A monk. The BMW Group has taken production planning to the next level and set a new standard in the digitalization of automotive production. More than two years before the official start of series production, vehicle production has already started at the future factory in Debrecen – at least practically, as Debrecen is the first plant of the BMW Group to be designed entirely virtually. This innovative organizational concept was created in collaboration with NVIDIA partners. The future plant in Debrecen is scheduled to open in 2025. Construction has just begun and the new plant is expected to produce the BMW Group’s next generation of all-electric models: the Neue Klasse.
The BMW Group takes a digital-first approach to verify and optimize complex manufacturing systems throughout its manufacturing system, using NVIDIA Omniverse Enterprise, a platform for building and managing industrial applications in a 3D virtual lab, to run digital simulations in real-time and virtually optimize planning, robotics and transportation system. Omniverse will cover the entire BMW production system worldwide.
“Virtualization and artificial intelligence are speeding up and refining our planning With various planning processes combined within a digital twin, our teams around the world can collaborate in real time and make decisions faster and on a more solid basis,” explained Milan Nedeljković. “This makes us much faster and more efficient and saves us costs.”
“Digitalization is moving at a very fast pace in the automotive industry, and BMW has been a leader in advancing this vision,” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. “Working closely with BMW, using NVIDIA Omniverse to simplify manufacturing processes, improve collaboration and increase efficiency, we will continue to push the boundaries of virtual integration for the next generation of smart, connected factories around the world.”
In a demonstration at NVIDIA GTC, the international conference for the age of artificial intelligence and the metaverse, Milan Nedeljković took Huang along to a virtual planning session for the new body. Nedeljković described the real-time collaboration between BMW Group’s different planning departments and their partners as a “revolution in factory planning”, achieved with NVIDIA’s Omniverse – enabling the first virtual start of production.
The design and planning experts of the two companies, both leaders in their fields, worked closely together to help BMW create Omniverse programs that meet the specific requirements of the BMW Group. The virtual planning method for the new car plant is now considered a model for all future BMW Group planning processes.
Virtual organization facilitates global collaboration – rollout begins at the end of March
NVIDIA Omniverse facilitates collaboration across locations and time zones and supports the planning and design of facilities, production systems and processes at a completely new level of technology. It acts like a “dashboard” and offers quick and easy access to BMW’s digital layout. Later this month, Omniverse, which is both cloud-based and cloud-based, will be made available to BMW experts in various technical and planning departments.
BMW iFACTORY: a new step forward
The virtual planning of highly complex car production processes is the next important step for the BMW Group in the transition to the BMW iFACTORY. The IFACTORY concept was first introduced in early 2022 and is described by Nedeljković as “our master plan for tomorrow’s car manufacturing”.
Based on a completely new vehicle architecture, the Neue Klasse heralds the transformation of production in the BMW iFACTORY. The project began in 2020, when all BMW Group car and engine factories underwent 3D scanning. Since November of that year, more than seven million square feet of indoor manufacturing space and 15 million square feet of manufacturing space have been scanned. Later changes can be integrated into the digital world with a new scan, to ensure that the available data is always up to date.
Meanwhile, virtual planning of the approximately 1.4 km long production hall is underway2 for the Neue Klasse in Debrecen, where the success of the virtual start of production testifies to the high standards that can be achieved thanks to the digitization of the planning process. NVIDIA Omniverse enables manufacturing professionals to use real-world data both within the company and with suppliers to plan and optimize processes and individual systems, without interoperability issues. Facility and plant data can be easily retrieved and integrated with equipment and assembly line data. Products and part numbers for production materials will also be available in the future. Furthermore, layout options, for example for robots in work cells or for various areas of transportation, can be recreated in real time with photorealistic simulations and adjusted as needed. With Omniverse, all changes are evaluated, validated and implemented in real time. The platform will also allow suppliers to participate in the decision-making process and integrates the proven design and planning tools used by BMW to date. These tools are produced by various vendors and include Bentley Systems MicroStation for logistics planning, ipolog for transportation planning, Siemens Process Simulate, Dassault Systemes CATIA for vehicle design, and Autodesk Revit for construction planning, with more tools to follow.
Over time, all product, process, quality, and cost data will gradually become available in Omniverse, along with development, planning, and production processes. Further development of the platform is planned, which is expected to include “invisible” processes such as energy and resource consumption.
Omniverse will also improve digital operations – an important phase already addressed by the teams at BMW Group and NVIDIA. In the future, this will make it possible to locate operational faults in a matter of seconds, thus avoiding longer production stoppages. It is also an important step towards, for example, integrating and automating virtual commissioning of new systems into a continuous planning process.
For more information:
Marco DiGregorio
Corporate communications manager
Phone: +39 0251610088
Email: marco.di-gregorio@bmw.it
Media website: www.press.bmwgroup.com And http://bmw.lulop.com
BMW Group
With its four brands BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce and BMW Motorrad, the BMW Group is the world’s leading manufacturer of premium cars and motorcycles and also offers premium financial and mobility services. The BMW Group consists of more than 30 production and assembly plants worldwide and has a global sales network in more than 140 countries.
In 2022, the BMW Group sold over 2.4 million cars and over 202,000 motorcycles worldwide. Profit before tax in the financial year 2021 was 16.1 billion euros on revenue of 111.2 billion euros. On December 31, 2021, 118,909 employees worked at the BMW Group.
The success of the BMW Group has always been based on a long-term vision and responsible actions. The company has set its sights on the future early on and consistently places sustainability and resource conservation at the center of its strategy, from the supply chain through production to the end use of all products.
BMW Group Italia has been present in our country for more than 50 years and today boasts 4 companies employing 800 colleagues. The Italian branch is one of the six main markets worldwide for the sale of BMW Group cars and motorcycles.
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