the result of the collaboration between the Smart Efficiency department and the company’s IT&D department. Today, we have invited Mr. Liu Yaozhong, the head of the department, to share the following.

Q: What challenges did the department face during the smart factory transformation?

• First, in digital transformation, it is difficult to fully tap the potential of business needs, and it is difficult for digital experts to be proficient in the professional knowledge and specific processes of various business domains, and experts in business fields do not understand cutting-edge digital technologies.
• The second is the issue of cost and return on investment, the economics of many digital transformation projects are implicit, and for high-investment digital solutions, the internal evaluation and approval process of the department will be more cautious.
• The third is security, in the process of digital transformation, if only focus on efficiency and cost, ignore the compliance of the solution, or use software and hardware that is not certified for security, it may bring serious security risks and data leakage risks to the company.

Q: In the face of these challenges, why did VWA choose a low-code tool?

Low-code allows faster prototyping and validation of business ideas, ensuring early realization of business value. Mendix’s robust design and certifications guarantee secure usage, making it an essential tool for addressing challenges.

Q: Why did VWA choose as its official low-code tool?

• Mendix is a low-code platform that has been adopted by other factories in the Volkswagen Group, and Mendix is already widely used by many other companies in the industry, so when we need to compare and choose low-code tools, Mendix comes into our choice.
• Mendix does a good job of solving pain points like cost and security. It provides the ability to quickly and cost-effectively validate at the software level, quickly determining whether these new ideas are suitable for the masses and whether they will actually create benefits.
• In terms of security, Mendix is deployed in a way that is suitable for the high security requirements of the production environment, and can be used safely even in highly confidential environments, fully meeting the strict requirements of enterprises in terms of data security and compliance.
• The Mendix platform has the ability to span low- to high-code, enabling IT&D and the business to work together seamlessly. When a business unit encounters a technical bottleneck in the process of validating or developing a new idea, the IT&D team can step in and continue development with Mendix, ensuring a rapid response to market changes. Through our efforts and that of the IT&D team, Volkswagen Anhui has defined a clear interface and a clear division of responsibilities, making the scope of Mendix applications far beyond traditional tools.

Q: What is the key to the success of Mendix within VWA?

• If you want to use Mendix well, you need strong organizational support. Being able to develop powerful applications with Mendix means that the company’s IT specifications and IT experience need to be very deep. Mendix spans from low-code to high-code, so its platform and governance specifications must be able to support this low-to-high comprehensiveness in order to take advantage of Mendix’s strengths
• The deep involvement of business people is one of the key factors that drives the success of a company’s digital transformation project. Volkswagen Anhui can make business personnel truly feel how a digital transformation project is initiated, started, and implemented by including business personnel in all aspects of the MENDIX project, such as requirements combing, research, system design, and even development. This engagement fosters a digital mindset and a greater sensitivity to data analytics, process optimization, and technology applications. What it brings to the enterprise is a valuable intangible asset.

Q: What are the results of VWA after using Mendix?

• With the support of the on-site management solutions accumulated in the past, it took only three months to gradually develop four applications, involving on-site management and quality control in the workshop field, vehicle problem tracking and upgrading, and white-collar area work efficiency optimization, etc., which can increase the application-related work efficiency by 20% after the implementation of these applications 40%.
• For example, at the workforce management level, blue-collar workers are mostly on-site, relying on paper records and subsequent manual entry, which is time-consuming and error-prone in a manufacturing environment where efficiency and precision are important. After the introduction of the Mendix low-code platform, Volkswagen Anhui developed a field management system, and a large number of records and confirmations were planned to be transferred to mobile devices. This improves the efficiency of on-site work and also facilitates a paperless office in the factory, supporting the company’s carbon neutrality strategy.

In terms of pre-batch problem management, with the continuous launch of new models, each team has cut in from multiple perspectives such as equipment, product quality and personnel skills to promote mass production, which often rely on Excel sheets and PPT for management, and the dispersion of information reduces the efficiency of problem solving. With the Mendix platform, Volkswagen Anhui has developed a pre-batch issue management system that integrates these otherwise disparate processes and data into a single platform. The system can automatically associate measures in the same field and visualize them in a single interface. This integration not only reduces duplication of work, but also increases the efficiency of the entire production process.

Q: What are VWA’s expectations for the use of Mendix in the future?

Going forward, we want to enhance the digital capabilities of our employees and encourage more employees in our business units to use Mendix for Citizen Development.  Quickly validate employee brainstorming and recognizable ideas with Mendix to improve productivity. At the same time, we will continue to expand the use of Mendix, explore the possibility of reducing digital costs through Mendix, and achieve the goal of reducing costs and increasing efficiency.