The car planned by the company Essays

The car planned by the company Essays The car planned by the company Essay The car planned by the company Essay BMW production is committed to fulfilling premium demands related to product quality and to meeting deadlines. Some 70,000 employees in 23 locations ensure that every customer receives his or her tailor-made vehicle on time throughout the world. We do this with our Customer-oriented Sales and Production Process, or COSP for short. The principle behind COSP is that the car ordered by the customer defines the production process not the car planned by the company. In this way, the customer can make last-minute changes to the equipment and accessories theyve ordered shortly before the vehicle goes to assembly without delaying the date of delivery. The goal of BMW Group Production is to deliver the customers custom-tailored premium automobile or motorcycle by the agreed-upon deadline in our customary high quality. This claim requires us to continually develop our processes and structures further, and thus, to adapt regularly to new situations. (BMW Group, 2005) As a learning organization, the BMW Group must recognize changing demands at an early stage and orient itself rapidly and flexibly to new conditions. One example of this is our Customer-oriented sales and production process,(or KOVP as it is abbreviated in German), gives customers new dimensions of service: simple, online ordering processes at the dealers, immediate, binding order confirmation and delivery date, flexibility when changes are desired, information on order status, and on-time delivery. (BMW Group, 2005) One of KOVPs most remarkable features is its high flexibility for customers. Requests for chassis changes (including motor, color, and equipment) can be handled up until circa one week before assembly without affecting the agreed-upon delivery date. Today, up to 120,000 BMW change requests are realized per month. The tradition of quality at the BMW Group permeates all work processes of the worldwide production network. A comprehensive, multi-level quality management system ensures quality in all work processes as well as components and materials, and ultimately products. But above all, the BMW Group orients its quality management system to the needs of its customers. One foundation of Made by BMW Group is their employees. Customer-oriented thought and action abbreviated in German as KDH is part of corporation philosophy and anchors their goal of achieving perfect results in all manufacturing areas. The BMWs employees attitude to quality from the very beginning, continuing along the entire process chain, prevents mistakes and ensures continual improvement. To fulfill their customers desires as well as their demands on automobiles and motorcycles as rapidly and flexibly as possible, they continually develop and refine all processes, structures, and systems in our entire production network. Digital Manufacturing simulation technology for planning tomorrows factories has become a very important tool. The BMW group is using it intensively, for example, to design the new BMW plant in Leipzig. (BMW Group, 2005) The increasing significance of intelligent lightweight construction is causing a dramatic transformation in production technology. The BMW Groups technology centers are already developing manufacturing processes for die-cast magnesium automobile components. The centers are evaluating such components for their suitability in series production, as well as working on uses for metal foams. Early involvement in these fields enables rapid integration of new, innovative technologies in series processes. The BMW Group does not only gauge the plant of the future on its productivity and flexibility, however. It must just as equally reflect our responsibility for people and the environment. (BMW Group, 2005) The performance capability of the BMW Groups production network depends on the special commitment, identification, and know-how of its employees. In addition to future-oriented technologies and the most modern equipment, the employees are the central element in the manufacture of premium products. Systematic linking of internal and external partners as well as targeted knowledge transfer ensures both today and in the future that the customer will obtain his dream automobile by the agreed-upon delivery date and in the high quality expected of all made by BMW Group vehicles. The over 70,000 employees of the worldwide production network are united in their common enthusiasm for all of the concerns vehicles, their quest to achieve highest quality results in all working processes, and their will to make a significant contribution to the BMW Groups success now and in the future. Innovative forms of work are important factors for stimulating performance, creativity, and gratification in the workplace. The BMW Group uses over 300 successful work-schedule models. These enable the corporation to utilize its plants flexibly and react to customer as well as market demands and at the same time, to respond to the needs of its employees. (BMW Group, 2005) To improve efficient use of resources (material, energy, water) by products as well as during production, a precise balance between ecological and economical issues must be sought after. In addition to the BMW Groups recycling strategy with its core elements RDZ (German: Recycling und Demontagezentrum; English: Recycling and Disassembly Center), Design-for-Recycling, and Material Labeling, the BMW Group focuses primarily on the most efficient possible use of resources in intelligent systems. Water is the basis of all life. In production where almost one-third of all waste water accumulates they have succeeded in promoting exceptionally frugal use of water. This has been made possible by closed cooling cycles, closed-circulation water usage and waste water treatment equipment, and the use of future-oriented technologies such as powdered clear varnish as well. (BMW Group, 2005) To save energy, production uses sophisticated central routing technology, for example. This enables energy-using components to be turned on and off precisely when needed. In addition, the use of heat reclamation equipment, use of industrial waste heat, and cold generation in absorption equipment supports the development of circulation systems. This makes it possible to exploit primary energy to a high degree, ensuring an energy supply which is also environmentally friendly. (BMW Group, 2005) The BMW Group places great value on designing products which are optimized for recycling as well as separating and utilizing waste materials which accrue during production; care is taken, for example, only to transfer waste materials to recovery and cleanup partners who have passed the BMW Groups recovery audit. Our uppermost goal, however, is to not accrue waste materials in the first place. Each location has responsible employees who use a waste material information system to optimize processes and procedures. This system enables a precise overview of the flow of waste materials. This enables the continual development of further strategies for waste reduction and avoidance. (BMW Group, 2005) A sophisticated transportation logistics concept ensures optimum utilization of sea, rail and truck containers. The BMW Group also uses reusable packaging and cases to make transportation as environmentally-friendly as possible. Transport agents receive orders bundled according to volume and in most cases they are paid only for the volume transported. As a result they automatically have an incentive to organize transport services in a more efficient and environmentally-friendly manner and empty runs are avoided. Furthermore, all transport agents are bound by contract to use only trucks which comply with the latest European emissions standard. When it comes to overland transportation, the BMW Group tries to keep road haulage to a minimum and to use rail transportation where possible. Overall, more than half of all new vehicles left the plants by rail in 2007. Individual plants, such as Magna Steyr in Austria dispatch almost 90% of new vehicles to their destination by rail; in Dingolfing (Germany) and Rosslyn (South Africa) around 70% of all vehicles leave the plants by trucks. BMW plants in southern Germany receive materials from their German suppliers on logistics trains linked via five rail connections. (BMW Group, 2005) Up until now, new vehicles were protected from the elements and damage during transit by adhesive film, protective covers or wax. To establish whether this was absolutely necessary and determine the environmental impact, the BMW Group conducted an environmental performance evaluation. The study concluded that closed transport, as in covered freight cars, or open transport with subsequent cleaning of the vehicles is much better for the environment. Up to 80% of the CO2 emissions generated by application and disposal of surface protection can be prevented this way. In 2007, 72% of all vehicles were shipped without surface protection. This has dramatically reduced the use of solvents and chemicals. In the future, the BMW Group will manage with even less packaging and also further reduce the number of vehicles shipped with surface protection. (BMW Group, 2005) As far as the actual shipments are concerned, the BMW Group selects the method of transportation which produces the lowest emissions. Consequently, the shipment of goods via air freight is avoided wherever possible. Instead, the BMW Group prefers to use sea freight: In 2007, seaborne transportation made up 76. 8% of the total transportation capacity, while air freight accounted for just 0. 2%. (BMW Group, 2005) BMW recently reengineered its distribution process to reduce costs and improve response time for dealers and parts vendors. The company had used two private facilities for the distribution of new parts, motorcycles and core-parts returns. When new-parts sales began to expand, BMW sought a third-party logistics partner with the expertise and resources to manage domestic distribution of motorcycles and returns of core parts such as engines and alternators. The company chose Kuehne + Nagel, which leveraged its nationwide warehouse network to implement an efficient, cost-effective solution. (Kuehne + Nagel Contract Logistics, 2009) BMWs are distributed from two Kuehne + Nagel locations in New Jersey and California to cars, motorcycles and parts coming from Germany. Each facility inspects all the cargo for damage upon receipt. Kuehne + Nagel then store by model number, color and vehicle identification number, and ships 99 percent of all orders same-day to dealers nationwide. Access to BMWs electronic inventory system enables Kuehne + Nagel to check status of inbound shipments and report dealer deliveries. BMW core-part returns are managed by five Kuehne + Nagel multi-client facilities in Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago, Jersey City, N. J. , and Cerritos, California. Each facility processes inbound core-part shipments from dealers, and distributes returns to vendors in the U. S. and Germany. (Kuehne + Nagel Contract Logistics, 2009) For dealers, working with five centralized warehouses, instead of two, has reduced freight costs and expedited credit processing. Kuehne + Nagel maintain strict compliance with individual vendor regulations for parts and delivery. Kuehne + Nagel are now supporting record sales for BMW vehicles. Its resources and expertise in distribution have enabled BMW to: Achieve same-day turnaround on 99 percent of all orders; Reduce dealer freight costs for core-parts returns; Dedicate its private facilities to new-parts distribution; Better respond to seasonal peaks and new-product introductions (Kuehne + Nagel Contract Logistics, 2009) These resources are a big asset to BMW, says Basan, because they allow us to address issues more quickly and cost-effectively than if we were managing the jobs internally. (Fleischmann, 2006) Two automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS) act as a buffer to make the delayed assignment possible. One AS/RS holds 220 car bodies while the other holds 230. As vehicles exit the paint shop, they go into the AS/RS where they are held until the assembly line is ready for them. The combination of staging in the AS/RS and delayed assignment actually increases production flexibility. BMW can now alter the build sequence until nearly the last moment to accommodate any supply chain bottlenecks. (Modern Materials Handling Staff, 2004) Another important contributor to that flexibility is the highly automated parts warehouse known as the Sequence Center adjacent to the plant. This facility receives and temporarily stages parts coming from suppliers. When the parts are needed for production, they are kitted in a specific build order, and transported by pallet conveyor through a connecting tunnel to the plant. (Modern Materials Handling Staff, 2004)