BMW Group’s Award-Winning Cockpit Production Sets New Quality Standards
The cockpit production at the BMW Group plants in Landshut and Wackersdorf has been awarded with the Automotive Lean Production Award in the ‘Supplier’ category. The jury was impressed by the outstanding ensemble of lean management, digitalization, and innovation in the interior components production at the BMW Group. The award was presented at the 19th Automotive Lean Production Congress on November 2025, in Poznań, Poland.
Smart Production of Cockpits – Increased Flexibility and Efficiency
With highest precision, employees at the BMW Group plants in Landshut and Wackersdorf manufacture interior components for the BMW 1 Series, 2 Series, 3 Series, 4 Series, 5 Series, and 7 Series, as well as the BMW iX. Every day, several thousand instrument panels and glove boxes leave the two component plants. “Technological know-how, highly automated production processes, AI-supported quality controls as well as lean value streams form the foundation for efficient work in this field of production,” explains Wolf Duwenkamp, Vice President Purchasing, Quality, Production Cockpit and Door Panels at the BMW Group plants in Landshut and Wackersdorf.
Digital Transformation and Highest Quality Standards
The production process at the cockpit production of the BMW Group plants Landshut and Wackersdorf is based on the PULL principle. The workstations where sequencing begins are optimally supplied through self-regulating control loops, ensuring a smooth material flow. The digital transformation of employee roles, such as the mobile operator, demonstrates the close collaboration between humans and machines and brings out additional benefits. Automated end-of-line inspections using AI-supported camera systems, allow an early detection and elimination of potential sources of error.
The production cockpit relies on automated EOL tests with photo documentation and IT numbers, which enable sources of error to be identified and eliminated at an early stage. The integration of AI-supported camera systems for anomaly detection has significantly reduced the error rate for surface defects in the corresponding product.
“Lean before Digital is our guiding principle for an efficient and forward-looking production in the component manufacturing. The combination of excellent processes, digital transformation, and the highest quality standards forms the foundation of our success. By sharing our knowledge, we actively contribute to the global supplier qualification, ensuring robust industrialization of all partners,” explains Martin Frensch, Senior Vice President of Body, Exterior Trim and Interior in the purchasing and supplier network at BMW Group. “To remain competitive, we must continuously question and develope ourselves. The Automotive Lean Production Award shows that we are benchmark, which is something to be proud of,” Frensch adds.
