Article Abstract
- BMW rebuilt a 3rd of its Munich manufacturing unit — together with a brand-new physique store with 800 robots operating at 98% automation — whereas persevering with to supply as much as 1,000 automobiles a day all through the development.
- The plant goes absolutely electrical by 2027, and BMW says per-vehicle manufacturing prices will drop one other 10% with the launch of the brand new BMW i3 this August, under the extent of its present gas-powered fashions.
- The previous engine manufacturing corridor now assembles electrical automobiles — and whereas a BMW i3 remains to be on the road, it is already transmitting the standing of as much as 20,000 options in actual time to the manufacturing system.
BMW has spent a number of years gutting and rebuilding roughly a 3rd of one in every of its oldest factories whereas protecting as much as 1,000 autos a day rolling off the road. The plant has been operating for over a century. By 2027, it can make nothing however electrical autos. In the present day, they’re prepared to point out us behind the scenes.
A manufacturing unit rebuilt from inside
BMW is placing round €650 million into the Munich plant’s conversion. The brand new physique store was designed completely via a digital twin — a digital simulation used to plan each robotic and workflow earlier than something was inbuilt the true world. Eight hundred robots now deal with the becoming a member of processes at about 98 p.c automation. BMW additionally reduce the variety of becoming a member of course of sorts down to 5, a simplification that pays off throughout numerous downstream coordination. The constructing generates its personal electrical energy from a rooftop photo voltaic system and meets the KfW 40 EE vitality effectivity commonplace.
The press store stamps metal and aluminum boards into parts — tens of hundreds every day. BMW has standardized press and power specs throughout its world community, so instruments will be bodily moved between crops and staff can rotate between websites with out retraining. Off-cuts get sorted and despatched again to supply new coils.
The paint store now makes use of AI cameras to catch floor defects in the course of the operating course of, not afterward. Automated techniques right variations on the spot. Older setups would flag points for separate remediation; this one doesn’t wait. Exhaust air is cleaned with an electrically powered eRTO system fairly than the thermal alternate options that require extra vitality.
Meeting runs in what was the engine manufacturing corridor. Whereas a automotive remains to be on the road, the BMW i3 is already sending the standing of as much as 20,000 options to the manufacturing system — so issues floor instantly fairly than on the finish of the method.
2.5 million elements, every single day
The logistics aspect is straightforward to underestimate. The plant strikes about 2.5 million elements a day, and going ahead, round 70 p.c of these will go straight from supply to the meeting workstation, no intermediate storage. That’s tougher to tug off than it sounds, particularly at a website wedged right into a dense metropolis neighborhood with no room to increase outward. BMW constructed a multi-story construction the place elements arrive at avenue degree and get distributed by conveyor to the correct ground. About 60 p.c of provide duties will ultimately be dealt with by automated robots and driverless autos, with a central digital management station managing the move.
Munich additionally has one thing no different BMW plant has: it builds its personal seats on-site. Each seat for each mannequin made there’s manufactured in-house and delivered to the meeting line in actual sequence. BMW makes use of the ability as its high quality benchmark for seat manufacturing throughout the corporate, and exams new supplies and manufacturing approaches there first.
The associated fee argument
Plant head Peter Weber says total manufacturing prices will drop by one other 10 p.c as soon as i3 manufacturing is operating — under the extent of the present car era. A part of that comes from course of and automation enhancements, half from the inherently easier structure of the Neue Klasse platform. BMW is clearly making the case that the electrical transition isn’t only a regulatory response; it’s the cheaper manufacturing path.
The i3 is the primary of a number of Neue Klasse fashions deliberate for Munich, together with an i3 Touring. Batteries will come from a brand new facility about 90 minutes away in Decrease Bavaria. The electrical motor is produced at BMW’s Steyr plant in Austria, which has been constructing standard drivetrains for greater than 40 years.
