The BMW Group is venturing into a new era of automotive manufacturing by exploring the use of humanoid robots in its production processes. During a recent trial run at BMW Group Plant Spartanburg, the company tested the latest humanoid robot, Figure 02, from the California-based company Figure. This cutting-edge robot demonstrated its capabilities by successfully inserting sheet metal parts into fixtures, a crucial step in chassis assembly that requires precise dexterity.
Advancing Production Efficiency and Ergonomics
The trial, which spanned several weeks, highlighted the potential of humanoid robots to perform complex tasks that are ergonomically challenging for human workers. By automating these tasks, BMW aims to enhance workplace safety and efficiency. The collaboration with Figure focuses on evaluating how these advanced robots can be integrated safely and effectively into existing production lines.
Kumpulan BMW telah menjadi pengeluar automotif pertama yang menerima sijil Kunci Digital CCC daripada Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC), menandakan pencapaian penting dalam akses kenderaan digital. Pensijilan ini adalah berdasarkan piawaian keselamatan dan kebolehoperasian tertinggi yang ditetapkan oleh CCC, mengesahkan bahawa Kunci Digital BMW memenuhi keperluan ketat ini.
The BMW Group has become the first automotive manufacturer to receive the CCC Digital Key certificate from the Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC), marking a significant milestone in digital vehicle access. This certification is based on the highest security and interoperability standards set by the CCC, confirming that the BMW Digital Key meets these rigorous requirements.
Leading the Way in Digital Key Technology
The Car Connectivity Consortium is a cross-industry organisation dedicated to advancing vehicle connectivity with intelligent mobile devices. Since joining the consortium in 2017, the BMW Group has played a leading role in developing and establishing cross-industry technologies and safety standards. The CCC’s membership includes numerous automotive manufacturers, major smartphone manufacturers, tier-one automotive suppliers, semiconductor manufacturers, and security product providers.
BMW, bersama dengan kerajaan Thailand dan duta besar Jerman untuk Thailand, telah memulakan pembinaan sebuah kilang untuk menghasilkan bateri khas untuk kereta elektrik. Kilang ini akan membantu BMW menghasilkan kereta elektrik di Thailand bermula dari separuh kedua tahun 2025.
Kilang bateri baru ini akan meliputi kawasan seluas 4,000 meter persegi dan akan menjadi sebahagian daripada operasi BMW di Thailand. Ia akan mengambil bahagian bateri dari tempat lain dan mengumpulkannya untuk membuat bateri besar untuk kereta elektrik. BMW membelanjakan banyak wang, kira-kira 1.6 bilion baht (sekitar RM211,153,426), untuk projek ini, dengan kebanyakan wang digunakan untuk mendapatkan peralatan terbaik.
After a joint ground-breaking ceremony attended by Milan Nedeljković, Board Member for Production at BMW AG, representatives of the Thai government, and the German ambassador to Thailand Ernst Reichel, construction has commenced for the BMW Group’s local manufacturing facility for Gen-5 high-voltage batteries. This facility will enable the BMW Group to produce fully electric vehicles locally, with production scheduled to begin in the second half of 2025.
The forthcoming high-voltage battery assembly facility will cover 4,000 square meters and will be an integral part of BMW Group Manufacturing Thailand. The assembly line will convert imported battery cells into modules, which will then be integrated into high-voltage batteries. The BMW Group has invested over 1.6 billion baht (approximately RM211,153,426) in the project, with a significant portion earmarked for state-of-the-art equipment and systems, totalling almost 1.4 billion baht (approximately RM184,759,247).
BMW Group Logistik, in collaboration with Trailer Dynamics, has successfully tested an electrically powered semi-trailer in real-world logistics operations. This innovative e-trailer concept achieved remarkable fuel savings when paired with a diesel truck. The testing occurred over various distances and routes, and the results were promising.
Short and Medium Distances: The e-trailer, when combined with a diesel truck, achieved average fuel savings of over 46% for short and medium distances.
Long Distances: For long-distance routes, the fuel savings exceeded 48% compared to conventional trailers.
The e-trailer is unique in that it features its own battery and electric drive axle, which assists the semi-truck’s engine. Integrated sensors optimize the load ratio, further improving fuel economy. The e-trailer’s powered axle not only reduces the tractor’s energy consumption but also provides additional power during acceleration and on inclines.
The tests were conducted over both medium and long distances, with up to 250km per day on motorways and main roads. The e-trailer data was collected automatically during these journeys. Over long distances, energy modules for BMW electric cars were transported over 450km, resulting in significant diesel savings. The e-tailer’s battery was charged with 100% green energy, further contributing to its environmental benefits.
A remarkable achievement was demonstrated on the final day of testing, where an electric Volvo tractor was used in combination with an e-trailer. This combination achieved a driving distance of more than 600km without recharging and, therefore, a 100% CO2 reduction when using an e-truck and e-trailer together.
While e-trailers come with a higher initial weight that affects payload capacity, the increased total weight for trailers allowed in the EU helps offset this concern. The higher acquisition costs are balanced by lower operating costs, especially over long distances.
The BMW Group is committed to reducing its environmental footprint and supports the development of innovative technologies in transport logistics to achieve these goals. These e-trailer pilot projects are a significant step in realising their “Green Transport Logistics” strategy.
Sime Darby Motors, a unit of Sime Darby Berhad, is one of the major players in the automotive business in the Asia Pacific region. Its involvement over the past 40 years has covered retail, distribution and assembly in nine markets.
It now adds Indonesia to the list with the establishment of a joint venture between its subsidiary Sime Singapore Ltd. and Galeon Group. The joint venture company, known as PT Performance Motors Indonesia, will handle the BMW Group brands, BMW and MINI.
PT Performance Motors Indonesia is Sime Darby Motors’ first venture in Indonesia. It will start off in Jakarta and Medan with two dealerships representing BMW and MINI. Moving forward, it will expand into other provinces in Java and Sumatra to grow the BMW Group’s network in Indonesia.
For all its life, the Mini has been primarily manufactured in England. Even when the Mini became the modern MINI after the name and model rights were acquired by the BMW Group, the original factory in Oxford was also acquired to continue production of the model.
Of course, besides England, the Mini was also assembled locally in some countries, including Malaysia. Same with the MINI, which has been assembled at the Inokom plant in Kedah. Soon, the new MINI model will be produced in Germany for the first time, at the BMW Group’s plant in Leipzig. This makes the production facility the first plant at which vehicles of the BMW and MINI brands are manufactured together.
Since the days of Henry Ford who said ‘you can have your car in any colour you want as long as it’s black’, the process of painting a car constantly evolved. In the earliest days, the work was done manually and took around 40 days to complete painting a car. Today, with automated processes using robots, the complete job can take about 18 hours (including passing through the oven). The principles are essentially the same but the technology has become more advanced to achieve higher quality, especially the finish.
However, one constraint in painting cars in factories that assemble them is that variations are very limited. Even the number of colours is controlled for optimization and for personalisation, the work has to be done outside of the normal process. Factory managers would love to do it Henry Ford’s way with just one colour.
However, in today’s market, customers want choice and those who can afford it also want a degree of personalisation. This is especially so in the premium luxury segment and the manufacturers even have special divisions to cater to such specific requirements.
Increasing scope of individualisation
At the BMW Group’s factory in Dingolfing, Germany, a new pilot painting process has begun where several paint colours can be used and designs applied without stencils or masking the vehicle as the process is free of overspray. This highly innovative application method not only increases the scope of individualisation for customers but also contributes to sustainability by reducing waste and energy consumption.
The process developed by the BMW Group, in collaboration with Durr (a well known company in this field) is known as EcoPaintJet Pro application. It applies waterborne base coats and 2K clear coat without electrostatics, relying instead on jet application. In the conventional procedure, paint is atomised by a rotating bell with 35 to 55,000 revolutions per minute and adheres electrostatically to the body.
Different approach to painting
The paint is applied using an orifice plate that enables high edge definition with a variable paint thickness of between 1 and approximately 50 mm. This requires maximum precision from both the robot and application technology. It also means two different colours of paint can be used, eg for a contrasting roof, with stripes and other designs applied on various parts of the bodywork.
The focus of technology and material development was on achieving the maximum range of applications. It will now be possible to paint every exterior component – offering customers virtually limitless options for individualisation.
No need for masking
Until now, custom designs like this can only be realised using manual masking, a time-consuming process. With the new technology, the material and personnel costs this previously entailed will be also eliminated, making it possible to realize these options at a lower cost. The precision of spraying means there is no overspray and therefore no excess paint particles to be disposed of.
A further contribution to sustainable production comes from lower energy consumption. Since paint separation is no longer required, the amount of air needed is also les. At around 7,000 operating hours, this results in energy savings of more than 6,000 megawatt hours and reduces the carbon footprint by nearly 2,000 tonnes per year.
BMW M4 Coupe used for trial run
The technology is being used for the first time for 19 BMW M4 Coupes. These will have custom two-tone paintwork and M4 identification on the bonnet and tailgate. With the paintwork for the M4 small series, the BMW Group is testing the possibilities of the new process. These unique vehicles will initially be used in the company’s own fleet. Wider use of the innovative paint process is scheduled to begin in 2022 when other factories in the BMW Group production network adopt it.
BMW’s famous Art Car Collection has been shown at exhibitions around the world (including Malaysia in 2006) and now it is also being presented in augmented reality (AR) for the first time, enabling people all over the world to digitally experience the rolling sculptures.
The move is in time for the 50th anniversary of the BMW Group’s cultural commitment. The support for cultural institutions and artists around the world and, based on mutual appreciation and curiosity, BMW connects people all over the world.
To put the Art Cars in the digital universe, BMW teamed up with Acute Art which developed an app for the purpose. The Acute Art app uses cutting-edge technology that works best on high-end smartphones with the latest software. The supported devices are iPhone X or newer and Samsung Galaxy S8 or equivalent models. The app requires a phone with at least 4 GB of RAM and the Apple iOS 11 or Android 8.0 Oreo (API 24) operating system. It is free of charge for download from the App Store and Google Play.
Art Cars since 1975
On the initiative of the French racing driver and art lover Herve Poulain and in close collaboration with Jochen Neerpasch, then BMW Motorsport Director, the artist Alexander Calder was asked in 1975 to design Poulain’s BMW racing car. Since then, a total of 19 artists from all over the world have designed BMW automobiles of their time. They showed different artistic statements and reflected cultural and historical developments in art, design and technology.
The first BMW Art Cars will be accessible via the app are the ones done by Alexander Calder (BMW 3.0 CSL, 1975); Michael Jagamara Nelson (BMW M3, 1989); Ken Done (BMW M3, 1989); Matazo Kayama (BMW 535i, 1990); Esther Mahlangu (BMW 525i, 1991); Jeff Koons (BMW M3 GT2, 2010); and John Baldessari (BMW M6 GTLM, 2016). The other Art Cars will be integrated into the Acute Art App every two weeks from today.
The app can be used to place them individually or as a group. For this purpose, the real Art Cars were scanned from numerous angles using the photogrammetry method and every detail of the artistic work and the surface of the car were recorded. The vehicles were then digitally put together to create a realistic AR version of themselves.
Part of BMW’s cultural commitment
“The BMW Art Cars are an essential part of BMW’s 50 years of cultural commitment. They are finally entering the digital world and are accessible everywhere and for everyone. I am thrilled to work with Acute Art as we both strive for innovation and cutting-edge technology. I can hardly wait to place the Art Cars in my living room and get behind the wheel of these extraordinary masterpieces!” said Pieter Nota, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, responsible for customers, brands and sales.
During this year’s Art Basel in Switzerland, the BMW Group will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its cultural commitment with this interactive exhibition of BMW Art Cars in the Acute Art App. On September 21, in addition to the presentation of the BMW Art Car by Alexander Calder, guests will be invited to experience the BMW Art Cars in a specially created augmented reality area.
Vaccination does not make you immune to COVID-19 infection. You can still get infected and you may not show symptoms but spread the coronavirus. Do not stop taking protective measures such as wearing a facemask, washing hands frequently and social distancing.
