Tuesday, February 28th, 2017 was one of the special days in my life which I will always cherish. I had the privilege of a plant tour and experience behind the scenes of automobile manufacturing processes. The experience is indescribable, and my excitement knew no bounds in witnessing the making of my ‘Dream Car’ at their corporate headquarters, home of BMW in Munich.
BMW (Bayerische Motoren Werke) was founded by Franz Josef Popp in 1916 as an aircraft engine company which eventually evolved to motorcycles to car manufacturers in the Bavaria region. In 2016 BMW marked its Centenary celebrations with a vision to reshape the automobile revolution in its next 100 years of journey in the digital transformation of the manufacturing Industry 4.0
According to IDC “Smart Manufacturing” will generate $371 billion in net global value over the next four years: 1) creating value from data and 2) streamlining design processes, factory operations, and supply chain risks. BMW has been one of the first few players within the automobile industry to adapt the major concepts of the Internet of Things by moving from Smart Products to Smart Systems which is Connected and Autonomous car technology.
BMW’s entire manufacturing unit follows the IoT principals of Automation, Supply chain management, Predictive Maintenance, Operating Efficiency, and Inventory Optimisations. BMW knows the real-time status of all the machines producing all parts/components from all suppliers going into the vehicles.
BMW’s plant manufactures approximately 1100 cars per day through its seamless process of automation.
There are about more than 1400 robots that are used to optimise the tasks performed by a man. Robotics play an integral part in the Automation. The intervention of human being is limited to the extent of operating these systems through their design thinking capabilities. IoT provides manufacturers a comprehensive view of the production process at all points which help them make a real-time adjustment.
BMW also uses predictive modelling to anticipate any future system failures, prioritise inspections, and reduce equipment downtimes. BMW has signed up with IBM to develop in-car Artificial Intelligence (AI) and IoT services using IBM’s Watson. Through this initiative, IBM will be hacking four BMW i8 hybrid sports car at its Munich Watson IoT HQ to create prototype solutions that will run on IBM’s Bluemix.
BMW has also collaborated with Microsoft to create a personal travel assistant that curates better driving experiences using Azure Platform. Using this technology platform BMW Connected cars integrates seamlessly into the digital life of a customer by capturing data from various sources, including real-time traffic conditions as well as an individual’s calendar, contacts, messages, and through apps. With this, an individual can find parking spaces more quickly, leave for appointments to reach on time, monitoring driving habits, and much more.
To summarise, I was impressed to see how BMW has adopted every aspect of IoT through its digital transformation in the manufacturing world and in creating the Connected Cars that will revolutionise an individual’s way of living in the ‘Smart and Connected World.’ The question still remains as to, how is BMW going to drive efficiency and increase the productivity significantly by embracing the Internet of Things to it’s Smart Manufacturing world!?!
