Excursion report

As part of our excursion, we visited the measurement technology and quality management department at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Rastatt. The event served as a practice-oriented continuation and consolidation of the course “Industrial Surveying and Robotics” in the Master's degree program in Geodesy and Geoinformatics and gave us a direct insight into current metrological applications in industrial production.

The focus was on the precise monitoring and inspection of car body components at various stages of production. Of particular interest was the presentation of the inspection of gap dimensions between door elements and adjacent body parts - a key aspect in ensuring the production quality and visual appearance of a vehicle.

During the tour, we were given a practical insight into the day-to-day work of the employees. In the measuring hall, we were able to see various high-precision machines and measuring instruments up close and watch the specialists at work. Both tactile measuring methods and the use of stationary Cartesian coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) were explained to us. Another focus was on the use of specialized software solutions for evaluating and documenting the measurement results.

The excursion provided a valuable opportunity to combine theoretical knowledge from our studies with practical application and gave us a realistic impression of the importance of precise measurement technology in automotive quality management.