MAN’S FACTORIES AROUND the world are undergoing a transformation that focuses on the way people think about their work. At its Munich assembly plant, MAN is revolutionizing the way humans work with both colleagues and machinery. Under the leadership of Dr Carsten Intra, MAN has almost doubled its production volume in just five years, without the need to expand premises or staff numbers. 

“We expect a record year for 2008, with 100 000 units sold,” says Intra. “Global growth in areas like China, Brazil, Russia and Africa are pushing us to find better ways of producing our trucks. The Kaizen philosophy has a credo of ‘improve one thing a day’. We have integrated this into our work-flow at our assembly plants. Workers are now motivated by ‘values’, rather than ‘targets’ and are effectively their own boss in their respective work stations.” 

With 168 heavies rolling off the floor every day in Munich alone, Dr Intra’s plans for global domination are gaining momentum.