BMW go Home!

Last year I reported from Munich about my visit to the
BMW museum and BMW Welt. The latter being a large futuristic building next to
the BMW museum, where all models of both cars and motorcycles are displayed
with a “please do touch” and “sit in/sit on” signs inviting visitors to enjoy the
vehicles and to get as close as it gets. (The range included the Mini Cooper which
is owned by BMW)

Before leaving Australia I had made a booking to visit
the 220.000 m2, Berlin BMW Motorcycle Production Plant in the Berlin suburb of
Spandau. On the designated day I arrived
at the factory, unfortunately now without my friend Gert. A group of about 15 people
were present- most of them were travellers like me riding their own bikes. The tour was preceded by a presentation about
the production, fact and sales figures and safety regulation inside the
factory.

Once inside the plant cameras were not allowed (except
for the showroom and receiving area) so I took some pictures of the large
posters and the brochure* I received before entering; it gives an idea of what
it all looks alike. The tour which lasted just over two hours took in only part
of the plant, but still the total length covered was over 4 km!

The Berlin plant is the only location where motorcycles
are built, nothing else is produced with the exception of a separate building
where 24.000 disk brakes per day (for all BMW cars and bikes) are manufactured.

About 2000 persons are employed at this location, producing
around 600 motorcycles each and every day- the most popular models being the
R1200RT and the R1200GS.

When you enter the
factory you arrive at the machine shop where engine
cases, cylinder heads, crankshafts and connecting rods, as well as frame
elements, tanks and chassis components are produced. You can see the process
of making and machining crankshafts which are brought in from a foundry in a
raw state. The machining tolerances are measured in microns instead of
micrometers. All is computerised and random checks are carried out at various
times throughout the three shifts. The standard of quality is the best I have
ever seen in any manufacturing plant I have visited.

The second part is the engine assembly plant; the main features here
are three highly flexible assembly systems and test engineering like cold drive
test. Around 150 engine technicians working in two shifts build up to 500 high
performance engines with two cylinder (boxer and standing twin), four and six
cylinders from more than 600 different components. Technicians are supported by
21 automatic workstations. It takes around 90 to 130 minutes to assemble a
Boxer engine and around 150 minutes to assemble an in-line 6-cylinder engine.

Next
comes the main assembly plant set up on 4 different floor levels which
run continuously at few meters per minute.

Motorcycles are fixed on
mounting hangers on 300 rotating hooks moving in a flexible conveyor system. In
this system, the machines are automatically transported through a
500-meter-long assembly line. All order-related data as well as fastening
torques and default settings are conveyed automatically to the particular
assembly station. Depending on the model around 220 to 360 minutes elapse
before the 2,000 parts and components are built into a complete and
customer-ready BMW motorcycle. When a worker arrives at one of
the 150 work stations he scans his card so the system records he is there. When
the bike arrives along the line and passes his work area it automatically adjust
its working height to the length of the worker to avoid bending or
stretching.

All bikes in the factory as pre sold and built to the
customer’s requirements. No bikes are
just built for stock. Because of this the assembly is done in groups of four; for
example a group of four R1200RT’s
followed by four F800 GS’s; followed by four G650’s etc. This is the only way
to ensure a steady production of various models. (During the tour all is
explained via WIFI headsets.)

The only place people can’t visit is the paint shop for
obvious reasons. Daily around 6000 parts in 160 different shapes are painted in
up to 40 different colours.

At the end of the
assembly line all bikes go on the roller test bench. Some years ago when
visiting the Honda factory in Hamamatsu in Japan I was greatly surprised that
the bikes were taken through their paces and redlined in all gears. Here at BMW
they were doing the same. A technician takes place on the bike after the connecting
the bike to the computer. The floor drops away and the bike rests on rollers.
In front of the exhaust pipes cooled air is blown onto the first part of the
exhaust pipe to stop the pipes from going blue. (This is normal on BMW’S) The
technician rides the bike as if he is riding on the road and has to make sure
he does not come of the rollers. He then accelerates through all gears even
redlining the engine in top gear. Then the emergency brakes are applied to test
the ABS. The technician continues to ride at normal speed to test the cruise control,
lights, etc. After the machine is rolled out the test chamber it is pushed on
to a platform lift to go down to the bottom floor to be crated. The dispatch crews
already know which bike/customer/destination is on its way down and are
prepared. Recyclable and foldable steel packing crates are used
for deliveries to the main European markets. For the transport to overseas
markets the motorcycles are packed in solid boxes made of wood and
cardboard. The bikes are transported from the Plant to the costumers by truck,
train and cargo ship.
Finally some
fact and figures BMW plants

Annual
production: (2014)

BMW Cars: 1.811.719

Mini Cars: 302.182

Rolls Royce Cars: 4.063

Motorcycles: 123.495

Turnover Euro 80.401 Billion

Employees 116.324

The tour ended in the showroom where cold
drinks /coffee etc were served and questions could be answered. A great tour
which I enjoyed very much. Met some interesting travelers there too. One man
from Spain who had been to Nordcapp (most northern part of Europe/Norway) and a
group of three Italians on their way back from Moscow and St Petersburg to Italy.

*some
pictures / video courtesy of BMW AG