After successful CE certification, the pilot project is now entering the widespread use of technology.
The BMW Group systematically promotes the digitization and automation of its production processes under the BMW Ifactory. Since 2022, the company has been testing automated driving within the factory (AFW) for new vehicles in its largest European factory, located in Dingolfing. After successful CE certification, the pilot project is now entering the widespread use of technology. In addition to Dingolfing, the unit in Leipzig also has the ability to use automated driving technology inside the plant on a large scale. Other facilities in the BMW Group production network will gradually follow.
In addition to Series 5 and BMW Series 7 made in Dingolfing, this technology is now used for the Mini Countryman, as well as for other BMW models in Leipzig. In Dingolfing, the new vehicles are completely autonomous – without a driver – on a one -kilometer route passing through the “small test area” by connecting the two assembly rooms to the factory’s final processing room. This is achieved on the one hand, thanks to the sensors that have been placed along the route – which create the largest Lidar infrastructure in Europe – thanks to an environmental and motion model, which has been created and designed independently. This system manages the automated movements of the vehicle, regardless of the equipment options that accompany it, using the advanced cloud architecture. Parts of technology were provided by the new Embotech AG Swiss company, with which the BMW Group had already collaborated early through the BMW Start-Up Garage.
The Leipzig Factory plans to introduce automated driving for about 90% of the BMW and Mini models produced there, while the factories in Regensburg and Oxford will follow in 2025. Also, the new factory in Debrecen in Hungary will adopt this technology.
In the future, the BMW Group plans to expand the use of automated driving inside the plant and other areas of production, such as driving in the test area and outdoor distribution. Company experts in the production and development sectors are also closely working together to perfect technology internally.