Name of the Project
BMW Group South Africa (BMW SA) Rosslyn plant investment programme.

Location
Rosslyn, Pretoria, in South Africa.

Client
BMW SA.

Project Description
BMW plans to invest R6-billion at its Rosslyn plant, in Pretoria, Gauteng, to enable the plant to produce the next-generation BMW X3, which will be sold locally and exported to various countries.

The investment to build a completely new model at the Rosslyn plant requires installing new technology on the production line; lifting the roof to accommodate production of the X3, which is bulkier and longer, compared with the 3 Series; a revamp of the paint shop; establishing a new technical training centre and information technology backup centre; and building a new bodyshop.

The realignment of production at Rosslyn is in response to the continuing growth of the sports-activity vehicle segment worldwide.

Production of the next-generation BMW X3 will replace the BMW 3 Series sedan, which will be allocated to other plants in the global BMW production network.

The BMW Spartanburg plant, in the US state of South Carolina, will continue to produce the next-generation BMW X3.

Jobs To Be Created
Not stated.

Value
More than R3-billion will be invested in new state-of-the-art facilities and operations at the plant.

An additional R3-billion will be for suppliers, launch costs and the training of associates.

Duration
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Production of the new X3 at the BMW plant, in Rosslyn, will start in the first half of 2018, BMW Group South Africa (SA) and sub-Saharan Africa CEO Tim Abbott has said.

About R500-million of the R6-billion capital expenditure budget for the X3 was spent over an eight-week shutdown period in December 2016 and January 2017.

An estimated 1 700 people spent 1.4-million work hours at the plant, moving 2 225 t of material into the plant, and removing 1 959 t from the facility. About 226 km of cabling were also put in place during the shutdown.

A new training centre, due to open in the middle of the year, will also prepare the company’s employees for production of the new X3.

The new paint plant will save 20% on its energy use, partly by cutting the primer phase (and the use of an oven after this phase) from the traditional four-phase process of e-coat, primer, base coat and clear coat. A new integrated paint process will result in the base coat taking over the function of the primer coat.

The Rosslyn plant’s new combined body stacker can store up to 132 painted and unpainted car bodies. At 32 m high, it is the tallest building in Rosslyn.

The plant’s new body shop will increase the amount of robots used from 190 to 288. Job opportunities will also increase.

A number of BMW Group SA staff have been upskilled to become maintenance personnel at the bodyshop.

“We also do a lot more manual work in our body shop than in Germany, for example . . . to create jobs,” body shop GM Danny Bester has stated.

The new 26 000 m2 body shop, with its improved ventilation and use of natural light, is twice the size of the old body shop.

The old body shop will become a logistics space once X3 production starts.

The assembly plant received a new roof as part of the X3 project.

The roof has had to be lifted by 14 m to enable production of the taller X3 (compared with the 3 Series). The new roof has been built over the existing roof, with the existing roof then taken down.

The planned change in production has also brought a hanger system to the plant, which brings the vehicle being assembled to the worker (associate in BMW-speak), instead of the associate moving to and from the unit.

The plant has also received technology that turns vehicles on their sides to allow for the easy fitment of components such as fuel lines, instead of associates working overhead.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Not stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
BMW SA GM group communications, Diederik Reitsma, tel +27 12 522 2525 or email diederik.reitsma@bmw.co.za.
Stefanutti Stocks, tel +27 11 571 4300, fax +27 11 571 4370 or email holdings@stefstocks.com.