Innovation Day 2004 - Project House, FIZ

BMW Group Product and Innovation Centre: Innovative Architecture - Innovative Processes - Innovative Technologies. Contents. Section 1 Setting the Benchmark in Efficient Vehicle Development: The New Project Building at the BMW Group's Research and Innovation Centre. Section 2 Wiring the World: Three New Studios for Virtual Reality at the Project Building. Section 3 Full Throttle into the Future: BMW Hydrogen Car Sets up Nine International Records. Section 4 Voice, Gestures, Mimics: BMW Group Studies New Types of Automotive Communication. Section 5 Safe, Individual, and with Self-Learning Capacity: BMW Car IT Developing Central Intelligence in the Car.

Setting the Benchmark in Efficient Vehicle Development:
The New Project Building at the
BMW Group's Research and
Innovation Centre.

It is a well-known fact that innovations come mainly from face-to-face
communication. And indeed, it is precisely this principle that underlies the
BMW Group's Research and Innovation Centre known for short, to use the German
abbreviation, as the 'FIZ', ever since being opened back in 1987.

Today, 17 years later, the BMW Group is once again setting the standard in the
future of automobile development, integrating the new Project Building into the
FIZ area as a highlight in architecture bearing testimony to BMW's Product
Creation Process. As the name indicates, this is the process underlying
the creation of every BMW Group product from the initial idea all the way to
the start of series production. So forming part of the FIZ concept, the Project
Building has now become the physical rendition of this operating process.

In the words of Professor Dr. Burkhard Göschel, Board Member Development and
Purchasing of BMW AG, "we have combined the substance of the building with a
process-oriented frame of mind in an almost ideal manner?".

Providing a hands-on experience of development:
the building within a building.

Through its layout and dimensions alone, the Project Building opens up a new
dimension in cooperation: Organised according to BMWs range of model series,
specialists from all different areas have their workplaces around an atrium
encompassing an oval, glass-clad building right in the middle. On each level of
this studio and workshop building the current state of development of each
vehicle project is clearly and convincingly presented in virtual worlds and
with real models directly in the associates' line of vision from the
surrounding project workplaces and within easy reach from short distances. So
that parallel to the engineering processes, three-dimensional clay models in
full scale or prototypes may be compared with and examined against the virtual
models in a quasi-real time process.

The philosophy: communicating in real time.
Through its overall concept, the Project Building was designed from the start
for one requirement in particular: real-time operation. Professor Gunter Henn,
the architect responsible for the Building, expresses this challenge in clear
words: "With development teams of up to 200 people, the mission was to make the
right people meet at the right time, conducting development in a real-time
process."

Precisely this is what the Building guarantees through its house-in-house
architectural concept creating new ways and means of communication: "First, the
engineers and other specialists are able to move to-and-fro from the computer
screen to the real model", says Henn. "And second, presentation of the real
product in a new, consistently updated and enhanced level of development
ensures a motivating factor getting the right people together at the right
time." Indeed, this is a communication principle we find at every market in our
everyday world: "As soon as a farmer with apples opens up his stall, the only
people to come are those who really want apples." In other words: Only the
chassis engineers and production specialists will meet at the model of a front
axle subframe, coming together specifically when they have to exchange views
with their colleagues in the interest of further progress. Given the complexity
of a modern car, the development engineer is alone with his project only for a
few hours in succession and is then required to come back to his colleagues and
other specialists for an exchange of views.

The Building and its design: why the Atrium House is oval in shape.
The special shape of the Atrium House follows from its underlying concept and
philosophy to provide a direct, hands-on experience of the components and
vehicles being developed in their current state: the Atrium House stands out as
a clear-cut oval within the round inner courtyard. The reason for this special
design, quite simply, is that this was the best way to accommodate the
measuring systems on platforms for car prototypes while at the same time
providing ample space and freedom of movement in the Circular Building around
the courtyard. The job was to provide space for four of these platforms on each
level, each of them some six metres long and 2.5 metres wide. "If it had been
designed as a circle, the Atrium House would have been too big. So we arranged
the platforms longitudinally in an elliptic layout", states Professor Henn.

This physical advantage is enhanced by an appropriate mental effect: Within the
atrium, the inner oval and the surrounding circle generate a feeling of dynamic
space arousing the right spirit and commitment for active, dynamic development
processes.

It goes without saying that the Atrium House boasts the most advanced virtual
development tools offering invaluable support particularly in the initial
concept phase of a new vehicle: 'Powerwalls' and 'CAVEs' equipped with
state-of-the-
art projectors are able to provide particularly realistic simulations. This
enables the development specialist to 'walk through' complete vehicles in a
virtual process almost from the start in a very early stage of development,
using the vehicle's construction data for this purpose long before the first
hardware is created. Clearly, the result is a high standard of planning quality
ensured quickly and efficiently, any deviations from target measurements and
data being immediately recognised and remedied.

Close cooperation in organisational units.
In organisational terms the entire process of product development within the
BMW Group is subdivided into product lines comprising all of the Group's
brands: BMW, MINI, and Rolls-Royce. To use the space available as effectively
as possible but with a high degree of variability depending on requirements,
the four project levels in the new Project Building are made up of four
Quadrants each extending over two levels and covering an area of up to 1,500
square metres. With the two levels being connected in each case by a spiral
staircase, there is enough room for a complete project with an average team of
200 associates within one space continuum. A lift in the core building serves
to transport complete vehicles to each floor, bridges on each level connecting
this house-in-house with the circular building outside.

Space and light for optimum working conditions.
Conceiving the Project Building, it was essential to provide open and creative
working areas reminiscent in their character and layout of a loft - that is
wide open spaces and bright rooms. The special topography of the ceilings and
the unique design of the upper-level galleries provides areas varying in height
from well over three to almost eight metres. And despite the modular layout of
the Building, the Quadrants with eight different floor configurations ensure
individual style to meet individual requirements.

The floor plan of the smaller gallery levels with their alcoves and wall
openings enhances the impression of high ceilings. In particular, this creates
areas
ideal for high-quality work and with maximum daylight - areas in which you
simply feel great.

In its dimensions the Atrium House also follows this objective: The entry of
light into the building and the view to outside ensure generous, inspiring
working conditions. In optical terms, the façade of the Atrium House conveys an
impression of size and dimensions the building does not really have: The round
and conical shape of the Atrium House and its structures eliminates the usual
reference points the human eye generally needs to objectively assess the size
of the building, an effect further enhanced by the many reflections in the
window areas. For in reality, the Atrium House takes up only about 20 per cent
of the entire area of the Project Building, making the entire structure very
economical also when it comes to the use of space.

Interior design confirming the BMW Group's premium standard.
Transcending all of the Group's brands, the interior design of the buildings
ensures a perfect rendition of the BMW Group's claim to perfection:
The architectural concepts applied within the BMW world must be unique,
sophisticated, clear, timeless, and consistent. Indeed, it is this tangible
ambience that creates a working environment highly conducive to creativity and
networking and reflecting the values of the various brands.

The Project Building: the logical continuation of the FIZ concept.
The new Project Building is the logical continuation of a development
concept dating back to the construction of the BMW Research and Innovation
Centre - the concept of 'built-in communication'.

When the Centre well-known the world over as the 'FIZ' entered operation
in 1987, the concept of 'built-in communication' was an absolute revolution in
the automotive industry. Instead of Development, Production and Purchasing
coming in a row behind one another as in the past, all three of these Function
Areas for the first time operated not only parallel to one another, but also
very close together. And Logistics, Controlling and Human Resources were also
integrated in the development process right from the start. Indeed,
simultaneous engineering even allows the integration of suppliers from a very
early point in time.

All this has significantly reduced the number of interfaces and thus keeps
frictional losses to a minimum, enabling the BMW Group to develop products to
production standard much more quickly and cost-efficiently through the new FIZ
operations. Hence, the Research and Innovation Centre has become a role model
now, through its principle alone, setting the standard for many other buildings
and centres of this kind.

Guaranteeing successful car development: simultaneous engineering.
The FIZ Project Building further enhances the BMW Group's concept of
simultaneous engineering: No less than 18 years ago, the Board of Management of
BMW AG appointed the first Project Managers for new vehicles - and the concept
of developing vehicles through highly efficient project management has evolved
consistently ever since. The strong backbone for this development process is
provided, as before, by individual departments in the Development Division,
with teams assuming inter-divisional, overall responsibility for specific
vehicle projects defined in advance.

Pursuing this operating concept, the BMW Group has solved a problem typically
encountered in product development: the need to choose between a
division-oriented or a project-oriented organisation. Development periods
cannot be kept short and well-organised without project groups, just as
technological development and the enhancement of skills will slowly but surely
come to a standstill without the support of such groups and their specialists.

To overcome this bottleneck, the BMW Group's organisation concept provides for
the delegation of associates from their Technical Departments to Project Teams
for the duration of the concept phase. Then, in the subsequent implementation
phase extending up to production clearance of the vehicle, the associates
return to their original Technical Departments, naturally maintaining their
close links with the Project Team.

Projects remain in place for a limited period and start several years prior to
series introduction of the first model, by which time the so-called Initial
Team has already established the general framework for the new model series.
And when the last model comes off the line at the end of production, the
organisation is disbanded. At the same time a new team sets out as the next
organisation developing the next generation of the vehicle set to enter the
market. This allows a smooth and consistent concept development process for
future vehicles not influenced by any outside effects.

Product creation: marching in unison next to each other,
not just in a row behind one another.
Through its density alone, the product development and creation process applied
by the BMW Group differs from the conventional method of car development as
clearly as a 21st-century computer stands out from an old slide rule. Instead
of working in an ongoing succession of different jobs, the developers handle as
many assignments as possible at the same time, following a multi-faceted
process of simultaneous engineering in creating the final product. And just
like computer technology, the BMW Group's Product Creation Process is
consistently fuelled by ongoing progress: The development we see in the virtual
world from 16 to 32 or 64 bit technology and beyond, is also to be found in the
Product Creation Process with parallel development of an increasing number of
functions, components and systems for a new generation of vehicles all at the
same time. And there is another common feature, results not only being achieved
more quickly, but also with growing precision improving to an ever-increasing
standard.

Specifically, therefore, Development, Production and Purchasing no longer work
in a row one after the other, but rather in a closely-knit network next to one
another. And this special style of cooperation is characterised not by
isolated, stand-alone responsibilities, but rather by a common, joint concept
of project management.

Modern web technologies are of course indispensable tools: To keep everybody
involved - from the project engineer to the purchasing manager, from the
supplier to the designer - up-to-date at all times, all important data in the
development project is always available online whenever required. Such
simultaneous availability of product, process and project data in the
development network obviously serves to capitalise on time and quality
potentials.

The Project Building: a catalyst for creativity.
Given all its qualities and features, the Project Building is the Product
Creation Process translated into reality through appropriate architecture:
Applying the findings of Professors Tom Allen from the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, the man who already provided the fundamental philosophy for the
FIZ Research and Innovation Centre, 80 per cent of all the ideas implemented
here are based on direct face-to-face contact. This gives the BMW Group's new
Project Building the architectural requirements for a highly efficient process
of product creation, offering a working environment ideally suited to an
excellent dialogue among associates.

Basic facts and figures of the Project Building:

Building dimensions 110 m x 110 m
Total area 12,000 sqm
Height 44 m
Gross floor area 90,000 sqm

Thereof circular building 45,000 sqm
Thereof office space on floors 1-5 37,500 sqm
Thereof central building 11,000 sqm
Thereof model processing 4,500 sqm
Thereof studio floors 5-8 2 ,000 m²