Today and in the future, premium will be increasingly defined by sustainability criteria. For the BMW Group, this means to act responsibly toward its workforce and society as a whole as well as to make considerate and efficient use of valuable resources such as water, energy and materials in production. Clean Production – the resource-conserving production – takes many forms at BMW Group Plant Dingolfing.

Example: water. We cover about 50% of our water demands via wells on the plant premises, which provide near-surface ground water. This way, we can save valuable drinking water.  At the same time, we make efficient use of the water, e.g. by treating process wastewater in the paint shop and feeding it back into the cycle. To this end, we apply innovative solutions such as groundwater cooling or a seasonal interim storage of heat energy in an aquifer (see below).

Example: energy-efficient facilities. We save significant energy thanks to the application of state-of-the-art production technologies and processes, such as the new high-efficiency high-speed servo press generation at the press shop, a new robot generation at the body shop, and the IPP (Integrated Paint Process) at the paint shop, which eliminates the need for a filler layer.

Due to the great variety of measures we have managed to considerably reduce the water and energy consumption per vehicle produced.

Example: logistics. Less traffic means less CO2. Plant Dingolfing makes manifold contributions toward reaching this goal. For instance, the just-in-time / just-in-sequence production and the on-site concept for pressed parts help minimize the need for interim storage facilities or additional transports. A good two thirds of the cars made are dispatched from the plant by railway. And as far as the workforce is concerned, BMW has implemented an eco-friendly commuter bus system that, compared to individual traffic, saves about 7,000 tons of CO2 annually.