Завод BMW в Ландсхуте внедряет цифровых двойников и переходит на электрическое плавление для сохранения ресурсов

The light-metal foundry is the largest production area at the BMW Group plant in Landshut and also the BMW Group’s only light-metal casting facility in Europe. In 2025 alone, 3.1 million castings were produced at the plant; the production range includes engine components such as cylinder heads and crankcases, large-area structural components, and components for electric drivetrains. Foundry-Planet visited the site and, in addition to an exciting tour of the production halls, gained up-to-date insights into the developments taking place there. The innovative manufacturing processes from Landshut have already won numerous awards and enjoy great international recognition; however, for BMW, this is no reason to rest on its laurels, as Messrs. Sammer, Stöckl, Ziehfreund, Schmid, Tremmel, Daxberger, and Brenninger explain. Rather, BMW’s current planning for the future is based on two cornerstones: the development of innovations on the one hand, and the conservation of resources on the other. The Brownfield Challenge in Landshut The Landshut light-metal foundry is one of the largest foundries in terms of floor space, with 87,000 square meters of production area. This means the foundry accounts for half of the plant’s total production area and covers an area equivalent to twelve soccer fields. Due to the BMW plant’s unique location—sandwiched between railroad tracks on one side and residential and industrial areas on the other—there are challenges regarding the site’s development. Expanding the facility’s footprint is not possible in Landshut, and at the same time, demolition and new construction while production is ongoing prove difficult. In this tightly constrained space, every square meter that can be used for new machinery and equipment counts. BMW is addressing this challenge through digitalization, which includes, among other things, the Factory Viewer—a tool that enables faster action and reduces the effort required for new installations. The foundry is now fully modeled virtually. The Factory Viewer is part of the site’s broader smart factory strategy. Smart Factory in Day-to-Day Operations In Landshut, the concept of the smart factory isn’t just a buzzword—it’s already being actively put into practice. In a groundbreaking initiative, all factory buildings were virtually mapped and are now available in digital form. These digital factory buildings are invaluable for planning: open spaces and machines can be measured down to the centimeter, all from the comfort of a conference room. This simplifies the planning of production processes as well as the installation of new machines and equipment. In most cases, on-site visits are no longer necessary. External partners also have access to the digital facilities—a visionary step that saves time and money for all parties involved. The virtual commissioning of machines and equipment, on the other hand, offers crucial advantages when it comes to the most important parameters of project planning. In addition to saving time and costs, interface and logic errors are detected earlier, thereby reducing risks. But BMW is thinking even one step further: the long-term goal is a digital twin of the entire production facility. Conservation of Resources and Responsibility When it comes to resource conservation, Landshut relies on a combination of several factors. On the one hand, the focus is on consumers, and the company is actively seeking solutions to conserve resources in this area—for example, by substituting gas and using glass fiber screens. At the same time, the plant is also investigating which resource-conservation measures can be implemented on-site, as BMW relies on a combination of several factors to advance the cause of resource conservation. In addition to the use of recycled sand, great emphasis is placed on closed-loop material flows. Furthermore, the plant is moving toward the long-term use of electric ladle and crucible heating stations. The shaft melting furnace already installed—which uses gas for melting and electricity for holding the metal at temperature—is also an important part of the strategy in Landshut. The goal of conserving resources is integrated into the company-wide philosophy of sustainable mobility, which takes environmental and social responsibility seriously and firmly anchors it in its corporate strategy. Production and Change Despite the option of virtual tours, we were then able to experience the production halls in person and get a sense of how the most complex machines and manufacturing processes work together. Time and again, it became clear just how quickly work is carried out, whether in production itself or in the construction of entirely new factory buildings. Particularly fascinating was the installation and dismantling of existing equipment while operations were still underway—a process that was also preceded by meticulous planning. The visit once again demonstrated why BMW serves as a role model in the field of light-metal casting as well; here, grand visions and drive come together.