New BusWorld Home in Berlin: State-of-the-art Omniplus service centre in Europe

• remium service for buses and coaches from Daimler Buses
• 26 assembly stations and paintshop for Mercedes-Benz and
  Setra buses and coaches
• BusWorld Home Berlin is the largest Omniplus site for electric buses
• Ecology, resource conservation and environmental friendliness set new standards in water treatment, charging power supply, roof-mounted solar systems and medium-term electricity storage with 2nd life electric
  bus batteries
• Omniplus: densest service network for buses and coaches in Europe

Omniplus, the service brand of Daimler Buses, has built a new top-class service centre for Mercedes-Benz and Setra buses and coaches with a comprehensive range of services at Neudecker Weg in Berlin. Developed over a total area of around 21,000 square metres, it is the most modern and innovative BusWorld Home (BWH) in Europe. It offers state-of-the-art premium services for Mercedes-Benz and Setra-branded buses and coaches. At the same time, it is the largest Omniplus service site for Mercedes-Benz electric buses in Europe. At BusWorld Home in Berlin, experts will also be available for service on future fuel cell vehicles.

Good accessibility for buses and coaches on site and passing through

The new BWH at Neudecker Weg is conveniently located at the intersection of Berlin's districts of Neukölln and Adlershof. Its direct connection to the main transport routes of the German capital offers invaluable advantages. The A113 motorway is just a few minutes away. The A10 motorway ring, the Central Bus Station (ZOB) and Berlin Airport (BER) are each only around ten kilometres away. As a result, BWH Berlin is not only a central service centre for scheduled regular service buses and touring coaches to double-decker buses from the entire Berlin-Brandenburg region but is also strategically advantageous for all buses and coaches that are passing through.

Parking spaces for 80 large and small buses and coaches are available on the spacious company premises. Two DC charging stations allow up to four electric buses to be charged at the same time by cable with a fast charging capacity of 150 kW. Visitors and employees can park their passenger cars in 35 additional parking spaces, most of which also offer charging options.

Technological know-how: Europe's most sophisticated BusWorld Home

The new BusWorld Home Berlin has state-of-the-art equipment and can therefore also take on workshop activities that previously had to be carried out by external service providers and third-party companies. Its range of services includes the entire service portfolio
from maintenance and repair to bodywork and painting for buses and touring coaches from
Mercedes-Benz and Setra to all work on high-voltage technology and battery repair for electric buses of the Mercedes-Benz brand. In addition, BWH Berlin is already optimally prepared for the coming generation of hydrogen-powered fuel cell buses.

Comprehensive competence: minimisation of the ecological footprint

Daimler Buses has invested a total of more than 20 million euros in the new BWH Berlin, where up to 70 jobs will be created. In addition to the wide range of state-of-the-art, all-round services for conventional and electrically powered buses, the focus is also on a multitude of future-oriented measures with the aim of achieving a largely comprehensive material and energy cycle.

This is done by efficient, holistic recycling of resources and the stationary storage of solar energy generated on the roofs of the workshop hall in a large-scale, high-performance photovoltaic system. In the medium term, the installation of 2nd life battery systems on the BWH Berlin premises is planned for energy storage. Based on the NMC high-performance batteries from the Mercedes-Benz eCitaro that are to be replaced after a fixed operating time, the battery systems are intended to cover the majority of the power supply for the entire operating processes in the final expansion stage. After being used in the vehicle, stationary reuse secures the eCitaro batteries a second life as a storage medium and also improves the life-cycle assessment of the new BWH Berlin.

BWH Berlin has also been designed to save energy in many other areas down to the smallest detail. All floors throughout the site, including the workshop hall, are equipped with underfloor heating. Sophisticated water management allows the volume of waste water to be recycled. As a result, the proportion of fresh water consumed in the BWH's vehicle washing facility is only ten percent. Even rainwater is filtered through a sediment layer at the BWH site and directed into the Teltow Canal. All doors and numerous partition walls in the workshop hall feature efficient noise insulation.

The workstations of the BWH employees are also designed to be exemplary and suitable for the disabled. Elevators connect the two floors of the administration building. Wide aisles and generously dimensioned doors allow wheelchair users to reach their respective point of destination unhindered on all floors and working areas of the building.

In detail: new workshop hall for all bus-specific services

A highlight is the large workshop hall, which covers the major part of the BWH building area of around 4,960 square metres. It measures 150 metres in length and 35 metres in width. The interior can be accessed through a total of 32 rolling doors. With a total of 26 assembly stations, a large bodywork department, a painting booth, a preparation hall and a vehicle washing facility, all of which have been designed for buses and coaches with lengths of up to 22 metres and a height of at least 4.10 metres.

Six rolling doors on each side of the hall lead to six assembly lanes, each 34 metres long, where work can be carried out on two solo or articulated buses at the same time. This results in a total of twelve assembly stations for mechanical/electrical maintenance and repair work. In addition, two additional lanes with a total of four spaces and one rolling door each on either side of the hall are provided for the repair of electrically powered buses from Mercedes-Benz. In this area of the hall, special safety sliding platforms have been installed to minimise risks when carrying out high-voltage work on the batteries installed on the bus roof. A unique feature: It is not only possible to replace the complete battery packs at BWH Berlin, but also to repair them. It is even possible to repair individual non-functioning components of the battery drive system. Four assembly lanes and thus eight of the total of 16 assembly stations in this hall area have pits with automatic pit covers, oil and water collecting channels, wheel grippers and lifting cranes.

The four hall sections connected to this workshop area are also designed for two buses or coaches each that can be worked on at the same time. As it can be very noisy in these areas, each of these sections is separated from the other hall areas with soundproofing walls to keep noise levels as low as possible for the employees working there. Each of these sections can be accessed through one rolling door on each side of the hall.

In the first of these four sections, technical and legal reviews take place. Here too, a CapaCity or two other buses or coaches can use the built-in brake test stand at the same time. The three adjacent hall sections are reserved for bodywork, accident repairs and paintwork preparations. Depending on requirements, one articulated bus or two smaller vehicles will be able to be painted at the same time in the divisible paint spray booth. Environmentally friendly water-based paints will primarily be used. This area has been joined with a processing hall and a washing facility with a high-performance vehicle washing system.

Two separate assembly stations with vehicle lifts have been set up in the front part of the workshop hall. In addition, the attractively designed reception area for partners and bus customers, service and workshop managers' offices, ordering and dispensing points for Omniplus genuine parts, staff lounges and meeting rooms are spread over two floors. The front part of the workshop hall also accommodates a state-of-the-art spare parts high-bay warehouse with three floors and an area of 2,400 square metres.

The area of the new BWH borders directly on the Commercial Vehicle Center Berlin of Daimler Truck AG. This creates synergies between the two operations and enables even better service with customer orientation at the highest level.

Omniplus: densest service network for buses and coaches in Europe

With around 600 outlets, Omniplus offers the densest service network for buses and coaches in Europe. The service outlets have been split into the service categories BusWorld, BusPort and BusPoint. The highest level of service is offered by the service centres in the BusWorld category, including the in-house BusWorld Home operations. They feature maximum parts availability, participation in Omniplus 24 h Service, special tools for bus and coach-specific repairs and extended opening hours. The highly trained and certified employees provide maximum expertise in service and repairs for buses, coaches and their entire range of components.