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At its Dingolfing plant, the BMW Group is implementing a modular manufacturing system for chassis parts to make sure much more flexibility within the manufacturing of various automobile variants—whether or not all-electric, hybrid or basic combustion engine, whether or not all-wheel drive or rear-wheel drive. This additionally has benefits for the surroundings.
Within the part plant 02.10 of the BMW Group Dingolfing location, all axle carriers for the totally different drive variants will run over the identical manufacturing line sooner or later. After the manufacturing system has been masking partial scopes of axle manufacturing with success since 2019, it’s now totally used with the brand new BMW 7 Collection.
With the brand new system, the Dingolfinger Werk 2.10 produces all axle carriers of a sequence, no matter the kind of drive, every inside a manufacturing line. As a substitute of constructing the parts one after the opposite in a concatenation of the person steps as earlier than, the manufacturing of a number of variants can now additionally happen in parallel.
The division of the modules is paying homage to a herringbone sample, as a result of the parts are transported through a central axis to the subsequent step within the welding stations situated on the proper and left. Digitally managed, they at all times come on to the subsequent free station, which is the proper one for the derivative-specific follow-up course of.
Ready instances are omitted as a result of essentially the most time-consuming variant now not units the tempo for all subsequent parts. This will increase the flexibleness in quantity planning for the respective derivatives and likewise facilitates the mixing of latest variants into present manufacturing processes, as a result of solely particular person stations must be changed or tailored if vital. The manufacturing quantity or throughput will also be simply scaled by including further workstations.
Modular axle service manufacturing depends on versatile automation as a substitute of static units. Within the new system, robots place the parts for the person course of steps.
For instance, two robots seize and maintain the required elements and produce them to the proper place to tenths of a millimeter; a 3rd robotic welds them collectively. This additionally facilitates the change between totally different automobile derivatives, because the gripper methods of the robots can decide up and place totally different elements.
As a substitute of an elaborate conversion of metal units weighing tons, solely a change within the robotic program is critical.
This permits us to react to altering market necessities or regulatory necessities within the quick time period, and alter the combo of manufactured variants throughout operation. This provides us extraordinarily excessive flexibility and we optimally make the most of our manufacturing capacities.
—Marc Sielemann, Head of BMW Group Buying, High quality and Manufacturing for Drive, Chassis and Brakes
On the identical time, the manufacturing system promotes additional digitization all through manufacturing by intelligently linking all kinds of manufacturing knowledge and course of parameters.
Twenty-five tons of metal per 12 months are saved by the truth that the earlier 1.25-ton metal units are changed by versatile gripper methods. The brand new gripper units are about one ton lighter. Transformed into emissions, this implies round 37.5 tons much less CO2 emissions.
As well as, the robotic grippers are versatile and can be utilized in the long term, they nonetheless match even after mannequin adjustments and thus moreover enhance the sustainability of manufacturing.
Along with the reducing use of supplies, the conversion of the beforehand pneumatically operated welding stations to the now all-electric methods additionally brings an ecological plus: The absence of compressed air throughout the dealing with of the axle carriers reduces the vitality demand of the method by greater than 90% from round 18,000 kilowatt hours to roughly 900 kilowatt hours a 12 months. This roughly corresponds to the distinction within the annual vitality consumption of 4 households of 4 in single-family properties to a single individual with a small residence.
The mandatory investments additionally lower by round a fifth in comparison with standard manufacturing methods. As well as, the innovation reveals that the plant efficiently masters the transformation in direction of electrical mobility with its in-house part manufacturing and thus additionally secures jobs on the Dingolfing web site.
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