BMW Chennai Plant Tour - Inplant Training

[bsaketh]

Hello everyone! First of all, I'd like to tell how happy I am for being part of this amazing community.

So, let me introduce myself. My name is Saketh and I am from Hyderabad. I just finished my Mechanical Engineering and I did my final year project work at BMW Plant Chennai from Feb 1st - March 15th 2013. I will also be uploading some photographs that I took for my project work (some maybe from public domain as photography is'nt allowed in some areas).

I am a big fan of German Engineering (especially BMW) I love their cars and especially the ///M. I decided in my school days that the first car I'd buy with my money would be a BMW. You could call me BMW fanboy for that reason .
To get an opportunity for training with BMW, I had to drop a few mails but I did'nt get any replies ( I learned later that the plant was in a Maintenance shutdown for 15 days). I got my first reply in mid-January that said they would look into it and it was on January 26th, they confirmed my internship with them . It would start from Feb 1st and the time period is our wish. It can be 1, 2 6 Months or even a year (No Stipend though). So, I packed my bags and off I went to Chennai.

 

[bsaketh]

Let me tell you about the plant:

The plant is in Mahindra City, Chengalpattu which is 65kms from Chennai (on Tirchy Highway) and 5kms after you cross the Ford Plant. There are two timings 6:00 AM to 4:00 PM and 4:30 PM to 6AM. The cars that are manufactured are 3,5,7 Series, X1 and X3. (Mini Production started just after I came back and there were already two test units in the plant). There are two lines: Line 1 and Line 2. Line 1 produces 3 Series and X1 on alternate days. Line produces 5, and X3on alternate days and 7 when there are any orders. Line 1 is run 24 hours/ day while Line 2 runs only in the Morning Shift (Low demand and High cost vehicles).

Their Rules were:
1) Only formal dress with formal shoes.
2) No camera cell phones allowed.
3) You have to cover your belt buckle (with kerchief or tissue paper) at all times so that you wont scratch the cars.
4) Timings were 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM
5) Food would be provided in the plant (Breakfast and Lunch). The food was amazing, trust me.



Day 1:

I was all excited and I was ready by 6AM. I was asked to be present at the plant by 7AM. I sat in the waiting area till 8:00 and completed all the formalities, when the HR manager came to brief us (there were others too). I was in a formal dress and he looked at my shoes and said I had to wear shoes that were hard for my own safety. He suggested me to go T. Nagar, buy them come back the next day. My heart sank but I agreed and went shopping.

Day 2:

I was as excited as Day 1 and was present there by 7:00 AM. I was introduced to a floor manager that controlled Line 1. He showed me around the plant and I was mesmerized. The plant was not purely automated. All vehicles were CKD's. All parts (even Engines) came from Germany, While bodies (already painted) came from USA or S. Africa. The produced cars would ship to S. Africa if the sales are slow in India.

 

[bsaketh]

I will give you a very brief overview of the plant. The Plant layout was as follows:

VIN Engraving

Wiring Harness:
Harness is the substation in which the frame is attached with the required wiring for the car to function as these cars are completely sensor controlled. The harness of each car consists of various combinations of wires of different color codes.

Trim Line:

Trim line of the BMW plant Chennai consists of 10 substations in which the various parts are categorized and are assembled according to the order to assembly in the manual provided by the company. These substations are named as trim line substations from 1 to 10. These are written as T-1 to T-10. At each substation various parts are installed these parts are segregated from the lots that are imported, in the logistics and are sent to the respective substation.

Trim Substations:
(T - 0):
Parts like damping pad roof, check color code and lift sun roof are installed here. Drain the nose, steering column aperture fixing, sealing and damping pad to the body. Cleaning the body with Iso-propanol, stick protection foil on to the body, fixing wiper shell , etc are the various tasks that are performed at this substation.

(T - 01):
After T - 0 the car is forwarded to Trim line - 01 for the further assembly. In this substation the car is performed on the various task like the audio harness is installed, the harness on pillar B and main harness on the pillars B& C are installed.

(T - 02):
In the Trim line 2 many parts are installed they are sound insulator to body stud, lateral heat shield and bulk heat shield , battery tray, RH &LH under panel bracket.

(T - 03):
In this substation the rear carpet, route harness, woofer finish on carpet are assembled. The dummy carpet, roof mould, bracket on DSC, battery cable on jumper support stud, gasket on booster stud and connect to brake reservoir connection, insertion and connecting DSC, brake tube on DSC , audio amplifier , seat belt are installed, The main harness, audio harness to power distribution box, weather strip on sunroof are the main parts installed in this substation.

(T - 04):
In this substation the microphone, covering harness to head liner air bags, Grab handle, rear reading lamp, make up mirror light, sun visor hinge, B- Pillar illumination, removing the body weather strip rope steadily.

T5- T10:
Here, brake pipes, engine brackets,A/C unit, all sensors, iDrive, wind screen, sound insulator, rear view mirror, de-fogger etc., are installed.

OVER HEAD LINE:
The main parts that are installed in this substation are water drain assembly, coil spring assembly RH& LH , Rear axle assembly, height level sensor, brake pad wear sensor, wheel speed sensor , rear wheel arch assembly, parking brake cable LH&RH.FEM sub assembly, hood lock sensor connection , head lamp to FEM , shock absorber to the cross member in correct position are assembled. Head lamp and horn connections, bumper assembly, front wheel arch assembly are performed in OH-2 station. In the final sub-station, parts installed are steering unit, linkage in the steering ball joint, assembly of wheels , assembly of support jack, assembly of ornamental grill, DMU connection, DDE assembly,vaccum tube assembly- booster brake, steering wheel assembly, A/C leak test are performed here.

 

[bsaketh]

Re: BMW Plant Chennai - Inplant Training

FINAL LINE:
Final line is Inspection line for the all substations so far that are crossed. In the final line many parts are installed , they are detailed according to the substation in which they are assembled. The final line is also divided into five substations they are named from final line - 01 to 05, their task can be explained as follows

FINAL LINE - 01 (F - 01)
In this substation the parts that are installed are steering wheel air bag, conection of terminals, brake fluid filling, DME box cover, coolant tank, cool radiator, radiator Bracket upper pin to radiator, air fillet support bracket, VIN plate, brake pedal checking and acoustis foam are the major parts.

FINAL LINE - 02 (F - 02A)
In this substation the parts installed are Dome strut, cowl plug, A/C leak test, A/C gas filling, aggregate and sealing of the bonnet are major tasks performed.

FINAL LINE - 02 (F - 02B)
In this substation the tasks performed are fuel filling, fuel adaptor, first aid kit, tools , hand brake cover, water hose connection , buffer tapes, air cleaner, aspirator, silencer, sunroof alignment are the major functions performed here .

FINAL LINE - 03 (F - 03)
In this substation the tasks that are performed are coolant filling, windshield washer filling, engine cover, rear view mirror cover, third brake light cover, final coding, fixing of badges , body chrome assembly etc are performed in this substation.


FINAL LINE - 04 (F - 04)
In this substation the tasks performed are the LWS CODING, SAP F1 UPDATING, etc are mainly performed. These software updates are considered as the most important for the functioning of the car as the sensors are programmed according to these software's.

FINAL LINE - 05 (F - 05)
This is the final substation in the final line and in this substation the various tasks performed like door adjustment, trunk lid adjustment, trunk lid carpet, warning symbol, bonnet adjustment, etc are done for the car to finish the final line process.

ROAD TEST:
The Vehicle is taken for a Road Test where there are different tracks like :
1. Trapeez Track (Noise Test) – Speed: 20kmp/h
2. Sinus Wave Track (Sunroof Noise) – Speed: 20kmp/h
3. ‘8’ Loop (Steering Noise) – Speed: 20kmp/h
4. Warning Gauge (ABS Re-Check)
5. Cobble Stone (General Noise Check) – Speed: 20kmp/h

 

[bsaketh]

Re: BMW Plant Chennai - Inplant Training

Here are a few pictures:

 

[bsaketh]

Some more:

 

[Petroholic]

Re: BMW Plant Chennai - Inplant Training

Hello everyone! First of all, I'd like to tell how happy I am for being part of this amazing community.

So, let me introduce myself. My name is Saketh and I am from Hyderabad. I just finished my Mechanical Engineering and I did my final year project work at BMW Plant Chennai from Feb 1st - March 15th 2013. I will also be uploading some photographs that I took for my project work (some maybe from public domain as photography is'nt allowed in some areas).

I am a big fan of German Engineering (especially BMW) I love their cars and especially the ///M. I decided in my school days that the first car I'd buy with my money would be a BMW. You could call me BMW fanboy for that reason .
To get an opportunity for training with BMW, I had to drop a few mails but I did'nt get any replies ( I learned later that the plant was in a Maintenance shutdown for 15 days). I got my first reply in mid-January that said they would look into it and it was on January 26th, they confirmed my internship with them . It would start from Feb 1st and the time period is our wish. It can be 1, 2 6 Months or even a year (No Stipend though). So, I packed my bags and off I went to Chennai.

Congratz buddy. You had a great oppurtunity.
I too finished my mech engineering from VIT this year.I always wanted to get an internship in BMW chennai since it was nearby.For internship i applied in maruti suzuki gurgaon plant but came to know that a good approach is required to get an internship in the maruti plant.I landed up in tata motors pantnagar plant that also with approach.
Seeing this i never bothered to apply in BMW .
Did you have to pull some strings for getting an internship?

If no approach is required (which is the trend in india ),who knows we can even land up in a job in these companies if we apply directly off-campus ?

 

[bsaketh]

Re: BMW Plant Chennai - Inplant Training

Congratz buddy. You had a great oppurtunity.
I too finished my mech engineering from VIT this year.I always wanted to get an internship in BMW chennai since it was nearby.For internship i applied in maruti suzuki gurgaon plant but came to know that a good approach is required to get an internship in the maruti plant.I landed up in tata motors pantnagar plant that also with approach.
Seeing this i never bothered to apply in BMW .
Did you have to pull some strings for getting an internship?

If no approach is required (which is the trend in india ),who knows we can even land up in a job in these companies if we apply directly off-campus ?

Thank you Petroholic. You cannot apply from off-campus and also BMW takes only Polytehnic (Diploma) graduates. Your best bet to get into BMW for a job is to do MBA and end up as a Manager.

 

[Fyzy09]

Re: BMW Plant Chennai - Inplant Training

Thank you Petroholic. You cannot apply from off-campus and also BMW takes only Polytehnic (Diploma) graduates. Your best bet to get into BMW for a job is to do MBA and end up as a Manager.

Saketh, please elaborate on what you mean by off-campus??
Polytechnic diploma, does it mean Mechanical Engg, diploma which is for 3 years duration??

 

[mukesh]

Re: BMW Plant Chennai - Inplant Training

Congratulations bsaketh for this opportunity, i wish i could also work in a place like this, please keep this thread updated and put more pictures if possible.

 

[bsaketh]

Saketh, please elaborate on what you mean by off-campus??
Polytechnic diploma, does it mean Mechanical Engg, diploma which is for 3 years duration??

Yes Diploma in Mechanical Engg. 99% of the workers got placed through campus placements. I found only two persons who studied Engineering (Not Diploma) One was from BITS Pilani. So, if you want to apply for a job there (Not through campus placements) , they usually take people with Management skills for Manager posts etc., It's very hard for a fresher to join without campus placement. Most of the workers who joined in 2006, when the plant was established had either worked in TVS, Toyota, Ford or some other companies.

Congratulations bsaketh for this opportunity, i wish i could also work in a place like this, please keep this thread updated and put more pictures if possible.

Thank you Mukesh. I will !

 

[Fyzy09]

Re: BMW Plant Chennai - Inplant Training

Yes Diploma in Mechanical Engg. 99% of the workers got placed through campus placements. I found only two persons who studied Engineering (Not Diploma) One was from BITS Pilani. So, if you want to apply for a job there (Not through campus placements) , they usually take people with Management skills for Manager posts etc.,

Wow.. thats good to know.. I have a brother, younger to me doing his 3rd SEM in ME, diploma here in Bangalore.. How did you manage to fix your self an internship deal with them?? Do you mind sharing??

 

[bsaketh]

Wow.. thats good to know.. I have a brother, younger to me doing his 3rd SEM in ME, diploma here in Bangalore.. How did you manage to fix your self an internship deal with them?? Do you mind sharing??

Email! That's all you can do. Send them an email with your resume and tell them how much you would like to do an internship with them. The rest is in their hands.

The First Mini



Mini Cooper - Body. Full time production started just after I finished my internship. The bodies were already being stacked up during my final days there!

 

[Vishwas]

Re: BMW Plant Chennai - Inplant Training

Hello Saketh, that was a fabulous review on BMW's Plant, loved reading every lines and appreciate the pain taken in writing everything in detail.

What is the time taken for a car to be assembled?

 

[Fyzy09]

Re: BMW Plant Chennai - Inplant Training

Email! That's all you can do. Send them an email with your resume and tell them how much you would like to do an internship with them. The rest is in their hands.

May be I am asking for too much.. But can you please PM me their email details please??