Press Release
Page 1 - Overview
Page 2 - Flexible and efficient
Page 3 - Plant Hams Hall
Page 4 - Plant Oxford
Page 5 - Plant Swindon
Page 6 - Associates
Page 7 - Sustainable Production
Page 8 - Community involvement
Page 9 - History
Page 10 - Contribution to UK
Plant Oxford
The MINI success story continues
MINI production at the Oxford plant has developed into a success story in the automotive industry since the start of production in April 2001 owing to high global demand. Initial production forecasts of just 100,000 units per annum doubled to more than 200,000 units produced in 2005 within just four years of launch.
The BMW Group has invested more than ????????????????????100 million in the Oxford plant since 2005 to integrate the production of the new MINI and increase production capacity up to 240,000 units per year over the medium term. As the plant nears full production capacity, 200 additional jobs will be created bringing the total number employed to 4,700 associates. The current MINI Convertible will continue to be produced along the new MINI.
Investment has mainly gone into the body shop and paint shop. The body shop area has been extended by approximately 15,000m???????????????????? with flexible production technology. The paint shop has been working with a new and extremely efficient paint process since the beginning of this year and has installed a new second top coat line in order to increase capacity. Additional stations and new delivery points for just-in-sequence modules have extended the assembly line. The plant??????????????????????????????????????s Quality and Engineering Centre (QEC) was involved in the development of the new MINI at an early stage in order to ensure the integration of BMW Group??????????????????????????????????????s high quality and production processes.
Body-in-white
The body shell production at the Oxford plant has been able to further increase its capacity and flexibility through close cooperation within the MINI production triangle. Since moving the production of sub-assemblies to the Swindon plant and extending the body shop, production capacity has increased by around 20 percent as well as having increased variant flexibility.
The different body models can be produced in any sequence. Besides the four body variants for the new MINI (left-hand/right-hand drive and with/without sunroof) and the four variants of MINI Convertible, the extended body shop also has the flexibility to include future MINI body styles.
This was achieved by integrating individual mobile production cells with standardised robot units, called MobiCells into existing facilities. MobiCells were developed by the BMW Group and are already being used at other BMW Group plants. MobiCells are built on a solid steel platen of standard measurements. Welding robots and control systems are mounted on the platform by body construction specialists according to a defined basic pattern, pre-configured and tested. The fully functional MobiCells can then be connected to the power supply and integrated into existing systems in the plant within a few days. In this way, existing capacities of the body shop can be adapted flexibly and quickly without extensive modification of production areas. MobiCells are used at the Oxford plant in the sub-assembly and main assembly lines and are linked to the existing facilities by means of inter-process conveyor belts.
Existing production facilities in the body shop were modified for the new model and equipped with the latest control electronics. New framing stations have been installed for the higher bonnet and waistlines of the car. The number of welding robots has increased significantly from 229 to 429. The resultant body shell production is more than 95 percent automated and allows more than 4,000 welding points on the bodies to be joined precisely and quickly.
The use of the Perceptron laser quality check system with its measuring precision of 0.05 mm ??????????????????????????????????????? half of the diameter of a human hair ??????????????????????????????????????? has also been extended. The introduction of programmable in-line sensor robots means that production engineers can flexibly measure different areas on a body shell for dimensional precision during the production process.
Paint shop
About half of the plant??????????????????????????????????????s ????????????????????100 million investment announced last year has gone into modernising and increasing the capacity of the paint shop. The new MINI benefits from the innovative paint technology ???????????????????????????????????Integrated Paint Process???????????????????????????????? (IPP) and an additional top coat line.
With IPP the process stage for applying and baking in the primer-surfacer layer has been completely eliminated. The primer-surfacer function is transferred to one of two newly developed base paint layers. In the ???????????????????????????????????wet on wet???????????????????????????????? application of the two layers, the first layer assumes all functions and characteristics of the primer-surfacer coat, whereas the second base paint layer ensures optical qualities such as colour, effect and depth. The base paint is covered with clear coat as before. In this way IPP meets the same high standards as conventional paint processes in terms of optical and functional-protective effects of the paint.
The advantages of IPP are diverse. Area and infrastructure used for applying the primer-surfacer could be used for quickly and efficiently installing an additional top coat line. This has resulted in increased production capacity in the paint shop without the need to enlarge the production area footprint.
IPP also contributes positively towards the environmental targets of the BMW Group through the discontinuation of the solvent-based primer-surfacer. As a result, it has been possible to lower the emission and energy consumption of the paint shop significantly more than ten percent at the Oxford plant.
During the paint process, new automatic paint jets now apply the paint in a precise, horizontal process. This improves the glossy appearance of metallic colours and ensures the even distribution of the reflective particles on the body shell surface. The MINI??????????????????????????????????????s contrast roof paint still remains unique. Depending on the customer??????????????????????????????????????s order, the roof can be painted in a contrasting colour by a paint robot in an additional paint process.
The pre-treatment and after-treatment areas of the paint shop have also been extended in order to increase capacity. The number of robots has increased in the seam-sealing process from six to twelve, each capable of applying 17 metres of a new seam sealing material to a body shell using a new ???????????????????????????????????flat-stream???????????????????????????????? technology. Six machining stations have also extended the hollow cavity sealing process which fills cavities with a wax-like preservative.
All body variants of MINI can be painted in random sequence in any of the car??????????????????????????????????????s 14 exterior colours.
Throughout the development of the new MINI paint shop technologists and engineers have been closely involved in the design of the body to ensure the highest standards of corrosion protection, paint appearance and finish.
Assembly
The assembly line has been extended and new just-in-sequence delivery areas bring greater flexibility and efficiency. As a result, an additional twelve stations have been included on to the assembly line in order to integrate the new work sections like the sunroof assembly.
There are 372 different interior trim and 319 different exterior options for the new MINI. Allowing for all variant possibilities, it is theoretically possible to produce 1.5 x 1016 different MINI variants. Therefore it is extremely unlikely that two completely identical MINIs will leave the Oxford plant within the same production year.
The allocation of the vehicle to a specific customer order first takes place at the start of final assembly process. Since the introduction of KOVP, the painted bodies are considered logistically as an internal component supplied from within the plant. They are kept in temporary storage and channelled into the assembly process as soon as there is an order for the corresponding body.
The vehicle??????????????????????????????????????s allocation to an individual customer order takes place with the allocation of a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). This late allocation allows for customer changes to be implemented until very shortly before the start of assembly.
Fifteen main modules are delivered just-in-sequence to the assembly line for the new MINI. This includes the engines, the complete front module with headlights, bumpers and cooling systems, the integrated door module, seats and cockpit. The assembly building has been extended to include new unloading ramps for the delivery of modules.
In the final assembly process, the doors are first detached and moved to a separate assembly line, before returning to the car to be re-attached at the end of the assembly process. During the assembly phase, associates mount up to 2,000 components on each MINI depending on the options ordered.
Using special handling equipment, even heavy components can be lifted easily and rotated up to 90 degrees. Highly precise electric torque-controlled screwdrivers enhance the production quality and reduce the noise level in the assembly hall.
Numerous quality tests are integrated into the assembly process. For this purpose, associates are equipped with portable, wireless hand-held computers, which identify the vehicle with the aid of the scanned VIN. It then prescribes the specific test requests. After completing the assembly process, the vehicle undergoes an extensive programme of checks which includes testing on a rolling road and extensive electronic tests.
The extent of the involvement of the final assembly function is illustrated by the fact that it was involved in the first prototype build of a batch of new MINIs ??????????????????????????????????????? not on special pre-production facilities but on the assembly line itself ??????????????????????????????????????? more than a year before series production.
Quality and Engineering Centre
The Quality and Engineering Centre (QEC) was specially built for the development and production of MINI. Engineers and technicians work in close cooperation with the research and innovation centre (FIZ) of the BMW Group in Munich on the introduction of new models and quality assurance for series production.
During the different stages of development of the new MINI, the engineering specialists in Oxford used their knowledge from MINI series production in the planning for the new car. As a result, all production requirements could be taken into account right at the start of the series production development to ensure optimum quality and process stability. Main suppliers were also involved at an early stage and were integrated into the project team in the QEC.
The QEC is also responsible for the quality measurement of all processes and operations at the Oxford plant ??????????????????????????????????????? for the current and future production. The same high standard in quality and work processes applies for the MINI production as in the entire BMW Group.
State-of-the-art facilities are available at the plant for testing and checking product and production processes. These include a test track with different road surfaces in addition to test rigs in the QEC building that are independent of outside weather conditions.
One new facility is an acoustics test rig, where vehicles can be driven on rollers in a sound insulated environment at all speeds whilst noise analyses are carried out. The hydraulic vibration test rig enables the simulation of chassis and body loads by vibrations of various frequencies and intensities on different test tracks. In the water chamber, 20 litres of water per minute spray onto the MINI from all sides to test vehicles for water ingress. Additionally, the vehicles are exposed to temperatures of ??????????????????????????????????????? 40???????????????????? to + 90???????????????????? centigrade and different degrees of air humidity in the climatic test chamber in order to test that everything works perfectly in nearly every conceivable climatic condition.
Logistics
Since setting up the production triangle in the UK, the transport routes of production components have been reduced considerably. Petrol engines for the new MINI now come from the UK and no longer from Brazil, and major sub-assemblies and pressings are mainly delivered from Swindon.
The BMW Group aims to reduce the environmental impact caused by the movement of components and vehicles as much as possible. Lorries used for transportation meet high Euro-5 standards. Moreover, the BMW Group has placed all transportation with one service provider that offers a collective system for all European countries, which combines the goods in transit into large cargos avoiding unnecessary empty runs.
Since 2001, MINIs destined for the European market have been transported using purpose-built rail wagons. This method of transportation by rail instead of by road saves over half a million lorry miles per annum.
