Gearing back up: North Charleston’s Sprinter van plant is in it for the long (and tall) haul

One thing you can say about Sprinter van’s U.S. manufacturing chief: He makes bold claims but has figures to back them up.

Andreas Maas said the company’s mission is that ‘everyone in North America is served by a Sprinter every day.’ He was talking to a group of salespeople and two journalists before a tour of the automaker’s North Charleston plant.

That sounds unrealistic, given more than 300 million people live in America and Canada.

But then again, Sprinter’s customers include Federal Express and United Parcel Service. Maas said there are 100,000 Sprinters in North America, and each reaches a net total of 100 people a day. Multiply, and you get 10 million people.

Impressive. But it’s still nowhere near everyone in the two countries. Did Maas misspeak? No, though he qualified his the statement. Sprinter’s tentacle-like reach is ‘not next year, but down the road.’ The van garners just 6 percent to 8 percent of the domestic market.

If a Sprinter a day for everyone still seems far-fetched, consider this: Globally, Mercedes is the largest manufacturer of light-duty trucks. Daimler AG manufactures 300,000 vans worldwide, already enough to reach 300 million people.

Still, Maas’ statement comes at a curious time. The Charleston County reassembly plant off Palmetto Commerce Parkway is operating at less than half the level of its peak two years ago. During last month’s tour, 26 vans were rolling out a day compared with 95 in 2007. The figure is slightly above recent lows.

‘We are going to get up to 30 in the next couple of days,’ he said. ‘More demand. That’s why it is going up.’

Employment plunged from more than 200 at its peak in 2007 to about 100 now, and production curtailed from two shifts to one. Maas did say the plant is ready to hire again.

Standing tall
The optimistic outlook is an indication of the company’s long-term vision, as executives are looking ahead rather than focusing on the recent recession and downturn in auto manufacturing.

Not coincidentally, Daimler recently rebadged Sprinters as Mercedes-Benz vehicles. The vans had been marketed under the Dodge brand, a byproduct of the merger between parent Chrysler and Daimler AG. DaimlerChrysler broke apart in 2007, and in the wind-down, Sprinters returned to the Daimler fold last summer. Sprinters also are built under the Freightliner name. Freightliner is a sister company that makes commercial trucks.

Mercedes has committed to promoting the Sprinter as a passenger vehicle, something Dodge was at least somewhat successful in accomplishing.

The lanky Maas, who stands well above 6 feet tall, has a special reason to be proud of the plant. He was a Mercedes executive at the headquarters in Stuttgart when the carmaker developed the boxy, elevated cargo and passenger vans, tall enough that someone like Maas can walk upright inside unimpeded.

The plant off Ladson Road showcases some of the vagaries of today’s global economy. Mercedes actually saves more by manufacturing the van for U.S. production in Germany, then taking them apart, shipping the chassis and parts to America, and hiring employees to refit the pieces. The work entails reinstalling everything from hefty diesel engines to tiny brand logos, fuel tanks, drive shafts, axles, spare tires and headlights. Local workers even handle corrosion protection and touch-up paint, if necessary.

Mercedes makes several types of Sprinter vans, and some of the models are shipped fully assembled and then distributed from the Lowcountry. Still about two-thirds of the vehicles are forwarded to the area for reassembly.

‘That’s good for Charleston. More work,’ Maas said.

Precisely
The recent tour showcases the plant’s precision operations, as the units move through 30 checkpoints, or ‘marriage stations,’ on the assembly line. The factory is temperature-controlled, well-lighted and almost spotless.

Oversize, visible digital clocks time the steps so workers know exactly how many minutes, or even seconds, they have to complete a task. Yet the employees, who walk or ride special electric bikes around the facility, don’t seem pressured.

Sprinter catalogs all the parts for each vehicle, which correspond via bar codes.

‘It’s more of a logistical challenge than a production challenge,’ Maas said.

In one section of the massive assembly floor, a string of boxes held transmissions and the 3-liter V-6 diesel engines also found in the Mercedes G- and M-class vehicles, such as the 320 CDI.

Frames are rolled from place to place with a special ground lift, so one worker can move 1,200- to 1,500-pound bodies at a time.

The reassembly ranges from unhooking the wooden crates that hold together parts during transport to fitting the pieces as the body creeps forward along the line.

Once vans are reassembled, they undergo diagnostic tests, such as aligning axles and headlights, a dynamometer test that checks horsepower readings and a 10-mile road test driving on area interstates and byways up to 70 mph.

Maas said he’s been pleased with the results at the plant, which opened in 2006.

‘All the people are exceedingly well-trained,’ he said.