BMW Manufacturing opened a press shop in Spartanburg, South Carolina last week that can stamp up to 10,000 parts daily, according to a press release.

The press shop is preparing to stamp sheet metal parts for the new electric BMW X3 Sports Activity Vehicle, which will go on sale this fall. These parts will include bolt-on parts such as the vehicle’s four doors, fenders, lift gate, and exterior body sides.

“The advanced stamping processes on our new press line will ensure the highest quality, efficiency, and consistency in body shop parts for our customers,” said Robert Engelhorn, BMW Manufacturing president and CEO, in the release. “Having this press shop onsite fits the BMW Group’s local-for-local strategy where we produce major parts at the location where we need them.”

BMW Group plans to assemble at least six fully electric models in the U.S. by 2030, a release says. High-voltage batteries for the vehicles will come from a sixth-generation battery assembly plant the company is building in Woodruff.

The press shop marks the beginning of the automotive production process, the release says. It starts with trucks unloading large steel coils inside the shop via overhead cranes. The coils are fed into the coil line where the steel is cut into individual blanks — rectangular cutoffs or special shapes — at up to 70 strokes per minute.

After being cut, the blanks are fed into the press line.

“The press line consists of five press (stamping) stations,” the release says. “The line is equipped with servo technology, which enables BMW to significantly increase the output performance of the presses. An overhead crane moves the correct press tool (die) into each station. The blank is fed into the first press station and transferred from one station to the next by a robot-like automation technology, referred to as the ‘crossbar feeder,’ for additional forming and trimming operations. The line can run up to 18 strokes per minute, which means up to 10,000 parts can be stamped each day, depending on the size of each part.”

A quality control process inspects the parts after pressing, the release says. A special lighting that mimics natural daylight is used. Parts that pass the test are stacked into racks and delivered to the body shop production line.

Areas underneath the press and coil lines collect scrap metal. The release says as much as 50 tons of scrap are accumulated each day at full volume. A conveyor moves the scrap to be loaded onto 53-foot trailers, which move it off-site to be recycled.

BMW Group invested more than $200 million to construct the 219,000-square-foot press shop. It took 24 months from site work preparation to stamping the first part on the press line. The shop created more than 200 new jobs in careers such as tool and die technicians as well as electrical and mechanical maintenance for automated machinery.

“Since establishing roots in South Carolina 30 years ago, BMW has transformed our state into an automotive powerhouse,” said South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster in the release. “Today, we proudly celebrate yet another milestone with the opening of BMW’s first North American press shop, and we look forward to their continued success in the years to come.”

The Spartanburg factory assembles the X3, X5, X7, and XM Sports Activity Vehicles and the X4 and X6 Sports Activity Coupes.

“The 1,150-acre, 8-million-square-foot campus includes three body shops with more than 2,600 robots, two paint shops, and two assembly halls,” the release says. “The plant generates about 20% of its own power from methane gas and uses hydrogen fuel cell technology to power about 800 pieces of material handling equipment.”

BMW also debuted the Silver Anniversary Edition of the BMW X5 at the opening.

“This special adventure-themed Sports Activity Vehicle will be assembled in limited quantities for the U.S market exclusively with sales beginning this fall,” the release said. “This edition celebrates 25 years since the very first BMW X5 was assembled at Plant Spartanburg in 1999. This model created the segment of Sports Activity Vehicles and laid the foundation for a tremendous global success with nearly three million BMW X5 vehicles assembled since then.”

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Photo of new BMW Press Shop/BMW.