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This innovation promises to enhance production efficiency through the use of AI technology.
On January 19, during an official visit to the Czech Republic, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met with leaders of major corporations. Klaus Zellmer, Chairman of Skoda Auto, emphasized Skoda Auto's position as a leading Czech automaker and highlighted Vietnam as an attractive investment destination due to its access to the ASEAN market and the trusted partnership between the two countries.
Previously, in 2022, Skoda Auto signed a partnership agreement with Thanh Cong Group, aiming to produce and distribute Skoda cars in Vietnam with a focus on localization, modern technology, and clean energy. Skoda and Thanh Cong are working on a project to build a manufacturing and assembly plant in the Viet Hung Industrial Park, Ha Long City, Quang Ninh, worth 500 million USD, expected to be completed in Q1 2025. This will be the first Skoda factory in Southeast Asia, covering 36.5 hectares with a designed capacity of 120,000 vehicles per year.
Notably, Skoda Auto is a brand over 120 years old, the largest car manufacturer in the Czech Republic, and the fifth oldest in the world.
Skoda Auto is a member of the Volkswagen Group, so its vehicles, including engines, chassis, and transmissions, benefit from advanced European technology. These technologies are also used by several premium brands within the Volkswagen Group.
"Eye-like" Technology – The Key to Unstoppable Operations
For Skoda, alongside product quality, optimizing production is also a crucial factor. This means minimizing downtime caused by technical faults. However, while enhanced preventive measures can reduce errors, they come at a high cost. On the other hand, in-depth maintenance upon detecting faults requires significant manpower and expertise.
Marek Jancák, head of the automotive production department at Skoda, explained: "Using modern technology, digitalization, and data collection to predict when equipment is about to fail and repair it before the issue arises is the optimal form of maintenance."
As a result, "predictive maintenance" has become a pillar of Skoda's maintenance strategy. One of the pioneering projects is the implementation of predictive maintenance at the M13 workshop (the assembly line in Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic). Here, a solution called MAGIC EYE is used to monitor and detect faults in the moving beams that hold the cars as they move along the production line.
This system is connected to computers that use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to identify abnormalities. Skoda Auto is among the first companies in the Czech Republic to use AI for supporting predictive maintenance capabilities.
Specifically, during one cycle of the production line, cameras capture approximately 450,000 images, which are immediately analyzed and the results are sent to the cloud via the company's Wi-Fi network.
If the system detects an anomaly, it will alert the maintenance operator. The responsible person can then plan the next steps. "All identified defects help us continuously learn and improve the system," said Filip Koliáš, Technical Services Director at Skoda's Center.
Skoda plans to implement MAGIC EYE in other factories within its network, and the entire Volkswagen Group is interested in this technology. ŠKODA has also filed for a patent related to MAGIC EYE.
In general, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh highly appreciated and stated that Skoda's choice to partner with Thanh Cong Group for investment in Vietnam was the right decision, not only driven by intellect but also by heart. He suggested that Skoda make large-scale investments, produce high-tech products, transfer technology, enhance localization, and help Vietnamese businesses engage more deeply in the production and supply chains of the group and globally.
