VW's Auto City Runs on RFID
As many as 700 customers daily pick up their new cars at Volkswagen's theme park, where workers use RFID to ready each vehicle and match it up with the right owner.
By Rhea Wessel
Nov. 7, 2005—Volkswagen Group builds more than 5 million vehicles annually at production sites around the world, the majority of which are distributed through dealerships. Each year, however, an average of 130,000 cars made for the European market are picked up by auto enthusiasts, or by consumers seeking to save about €450 on delivery costs.
Each day, as many as 700 buyers come to Wolfsburg, Germany, to pick up their vehicles at Volkswagen's Autostadt (Auto City) theme park, complete with exhibits about technology, the environment, automobiles and mobility.
Consequently, getting the right car to its proper owner at the designated appointment time is a mammoth task. Complicating matters, each car has a different set of predelivery tasks that must be performed. Some must be de-waxed to remove the layer of wax that protects the paint job and keeps a new car looking new, while others must be tanked up with gasoline. Still others must be equipped with a mobile phone or a freebie umbrella. To get the job done in a cost-effective manner, VW turned to radio frequency identification.
Nov. 7, 2005—Volkswagen Group builds more than 5 million vehicles annually at production sites around the world, the majority of which are distributed through dealerships. Each year, however, an average of 130,000 cars made for the European market are picked up by auto enthusiasts, or by consumers seeking to save about €450 on delivery costs.
Each day, as many as 700 buyers come to Wolfsburg, Germany, to pick up their vehicles at Volkswagen's Autostadt (Auto City) theme park, complete with exhibits about technology, the environment, automobiles and mobility.
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| Volkswagen's Autostadt in Wolfsburg, Germany, where customers can pick up their new Golfs and other VW models. |
Consequently, getting the right car to its proper owner at the designated appointment time is a mammoth task. Complicating matters, each car has a different set of predelivery tasks that must be performed. Some must be de-waxed to remove the layer of wax that protects the paint job and keeps a new car looking new, while others must be tanked up with gasoline. Still others must be equipped with a mobile phone or a freebie umbrella. To get the job done in a cost-effective manner, VW turned to radio frequency identification.
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