Volkswagen Mexico Revs Up for 

Jetta Component Production

CASE STUDY

Volkswagen Mexico Revs Up

for Jetta Component Production
Project Management Techniques Deliver Results On-time and Within Budget
To prepare for the production of its new Jetta, Volkswagen To oversee the complex project, VW Mexico established a
turned to a combination of international plants and external project management office (PMO), which was responsible for
suppliers to produce portions of the car’s new motor and axle monitoring and controlling the overall budget and schedules
assemblies. for the Jetta-related projects. Once VW Mexico was awarded
the assembly project, the PMO coordinated with the finance
Volkswagen Mexico Components (VW Mexico) won a department to obtain the resources necessary for the project.
competitive bid to produce several motor and axle parts A project manager was selected and the manufacturing
and assemblies, including the front axles and cornermodule department manager was named project sponsor.
assemblies. The team at the VW Mexico plant had 21 months
and a budget of US$3.3 million to design and install the The project manager, supported by a member of the planning
assembly line and begin mass production of parts. department, integrated the plans submitted by various project
participants and developed a work breakdown structure
Background (WBS) and detailed the timeline for the overall project. The
WBS served as a roadmap for each phase of the project.
VW Mexico won the competitive bid for the component
While the manufacturing and quality departments were
assembly project by proposing a fixed cost for part
involved throughout the project, other departments could be
production. This meant there would be no room for budget
consulted as necessary. The project manager was responsible
overruns. Any work that exceeded the budget would be
for overseeing the WBS and involving other departments at
incurred as a loss.
appropriate times.
The front axle and cornermodule assembly production was
overseen by a Project Management Professional (PMP)® and Solutions
the project was one of the first to be managed by the VW From initiation to closing, the project was divided into five
Mexico project office, which provided oversight for the entire phases with nine milestones over two years. The timeline
portfolio of programs and projects related to the production included all work from procurement and fabrication of
of Jetta components. The project manager and team would equipment through assembly line testing and optimization.
have to help develop and introduce internal processes that The final phase ended with the start of axle production and
future teams would follow. cornermodule assembly. In addition, a corresponding quality
plan was developed using the standards of the components
In addition, a new supplier was selected for the project while
plant, which was integrated into the timeline.
the equipment procurement process was underway. This late
addition resulted in a two month delay in the acquisition of The project manager held regular meetings with the core team
the assembly lines. to keep all departments informed of progress. The assembly
line supplier visited the VW Mexico plant on several occasions
Challenges to review progress and provide assistance in addressing any
The VW Mexico team used standard management processes, issues. Additional departments were involved when needed,
as described in A Guide to the Project Management Body of and a project status report—detailing performance index to
Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide), to complete the assembly line indicate progress relative to the overall timeline and budget—
project on-time and under budget. was distributed monthly to all departments. Because of the
Volkswagen Mexico Revs Up for Jetta Component Production

strict budget adherence requirements for the project, financial Results

resources were blocked to avoid overruns.
The VW Mexico team achieved and in many cases exceeded
In each meeting, participants had the opportunity to request the objectives for the assembly set-up project. Specifically:
specific changes to the WBS. Discussions were documented
■■ The entire project was completed within the specified
for quality purposes and changes were approved by both the
budget
project manager and project sponsor.
■■ The team met all delivery deadlines for each phase of
To ensure the project would be completed on time, the
testing
project manager found creative ways to resolve timing issues
created earlier in the process. To offset a two-month delay in ■■ Front axles and cornermodules produced on the plant’s
receiving assembly line equipment, the manufacturing group assembly lines continued to meet Volkswagen’s quality
conducted training while the maintenance group assisted guidelines
the subcontractor with installation of the assembly line
equipment. By performing these two events simultaneously, The Jetta component assembly line project team also
the project manager prevented future delays that might cause developed a number of tools and practices to serve as
the project to exceed the timeline. standards for future projects at the plant. Key learnings from
the project will enable future project teams to optimize
Throughout the project, the PMO maintained oversight for communication between different areas of the VW Mexico
the overall budget. Other project elements were monitored plant and ensure the success of future projects.
by individual members of the project team. For example, a
planning team member monitored activities related to the
WBS and quality plan while a quality team member was
responsible for ensuring that the parts being produced met
company quality specifications.

At the completion of each project phase, the project team

analyzed the overall project status and conducted risk
assessments for the remaining phases. Any resulting changes
to the WBS were approved by the project manager and project
sponsor.

The end of the project was marked by the transition to full

production mode. The official project closing took place 12
weeks after initial component production commenced.

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