BMW will be investing more than $200 million to construct a 219,000 square-foot press shop at its South Carolina plant. The investment includes more than 200 new jobs. The announcement was made by BMW Manufacturing President and CEO Dr Robert Engelhorn at the South Carolina Automotive Summit in Greenville, SC.
The new press shop, which will start production in the summer of 2024, will take raw coils of steel, cut them into blanks and stamp sheet metal parts for future BMW models. Those components include hang-on parts such as the vehicle's four doors, fenders, exterior body sides and liftgate.
"The BMW Group is known worldwide for the outstanding quality produced by its press shops. We are excited to add this new technology to Plant Spartanburg," said Dr Engelhorn. "This investment reinforces BMW's commitment in the United States and South Carolina. We continue to play a major role in the region's economic strength as well as workforce development and job training."
Highly skilled manufacturing jobs
A state-of-the-art press shop requires manufacturing jobs with advanced-level training. These jobs include tool and die technicians, electrical and mechanical maintenance for automated machinery and specialised line operators. More than 45 Plant Spartanburg associates are currently training at BMW Group press shops in Leipzig, Germany, and Swindon, England. These associates also train with partners from the Schuler Group, a globally recognised company that manufactures automated servo press lines for all BMW Group plants.
"Inside our global production network, we share best practices and train associates to the highest BMW standards. The cross-functional collaboration is part of our BMW culture," said Karl Loessl, Vice President, Body Shop. "This world-class training will allow our associates to work with advanced technologies and systems and support our production of future models."
Inside the new high-tech press shop
The press shop marks the beginning of the automotive production process. Large steel coils arrive at the press shop, unloaded from trucks using 55-ton overhead cranes. The steel coils are then fed into the blanking line, where the steel is cut into individual ‘blanks' (rectangular cut-offs or special shapes). These blanks are then ready to be fed into the press line.
