San Luis Potosi/Munich. High-level representatives of
the Mexican government and the BMW Group officially opened the
company’s new automotive plant in San Luis Potosi in Mexico today.
Oliver Zipse, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible
for Production, stated during the ceremony: “The new plant in San Luis
Potosi is an important pillar of the BMW Group’s global production
strategy. We aim to achieve a balance in our production and sales in
the different world regions. We want to strengthen our footprint in
important and growing markets. Plant San Luis Potosi will
significantly boost our regional production flexibility in the
Americas. From here, we are delivering our locally produced BMW 3
Series Sedan to customers worldwide.”
The company has invested more than one billion US dollars in the new
production location. The plant, which already employs 2,500 people,
will have a capacity of up to 175,000 units per year once the ramp-up
phase is fully completed.
San Luis Potosi will build the BMW brand’s most successful model
series: the BMW 3 Series Sedan. In the company’s more than 100-year
history, this iconic car has come to represent the heart of the brand,
setting the standard for dynamic performance, efficiency and design.
The ceremony in San Luis Potosi was attended by guests including Dr.
Alfonso Romo Garza, Head of the Office of the Presidency of the
Mexican Republic; Dr Juan Manuel Carreras López, governor of the state
of San Luis Potosi; Oliver Zipse, member of the Board of Management of
BMW AG responsible for Production; Milagros Caiña-Andree, member of
the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Human Resources and
Labour Relations, and Dr Andreas Wendt, member of the Board of
Management of BMW AG responsible for Purchasing and Supplier Network.
Head of Human Resources Milagros Caiña-Andree highlighted the BMW
Group’s strong commitment to vocational education: “Our highly-trained
employees form a strong foundation for our new BMW Group Plant San
Luis Potosi and help us meet high quality standards for our premium
products. Our dual vocational training programme is already in its
fourth generation.”
At an innovative new training centre on the plant grounds, all new
staff and apprentices are trained in the BMW Group’s latest production
processes and technologies, based on the dual vocational training
model. The centre is not just focused on expanding employees’ and
apprentices’ technical skills, but also boosting motivation,
enthusiasm and team spirit.
The plant is working with four technical institutes in this area and
has already trained 250 apprentices in technical occupations.
Dr Andreas Wendt, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG
responsible for Purchasing and Supplier Network: “We have a strong
supplier base we can build on in Mexico, having sourced high-quality,
technologically sophisticated and innovative products from here for
more than ten years. Every BMW Group vehicle today already contains at
least one part from one of our 220 Mexican suppliers. Our new plant
will benefit from short supply routes and the high level of
flexibility this gives our supply chain.”
The BMW Group has operated its own local purchasing office in Mexico
since 2008. In 2017, the office relocated from Mexico City to San Luis
Potosi, where it now employs 105 people. The BMW Group’s purchasing
volume in Mexico reached USD 2.5 billion last year.
Focus on flexibility, digitalisation and sustainability
Hermann Bohrer, director of the Mexican plant: “The plant was
designed from the start to allow us to respond quickly and flexibly to
future model variants and production volumes. We use innovative
Industry 4.0 technologies, including new automation solutions and
modern assistance systems. Sustainability was also a major focus from
the beginning – and we are setting new standards in this area.”
Latest Industry 4.0 technologies
The BMW Group used digital 3D plans during construction of the plant,
both for the building itself and for the installation of equipment.
During every phase of construction, architects entered specific
information, such as location, dimensions and completion date into
digital models. Digital 3D-scanning technology was also used during
construction for the first time. Combining these two technologies
allowed for real-time analysis of construction progress and
cost-efficient modifications, providing the BMW Group with continuous
planning reliability.
The new BMW Group plant is a pioneer in the field of intelligent
maintenance. Smart Maintenance Assistant Software is being used for
the first time, enabling proactive maintenance throughout the plant to
be planned ahead of time, thereby increasing equipment availability.
Service activities are based on current, intelligently organised
system data instead of predefined maintenance intervals. Using smart
devices such as tablets and smartphones, staff receive all relevant
information regarding equipment status.
Various Industry 4.0 technologies are used, for example, in assembly,
where screens have largely replaced paper throughout the assembly
process. Two screens per takt provide staff with all the information
they need – information which, in the past, was only available on
paper. This digital job card is being used for the first time at the
BMW Group plant in Mexico.
Robots and employees work directly alongside one another in engine
pre-assembly, cooperating in a way which plays to the strengths of
each. Robots have the power to turn the heavy convertor, while the
employees have the manual dexterity to make the final adjustments to
fit them together precisely.
New sustainability benchmarks
From the first full year of production, the facility in San Luis
Potosi will be the BMW Group’s most resource-efficient plant.
Careful use of water resources is a primary sustainability objective.
The site, with the production network’s lowest water consumption per
vehicle produced, will be the BMW Group’s first paint shop to generate
no process wastewater at all. The water needed for the painting
process is reconditioned and reused.
The use of renewable energy sources ensures that the plant will be
supplied with 100% CO2-free electricity in future. A solar energy
plant on-site, covering an area of more than 70,000 m2,
will produce part of the energy.
Production for the global market
The new plant in Mexico expands the BMW Group production network to a
total of 31 locations. In line with the BMW Group’s Strategy NUMBER
ONE NEXT, this ensures the company has a flexible and efficient
international production network, with a good balance of value
creation between Europe, Asia and the Americas.
The new location in Mexico is another building block in this growth
strategy. The country is a member of the NAFTA free-trade area with
Canada and the United States. It also has a large number of free-trade
agreements, including with the European Union and MERCOSUR, which make
it easier to export cars and import supplied parts.
The NAFTA region in particular, with its consistently high sales
volumes, is a key market for the BMW Group. Twenty five years ago, the
BMW Group opened its plant in Spartanburg, USA, and has since invested
nearly nine billion US dollars in the site. The company will invest a
further 600 million US dollars there by 2021 to gear it up for future
generations of the BMW X models. The number of jobs will increase in
parallel to around 11,000. In total, the company supports almost
70,000 direct and indirect jobs in the US.
The BMW Group in Mexico
The BMW Group sales company in Mexico is celebrating its
25th anniversary this year. The local sales company is not
only responsible for the Mexican market, but also manages the
company’s business strategy for the whole Latin America region,
covering a total of 28 countries. Delivering continuous growth, Mexico
is the most important market in this region.
In 2018, the BMW Group sold a total of 25,090 vehicles (18,501 BMW,
6,589 MINI) in Mexico – an increase of more than 13% over the previous year.
Please note: The
opening of the new BMW Group plant in San Luis Potosí will be
broadcast live at this link: https://bit.ly/2K5RAG5.