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      01-22-2015, 08:16 PM   #1
sriniC
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National Geographic Megafactories BMW X3

This was previously posted couple of years back. Re-posting the video link in case, you missed the last time around.

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      01-23-2015, 09:12 AM   #2
Gouda
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FYI, you can buy this in HD from Amazon for two bucks. Download or watch on line.
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      01-24-2015, 09:08 AM   #3
RhoXS
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That video is excellent but, as good as it is, it really does not come close to fully conveying how impressive the Spartanburg plant really is, in many respects. BMW used to host Z3/Z4 homecoming; a four day weekend Labor Day week that included up close and personal factory tours, racing on their test track, first class banquets and entertainment in the factory itself, and many other great activities. It also included a "Tech Tent" where factory employees, I understood on their own time, would do everything from repairing technical issues, dent removal, to rag top leak mitigation. The four trips we made preceded X3 assembly but we did get to see the Z4 and X5 lines.

The video did give a lot of air time to the body shop robots but one cannot begin to appreciate from a video how impressive these things really are. Of course these robots have zero intelligence and do absolutely nothing that they are not precisely programmed to do. Nevertheless, they give a very strong uncanny impression of being very smart, especially when two robots are clearly working as a coordinated team to assemble the body or even to "groom" each other like when they periodically self replace a welding head. The tours we took through the factory were so close to the these robots I still have a shirt with tiny burn holes in it from the shower of welding sparks.

I was also very impressed by the employees. While taking the factory tours, on many occasions, the assembly line workers would wave or smile at the tour group. On some occasions a worker would look up, smile, and thank us for buying BMWs. We had free run of the very impressive cafeteria at lunch so I was able to sit at tables with assembly line workers. Each year we went, without exception, these people conveyed a sense of being very grateful of their jobs at the plant. Each employee is given an employee number with number 1 being the first employee hired. There was obviously a sense of pride among these people of having a low number.


We still have our blue 2002 3.0i Z3. For those of you who might have experienced the 2004 homecoming event, carefully check out the panorama picture taken in front of the Zentrum. Our Z3, is a few rows behind and to the left (looking at the picture) of the Z3 with the topless blond.
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