Mini Plant Oxford
The plant has consistently delivered record-breaking production figures, while also investing in sustainable practices and employee development. This success has contributed to the enduring popularity of the Mini brand worldwide. During this entire period, BMW have worked exclusively with Rudolph and Hellmann as their production logistics partner.
BMW F6X Project: Three new models launched in 9 months
In 2024, Plant Oxford transitioned to the next generation MINI 3-door and MINI 5-door with combustion engines, as well as the new MINI Convertible. It’s unprecedented to have three models launched in a single year and was an incredible achievement for all parties. The logistical challenges were immense, and the solid working partnership between BMW and Rudolph and Hellmann proved once again to be a successful combination.
“I’m really proud of what the team has achieved over the past three years, we’ve consistently delivered exceptional KPI results during a period of colossal changes. October 22nd 2022, we changed to SEPIA sequencing software, October 23rd 2023 we upgraded to SAP S/4HANA and became the first BMW plant to use it to deliver line-side. This year we have had to completely change the infrastructure, and at the end of November 2024 we’ve successfully launched three new MINI models in the space of 9 months.
We’ve had to strip out the entire warehouse stock at both ILC and AC in 3 days. Anything that wasn’t a crossover part (that’s over 90% of the stock) was replaced with the new model stock. The whole of trackside was cleared – and we assisted the BMW operatives with removing old racks ready to be replaced with new racks, during the one-week February shut-down. Then Monday 26th February 2024 to Friday 1st March 2024 we refilled the warehouses with the F66 parts and restocked the new racking line-side. This involved not only the physical restocking of new parts, but every new part also had to be activated on the new IT systems – so the call-offs for each car warehouse and sequencing material was correct.
I attribute this success to the frontline workers from both organisations, who have had to adapt and learn in incredibly short periods. This was testament to the training teams and capability of the new IT systems. To achieve this seamless implementation, we’ve undertaken a huge investment of training. This involved bringing in additional people to cover our frontline employees who were on intensive training programmes (the entire workforce was retrained within the 4 weeks). The implementation of Gemba has enabled us to rapidly escalate any issues identified first-hand. Jointly we make real-time improvements and deploy those agreed resolutions to resolve the issues live in ‘the start-up phase.’
When you consider the scale of change over the past three years and the fact there have been minimal KPI issues, it’s a reflection of the mutual trust and close working relationship between the BMW and Rudolph and Hellmann teams.
