The BMW Group presents the BMW iFACTORY: its revolutionary strategy for automotive production of the future. The BMW iFACTORY is being implemented at all BMW Group plants worldwide.

This visionary master plan will permanently change the BMW Group’s automobile production: the BMW iFACTORY – the compelling answer to the challenges of the automotive transformation towards e-mobility.

In implementing the BMW iFACTORY worldwide, the BMW Group is not only redefining the future orientation of its plants. It is also setting new standards in climate protection and competitiveness with flexible, efficient, sustainable and digital manufacturing technologies. The pioneering project is the new Debrecen, Hungary plant, where the all-electric Neue Klasse will roll off the production line from 2025. “The DNA of the BMW iFACTORY can be experienced in all our plants – not only in the future plant in Hungary, but also in our 100-year-old main plant in Munich,” explains Milan Nedeljković, Member of the Board of Management for Production at BMW AG: “This is our master plan for production of the future.”

The future will be LEAN. GREEN. DIGITAL.

The approach is clear: to redefine automotive production. Milan Nedeljković: “Automotive manufacturing of the future requires a new, holistic way of thinking. With our BMW iFACTORY, we are leading the way and setting new standards in flexibility, efficiency, sustainability and digitalisation.”

The BMW Group is focusing on three areas: LEAN. GREEN. DIGITAL. These sum up the strategic target image of a global production network that – in line with the challenges of the future – is integrative and as scalable as can be.

A new, efficient, precise and highly flexible production.

The BMW Group uses LEAN to define a new driving force in its production system. LEAN stands for efficient and highly flexible production, which will make all processes more capable of integration and more variable, e.g. so that different drive types and vehicle models can be produced on a single line. The result: greater agility, leaner processes and more-competitive structures.

The latest technologies – resource-saving and circular.
With the BMW iFACTORY, the BMW Group has set itself the goal of using resources responsibly in production. The BMW Group already sources electricity from renewable sources from its energy suppliers worldwide for its sites and is guided by the principle of a circular economy. 

A new dimension of data transparency.

The BMW iFACTORY also enables the BMW Group to make consistent progress in the area of digitalisation. Targeted application of state-of-the-art innovations from the fields of virtualisation artificial intelligence and data science enables the BMW Group to network all relevant aspects of automotive production in a new way and achieve maximum data transparency. The result: an enormously effective form of digital process design. “The BMW iFACTORY is advancing digitalisation by taking data consistency to a completely new level along the entire value chain and across every one of our process chains. We use digital innovations to create effective use cases in production – because for us, innovation and efficiency go hand in hand,” emphasises Milan Nedeljković.

The heart of BMW iFACTORY: the employees.

At the heart of the BMW iFACTORY is the human designer. To be able to implement the entire transformation process within the company in a forward-looking, long-term and expert way, BMW Group employees design their learning processes independently with the help of e-learning. Extensive qualification programmes are also continuously being initiated and competencies expanded to advance the topic of BMW iFACTORY and electromobility at all levels.

Focus on a holistic approach.

The BMW Group’s BMW iFACTORY marks the next bold step in responding to global climate change with a holistic, environmentally friendly and future-oriented approach – and further driving the success of electric vehicles. A unique opportunity for Milan Nedeljković: “The BMW iFACTORY delivers not only on the increasing customer demand for electric vehicles but also on our desire, as a member of society, to support climate protection and sustainability. We are using digitalisation to make this happen – while remaining absolutely competitive.”