Advanced Technology Insights: Gigafactory Ramp-Up

Welcome to What Tech Can Do, the podcast series from Roland Berger's Advanced Technology Center that provides insights into technological and industrial shifts and helps build the foundation for successful business strategies based on operational realities.

In this first episode, Junhyuk Choi, Senior Project Manager at Alexec (a Roland Berger company), is joined by Idriss Alami, Managing Partner at Alexec, and Wolfgang Bernhart, Senior Partner and Co-Head of the Advanced Technology Center at Roland Berger, to discuss the realities of scaling battery production in gigafactories. They explore why the start of production (SOP) marks the beginning of the most challenging phase, and what separates projects that ramp up successfully from those that spend years catching up. Drawing on extensive project experience, they highlight why many factories miss their initial production targets and how decisions made months before SOP determine long-term success. From the complexity of battery manufacturing processes to the importance of infrastructure, supplier integration, and realistic planning, the episode offers practical insights into managing ramp-up risks and challenges – and, ideally, preventing them beforehand. Discover how global competition is evolving, why Asian players lead the field, and what it takes for European and US manufacturers to build competitive battery production at scale. For more information, visit our website at https://www.rolandberger.com/en/Insights/Global-Topics/Advanced-Technology/