Autonomous, connected and intelligent: As part of a three-year research project supported by the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy, the BMW Group and three partner companies from Bavaria are exploring the possibilities for making BMW Group Plant Dingolfing a smart factory for logistics.
The “Autonomous and Connected Logistics” research project was officially launched in September 2019 and is now entering the practical phase. A number of innovative Industry 4.0 production technologies are being combined in an overall concept and tested under real conditions at BMW Group Plant Dingolfing. Behind the project is a vision of fully connected production in which autonomous transport systems, logistics robots and mobile devices seamlessly communicate with one another and with the control system.
Bavarian Minister of Economic Affairs Hubert Aiwanger: “With this highly innovative project focused on developing autonomous and connected logistics processes and creating a 5G testbed, the Dingolfing site is presenting itself as a pioneer in the future field of Industry 4.0. As part of the “Regional Alliances Autonomous Driving” research and development initiative, we are contributing around 3.23 million euros to support the Bavarian economy with successfully shaping the digital transformation. In this way, we are helping Bavaria exploit its capacity for innovation to the full in the international marketplace.
In recent years, the BMW Group production network has piloted several logistics solutions independently of one another, winning the German Logistics Award in 2019. The research project will now move forward with further development to achieve maximum connectivity between individual logistics solutions and integrate them into the BMW production system. The BMW Group is contributing around 4.8 million euros towards the project costs.
Dr. Thomas Irrenhauser, responsible for Innovation and Industry 4.0 in the Logistics division and head of the project: “Connecting our innovative logistics solutions creates additional transparency over material and machine movements and enables us to explore how we can best exploit the potential of fully connected production for BMW Group logistics.”
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SOURCE: BMW Group
