BMW is relying extra on synthetic intelligence in South Carolina on the Plant Spartanburg the place it makes the X3 via X7 SUVs, plus the lately launched plug-in hybrid XM flagship M model. How has AI been applied within the “house of the X” fashions? CNBC sat down and had a chat with BMW Group Supervisor Curtis Tingle to seek out out the advantages, which could be discovered primarily within the physique store.
Every single day, robots weld as much as 400 steel studs onto the body of an X car, leading to a day by day output of roughly 500,000 studs. To get rid of human error, BMW has built-in AI tech to verify all studs are completely positioned. It not solely boosts high quality but in addition effectivity because the output is way better in comparison with having folks manually examine the studs of every automobile.
In reality, Tingle says the AI-assisted correction laser has elevated effectivity about 5 occasions in comparison with what BMW had thought was achievable. On the identical time, utilizing this foolproof approach has allowed the posh model to relocate six employees to carry out different jobs throughout the Spartanburg manufacturing facility. Utilizing AI for stud correction is saving the automaker greater than $1 million a yr. That’s not lots within the grand scheme of issues, however with enormous investments being made in EVs, each cent counts these days.
When points are detected by the AI, these are mechanically flagged and glued by human intervention in order that an SUV isn’t delivered to its rightful proprietor with a defect. Earlier than embedding synthetic intelligence, it was unimaginable to examine each single automobile. Consequently, BMW wouldn’t have been in a position to increase manufacturing to maintain up with rising international demand as X fashions are shipped all around the world.
Plant Spartanburg will likely be going via main adjustments within the upcoming years because the manufacturing facility will assemble not less than six totally electrical SUVs on the Neue Klasse platform by 2030. An enormous $1 billion funding will likely be made, plus one other $700 million for a brand new battery meeting facility in Woodruff.
Supply: CNBC
