The BMW Group has begun to roll out a new cloud-based production logistics system, enabling better flexibility, and the use of artificial intelligence (AI).
The system, produced in partnership with German software firm SAP, allows for digital control of logistics and financing, with all internally produced and supplier provided components controlled through the ‘Parts Process Chain’.
In turn, this enables factories to adapt more quickly to changes in demand, and store components more efficiently, with AI helping streamline the production management process.
Alexander Buresch, senior vice president of BMW Group IT, said: “With the next stage of digitalization in production logistics and finance – enabled by consistent, unified data structures and standard process templates – we have significantly advanced the AI enablement of the BMW Group.
“As part of our partnership with SAP, we have transferred key corporate processes to a service-oriented, cloud-based platform, achieving a new level of efficiency, quality, and automation.”
The MINI plant in Oxford, along with BMW’s high-volume Regensburg plant in Germany, were the first to receive the new digital infrastructure, with the Group’s Munich headquarters and the Debrecen, Hungary plant set to follow by the end of the year.
The digitalisation paves the way for BMW’s Neue Klasse range of vehicles, set to debut with the next-generation iX3 later this year, with battery assembly sites preparing for the sixth-generation electric vehicle technology, which will underpin the new cars.
