Walter Schauz heads the prototyping department at the Neu-Ulm factory. Many new Daimler Buses models have to pass through this before going into serial production. For this reason, he knows the new Setra double-decker bus down to the last detail.

Even as a young boy, Walter Schauz had a connection with buses, which were in the family so to speak. His father, Karl Schauz, was responsible for Setra used buses, whilst his great uncle, Hans Schauz, was a legendary chief designer for Setra. The current head of prototyping began as a young engineer in the mid eighties at the trailer construction department of what was then Kässbohrer Fahrzeugwerke. After that, he got involved with axles, engines and interiors on buses, was team leader in design and ultimately a project manager for eight years. Among other things, he was responsible for revising the Top and ComfortClass 400.

We visit Walter Schauz where all prototypes of Setra buses first see the light of day. Somewhat aside from the normal bus production near the Setra customer centre. He stands there surrounded by all kinds of devices, tools, templates and parts. Taking a look at the skeleton torso of the new double-decker, he says: “It was one of the nicest jobs during my 32 years at the company to have significantly contributed to putting this dream coach on the road.”

Walter Schauz is, of course, not alone in his work. Assiduously and yet with the majestic calm of real experts, more than two dozen employees work here. Metalworkers, plumbers, electricians, “all professions that you need in vehicle construction,” summarises Schauz. He is flanked by half a dozen engineers. These form the interface to the development department. “The staff all go about their work very creatively,” says Schauz.

In prototyping, everything the designers and developers have conceived on the computer is tried out in practice. The truth is on the pitch, according to an old football saying. On a new bus, such as the double-decker, the truth is only revealed in prototyping.

So that everything later fits precisely in production, the team around Walter Schauz makes each component as a test sample. The torso supplied by the shell construction department acts as a starting model here. This ranges from the test skeleton for a new partition wall at the entrance through to mock-ups – in other words models – for the new steps and the stair claddings. Has the freedom of movement on the new stairs to the top deck really improved? Is the horizontal instead of the previous vertical cable routing in the floor easily feasible? Have the entrance and space in the washroom of the new double-decker bus actually turned out bigger than before? The specialists in prototyping assemble and test everything. Even axles and the engine and gears unit, as the bus does not just stand there but must also drive in future. Besides parts, ideas also emerge in prototyping, for instance a new storage compartment for the driver.

Everything must work reliably in every detail, which is where modern technology also helps these days. A 3D printer throws up a variety of plastic parts. “In this way, we can soon get our hands on things and check that they work,” explains Schauz and gives an example: a large Spanish customer asked for waste bins on the seating of its coaches. The design department designed and the printer printed, allowing Setra to soon present the fitting part and reach agreement with the customer.

The head of prototyping really cannot complain about a lack of work. In the meantime, the S 531 DT doubledecker is ready for production, but the next jobs are already waiting. To relax after all the challenges, Walter Schauz sits back in a bus. Admittedly in his camping bus for the family holiday to Provence.