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

Location
Rosslyn, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa.

Client
BMW Group South Africa.

Project Description
BMW Group South Africa is investing in its Rosslyn plant 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 the biggest structural change in the 44-year history of the plant. 

Land adjacent to the plant has been acquired and construction of a new body shop was completed at the end of 2016.

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.

Other structural changes include the revamp of the paint shop, a new combined body stacker and the construction of a new technical training centre and data centre.

In addition, the investment will include installing new, state-of-the-art technologies on the various production lines, a 50% increase in bodyshop robotics, training of employees and supplier development.

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, alongside its sister plant at BMW Rosslyn.

Jobs to Be Created
The investment will allow employment numbers to remain stable.

In 2016, as part of a planned transition process preparing the BMW Rosslyn plant for production of the next-generation BMW X3, several employees who were previously on fixed-term employment contracts were converted to permanent contracts. 

This provides the Rosslyn plant with a more sustainable model for the future, with added flexibility to adapt to increases or decreases in production. 

This approach is also positive for the plant’s competitiveness.

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
The investment was announced in November 2015 and culminates with the start of production in the first half of 2018.

Latest Developments
Production of the new X3 at the BMW plant 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 BMW 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 was also laid during the shutdown.

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

The new paint plant will save 20% in 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 one of the tallest buildings in Rosslyn.

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

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

“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 old body shop will become a logistics space once production the BMW X3 starts.

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

The roof has had to be lifted by 14 m to enable production of the taller BMW X3 (compared with the BMW 3 Series). 

The new roof has been built over the existing roof while production continued below, with the existing roof then taken down during the shutdown period from December 2016 to January 2017.

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.

Technology has been installed at the plant 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?
Yes.

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.