BMW has taken a major step ahead in its automation technique with the commissioning of an expanded physique store at its Regensburg automobile plant in Neutraubling, Germany.
The improve concerned putting in a complete of 294 industrial robots into the power – a transparent sign of the corporate’s continued funding in high-efficiency, digitally built-in automobile manufacturing.
Spanning 40,000 sq. meters, the newly inaugurated physique store is designed to assist rising international demand for the BMW X1 and BMW X2 fashions.
Based on the corporate, the plant now produces greater than 120 automobile our bodies per day, with every physique present process as much as 4,771 welding operations carried out by 238 welding weapons mounted on robotic arms.
Whereas BMW has not disclosed what number of robots have been used within the facility previous to this enlargement, the size of automation now deployed displays broader business developments and BMW’s personal trajectory towards “future-proof” manufacturing.
The corporate has invested greater than €550 million over the previous two years into upgrading its operations within the area, which incorporates not solely Regensburg but additionally Wackersdorf.
In an announcement, Plant Director Armin Ebner stated the transfer alerts a “agency dedication” to the Higher Palatinate as a long-term industrial location.
Digital twin-enabled automation
One of many standout options of the brand new physique store is the usage of digital twin expertise. Each robotic and system was digitally modeled earlier than being bodily put in, permitting engineers to simulate and optimize workflows just about.
This strategy decreased downtime throughout set up and made it doable to start manufacturing swiftly following commissioning.
The combination of this digital spine helps BMW’s ambition of constructing good factories the place people and machines collaborate in tightly choreographed environments.
Though the press launch doesn’t reference human-robot collaboration particularly, BMW has beforehand been a pioneer on this space — deploying light-weight collaborative robots (cobots) in a number of of its manufacturing traces for duties akin to adhesive software and half dealing with.
Broader automation technique
The Neutraubling improve matches into BMW’s international technique of integrating automation and synthetic intelligence throughout its manufacturing community.
The corporate has experimented with AI-guided robotic floor processing in its paint outlets, and extra not too long ago carried out a trial with humanoid robots from Determine AI at its Spartanburg plant within the US, assessing their potential for repetitive or ergonomically tough duties.
This systematic embrace of automation not solely improves effectivity and product consistency but additionally displays the automotive business’s broader shift towards software-defined manufacturing.
In such environments, robots are not handled as remoted machines however as dynamic elements of a real-time, data-driven manufacturing system.
Automation as aggressive edge
As carmakers race to affect their product traces and digitalize manufacturing, automation is more and more seen as a strategic differentiator.
Crops able to fast, scalable, and versatile manufacturing are higher positioned to reply to shifts in demand, notably because the transition to electrical autos (EVs) accelerates.
BMW has beforehand introduced plans to supply electrical variations of the BMW X1 at Regensburg, and the brand new physique store is predicted to play a key function in supporting that technique.
For now, the 294 robots put in in Neutraubling symbolize a concrete benchmark of BMW’s automation ambitions – and a glimpse into the way forward for automotive manufacturing.
