THIS IS HOW GREEN THE BMW iFACTORY IS.

Sustainable production based on innovative thinking: the GREEN focus of the BMW iFACTORY includes using state-of-the-art technologies – resource-optimised and circular.

The BMW Group is driving the transformation of the automotive industry and is acutely aware of its responsibility. That is why the BMW Group has set itself ambitious goals: a new, holistic way of thinking is needed.

The BMW iFACTORY is one significant step in that direction, already redefining automotive production with its three LEAN, GREEN and DIGITAL pillars.

LEAN stands for efficiency, precision and maximum flexibility. GREEN means sustainable, circular, resource-optimised. DIGITAL involves making use of artificial intelligence to become faster, more precise and more transparent. The BMW iFACTORY represents a global, integrative approach that is implemented in every plant worldwide.

GREEN: The new Debrecen plant sets standards

The high standards are underlined by the future plant in Debrecen, Hungary, where the all-electric Neue Klasse will be built from 2025. It marks the next step towards a sustainable future and will dispense entirely with using fossil fuels in its production processes. A large proportion of the electricity required is to be produced on the factory site itself, while the rest is to be fully supplied by renewable energy sources, and mostly regional.

“Environmental, economic and social responsibility are inseparable,” says BMW AG Board Member for Production Milan Nedeljković. “We strive to achieve all three not only in the product itself but along the entire value chain.”

Individual solutions for further development.

Once again, the BMW Group is setting ecological benchmarks and making a fundamental contribution to a sustainable future. Today, every BMW Group location worldwide already sources exclusively green electricity and produces according to circular economy principles. A 360-degree approach that not only focuses on increasing efficiency and digitalisation, but at the same time delivers highly individual solutions for its own plants. “Our principle is 'avoid, then reduce, then substitute' to conserve resources: Each of our plants is developing its own individual green footprint and making optimal use of local opportunities and potential,” explains Milan Nedeljković.

Because acting sustainably also means acting regionally for the BMW Group. Only in this way can a measure-driven overall optimum be achieved. The BMW Group works together with partners to achieve this and draws on their many years of expertise. This means not only does the BMW Group continues to develop, but so does the entire region around a site.

The optimum, in consideration of local conditions.

The company is already putting this into practice today with the BMW iFACTORY. Heat at the BMW Group plant in Steyr, Austria, is supplied by district heating from biomass. Energy consumption is measured in real time to be able to react and optimise immediately. At the BMW Group plant in Leipzig, production is supported by wind turbines – hydrogen is used to power around 130 floor conveyors. The Leipzig plant is also the first automotive plant in the world to pilot a newly developed burner technology in its paint shop that can also use hydrogen. In Mexico, the San Luis Potosi site generates 100 per cent CO2-free electrical energy through solar panels. In Munich, on the other hand, electricity for production is generated by hydroelectric power from the rivers Lech and Isar.

So GREEN is not just an off-the-shelf solution for the BMW iFACTORY. The BMW Group looks for the sustainable optimum, taking into account the special features of the locations, drawing on skills and experience in the company’s network and incorporating current technical developments – for a sustainable future.

Source: BMW Group Website