BMW Improves Operations in South Carolina Plant with Private 5G

. In order to develop and maintain a digital duplicate of the plant, workers are also equipped with scanning devices.

For its manufacturing and storage activities, BMW has installed a private 5G wireless network in Spartanburg, South Carolina, in the United States.

Hundreds of metal studs are welded onto the frames of automobiles in the plant using automated robots and AI technology. The placement of the studs is then checked using video analytics.

“If the AI detects a stud that has been misplaced, the system will automatically tell the robot to fix it,” said BMW Group Manager Curtis Tingle.

To identify any difficulties that need human action, the facility deploys 26 cameras on the floor. In order to develop and maintain a digital duplicate of the plant, workers are also equipped with scanning devices.

To enhance the monitoring of components and containers in the almost one million-square-foot complex, the warehouse staff members also wear scanning equipment. Large and small pallets may now be lifted and sorted using automation.

“I firmly believe that innovation, digitalization, and sustainability are key successors for the logistics and the future,” said Oliver Bilstein, the Vice President of Logistics and Production Control.

BMW asserts that in the thirty years since the Spartanburg factory first opened, it has contributed almost $12 billion to the local economy. The South Carolina facility is the biggest BMW plant in the world, producing more than 1,500 automobiles per day.