In February, I had a rare opportunity to see one of the most ambitious shifts in the history of BMW. The Munich Factory, who was hiding behind the brand’s main headquarters, is hiding a huge update voltage that would reshape how BMW is building in the heart of its hometown. This factory-one of the longest BMW production sites-has been operating since 1922, and by 2027, it will not only produce fully electric cars, making it one of the first company’s first designated factories to produce Neue Klasse.
Unlike the new BMW Factory in the DEBRECEN, Hungary, which was designed from A to Z for the Neue Klasse EV platform, the Munich facility should be rebuilt from the inside, while maintaining production on a large scale. Huge Challenge: BMW destroys and rebuilding a third of the entire plant without stopping production. Every day, 1,000 cars are rolled from the line while cranes, trucks and workers around them work. The factory does not expand abroad due to space restrictions-it grows vertically, while replacing the three-storey production buildings.
“We are not converting this factory just because we are moving to electric cars. The factory can already produce electric cars, such as i4, which constitute 40 % of its current production. The re -formation occurs because the factory is 100 years old. From time to time, you must rethink production and develop a new structure,” explained by Dr. Mohan Nuronha, who turns the project to the structure of the structure.
Build a new factory while maintaining old running
The transformation of the Munich factory is not only related to the introduction of a new technology – it is related to the maintenance of the factory operation. Unlike many auto factories that have been closed for wide re -processing, BMW has no luxury here. The city’s dense urban environment makes the city widely impossible, and therefore the auto industry company destroys and rebuild the factory sections in stages with continued production.
This process requires careful planning and fine logistical services. BMW has started 13 projects to expand the main transportation range of new structures. The entire departments, including engine production, wastewater treatment, and before the axis, were transferred to other sites to make room for new assembly lines. The engine manufacturing department has been transferred to Austria and the United Kingdom, which represents the end of the combustion engine production in Munich.
With these huge transformations, 600,000 tons of materials should be dismantled, tested or disposed of. BMW regulations require analysis and processing of this substance before being transferred outside the site, which means that large parts of the factory causes should be used for temporary storage. Meanwhile, 400 trucks move inside and outside the factory every day, providing parts of production and withdrawing the disassembled structures.
New buildings are more efficient in using energy
Upon completion, the transformation will offer 70,000 square meters of the new production floor area, making the factory more efficient and more suitable for the manufacture of EV. Three new production buildings are built for assembly and body store, each with three complete stories to improve the ground area. These new structures will be 40 % more efficient than the one that replaces them, which corresponds to the wider sustainability goals in BMW.
“We had to rethink everything. There is no room for expansion abroad, so we are building vertically. The new final assembly hall has three floors, each at a height of nine meters – the fingerprint alone is the size of six football fields. And when you go inside, you realize how quickly things change.
Technology, artificial intelligence, and the transformation of the workforce
Besides structural changes, the Munich factory also adopts a new technology to simplify production. The new Body Shop store will merge more than 900 robots, which greatly reduces the need for manual work in welding and assembly. Acting quality monitoring systems will examine vehicles in actual time, which reduces defects and improves efficiency. In addition, automatic logistics systems will replace traditional fork, reducing human work in the transfer of parts.
Despite this shift towards automation, BMW does not reduce the workforce. The factory is currently employing 6,500 people of more than 60 nationalities, and instead of demolishing workers, BMW reaches employees and re -placing it for new roles in EV production. A new university campus is built for talents to provide continuous training, ensuring that employees remain at the forefront of modern cars manufacturing.
Dr. Noronha said: “We are not lowering jobs; we are training our people over the future.”
Sustainability and the future of urban manufacturing
The transformation is also driven by sustainability and the integration of society. Looking at the factory site at the heart of Munich, BMW has committed to reducing emissions, noise and traffic congestion while improving the factory’s visual and environmental footprint. The new design includes green spaces, and BMW explores ways to make parts of the factory easier for the audience.
In addition, logistics services are improved to reduce unnecessary transportation, as parts are delivered directly to production lines instead of passing through multiple locations. These efforts will reduce traffic around the factory and low emissions, making the facility more compatible with the surrounding urban environment.
An impressive achievement in only one year
Walking across the factory, was clear – this is not just a simple upgrade to the factory. This is a historical transformation. For more than a century, the Munich factory in BMW was the beating heart of the brand manufacturing. Now, it is developing to the modern EV production center, which places the way for Neue Klasse models that will determine the future of BMW.
The most prominent part? BMW does all this without stopping.