New Ferrari Ferrari hasjustcompleted a ground-up rebuild of its famous Maranello works, the end of a 10-year plan designed to make the company more people-oriented and, crucially, allow itto build better cars and build cars better. Even the most devoted Prancing Horse fans would admit that the workmanship of some Ferrari road cars has left something to be desired Until the mid-1980s Maranello was cramped, its foundry was a grubby melting pot and its paint shop consisted of a man with a spray gun.
The result was that some of the greatest Ferraris in history were built in conditions little better than a back-street workshop. The production system was inefficient and the workforce discontent and increasingly militant.
Now all of this has been swept away in a programme devised by ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo. When he returned to Ferrari in 1991 (he had been the racing boss there in the 1970s) he faced run-down facilities. But his vision of the Ferrari factory of the future reflected a new, streamlined and polished brand image. He called it Formula Uomo ('uomo' is Italian for 'man'). The first concrete example of Formula Uomo was the iconic Formula One wind tunnel designed by Renzo Piano and completed.
A new assembly hall and a 600Žseat staff restaurant (styled in the shape of an aerofoil) are the finishing touches to an elegant campus with a tree-lined boulevard, the Viale Enzo Ferrari, running down the centre and cross-streets named after racing champions, complete with signs showing the Ferraris they drove. Some of Europe's most celebrated architects have contributed. The aluminium foundry, the machine shop and the paint plant all have glass walls and lush indoor gardens as rest areas. Inside, automation has replaced the sweat of manual labour.
However, the real showpiece is the three-storey Centro Sviluppo Prodotto (Product Development Centre), designed by Massimiliano Fuksas.lt has shallow reflecting pools taking up most of the first floor space. Officially the pools, and the Japanese garden below, are to stimulate the creativity of the engineers and designers, but actually their main purpose is to impress visitors from the Middle East and Asia, who account for an increasingly significant proportion of Ferrari's business.
The new California is the first occupant of the new assembly building (on the Via Scheckter). Rotating overhead cradles make for easier fitting out of the bodyshells, and components are delivered to the production line by magnetically guided trolleys.
A robot installs windscreens with millimetric precision, and the impression is of clean, well ordered. space; it contrasts with the parallel lines forthe existing V8 and V12 cars next door. Chief executive Amedeo Felisa insists that this facility is primarily a better working environment that will produce better-quality cars more efficiently. But an additional model and a new assembly line surely mean increased production? "Not necessarily," says Felisa. "
The new processes we start with the California will be adopted for all future products." The new lines there will be another on the floor above for the next 12-cylinder cars will replace the old facilities instead of addingto them. But some increase in production is inevitable. Ferrari made 6,465 cars in 2007, will reach 7,000 this year and is likely to exceed 8,000. The firm needs to boost output to satisfy new markets, meet an ever-increasing demand in Asia and settle discomfort about the length of waiting lists.
Although di Montezemolo is conscious of the need to preserve Ferrari's exclusivity, he doesn't want to turn away business. He used to say that 4,000 cars a year was the optimum. These days he doesn't talk of limiting supplY,just of maintaining Ferrari's position as the world's most famous maker of hi-tech, high-priced cars, built in the dream factory at Maranello.
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