The Danube Valley plant at Ulm took 4 years to appear from concept, to its completion, in 1973.
On my first visit to the premises in 1976 I was very impressed with the modern clean layout of the premises. I immediately made a comparison to the austere look of my first workplace, The Cowley factory of British Leyland in Oxford, where I worked for 5 years.
During my time with British Leyland I visited MG Abingdon, and the plants at Swindon, Longbridge and Swindon. I have also been to the Ford Truck plant at Warley in Essex, and the Ford Transit factory in Southampton.
I can honestly say that what I saw in Ulm, was like something from another planet.
It was not just the premises but also the diligent workforce, who were treated with great respect by their managers, and had the most amazing working conditions.
I could not believe it when I saw that rather than the English Tea Break, these workers were treated to bottled beer from the local brewery, by the side of the production line , paid for by Magirus Deutz !
I was not the only person in our party to ask themselves, how this would have been received in the motor factories at home in the UK ?
The first assembly process I saw was the chassis assembly for the D30 FK tipper, which was completed with the chassis upside down and then neatly rotated, longitudinally, by some large chains before continuing on to the next stage. This was very impressive, but it just got better.
The mixture of models down the same line, demanded the type of precision, for which the Germans are well known, to ensure that the correct, engine, cab etc., appeared at exactly the right time to ensure the line kept moving, to produce a New truck every 10 minutes.
Pitter Commercials Visit to Ulm January 1978 - Group Photo
Click Picture to enlarge
The names to the faces are below, if my memory is not too deficient ( let me know if I am wrong)
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