BMW Group wins “Connected Car Award” for use of artificial intelligence in production

On 7 January, the magazines Auto Bild and Computer Bild presented the BMW Group Production with their Connected Car Award in the Pioneer category. The winner is selected by a jury of experts comprised of editors from both publications, honoring particularly innovative solutions, such as the use of artificial intelligence in production. The BMW Group has been applying AI solutions in several use cases in series production for some time now. One example: In the final inspection area at the Dingolfing plant, vehicle order data is compared to a live image of the model designation of the newly produced car. If live image and order data don’t match, if e.g. a designation such as “xDrive” is missing, the workers carrying out the final inspection receive a notification.

Dirk Hilgenberg, Senior Vice President Production System, Technical Planning, Tool Shop, Plant Construction at the BMW Group, accepted the award at CES in Las Vegas. He stated: “We are delighted to receive this very special award. It confirms that we are on the right track, introducing effective applications that create added value for the production system and provide maximum support for our employees.”

The BMW Group’s Intranet of Things platform in particular ensures a smooth integration of new AI applications into production IT. Workers can choose the most suitable tools from a digital toolbox, combine them into their own solutions and install them via plug and play. In December 2019, the BMW Group publicly shared parts of its innovative digital image tagging software, which has been successfully applied in various AI applications. In turn, software developers all around the world support the development of AI software, allowing the automaker to focus primarily on the advancement of specific AI applications in production and logistics.