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Old 6th June 2012, 23:19   #1
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In-Plant Training At the BMW Chennai Factory

greetings to all my fellow bhpians. its almost after 3-4 months that i am making a post on the forum.

After my participation in BAJA SAEINDIA 2012, my next venture was an in-plant training with BMW. As of now, its been just 3 days that i have been there. I'll make the post in a day wise order.

As of now the production of cars has been stopped at the plant as they have no place to store the produce. The warehouse is full of vehicles and the transporters are unable to ship them as quick.

At the same time, the expansion of the plant is going on simultaneously. As the production is stopped, i am working with the quality control department.

DAY 1 (4th June 2012)
This was THE DAY for me as i was waiting for my training since past 4 months. I was there at 8:40 am and my appointment with the HR was at 9 am. And i wont forget to mention that there was some kind of shoot going on in the plant itself. So the HR was busy with them. I was called in and was asked to wait at the reception. Meanwhile all the formalities were being done. Though bit slow, but i was ok with the pace with which it was going as i was one of the lucky people who actually got a chance to be there.

Finally at about 12:30 pm, the formalities were done and i was asked to go for lunch which they offered in the plant itself. At 2 pm, i was finally in the plant. Sadly all the machines were at rest due to the halt in production. In the mean while my mentor, Mr. lakshman sridhar gave me a detailed tour of the entire plant, starting from the parts storage area to the finishing and inspection line.
With the end of this tour, we decided to call it a day as there was no more work left.


DAY 2 (5th june 2012)
Again, being very punctual about the timings, i was in the plant at 8:50 am and reported to Mr. Sridhar. He sent me to a worker who was currently working on the all new BMW 328d. So he asked me to work with him the entire day. I am actually lucky to have had a taste of the vehicle even before its on the roads. So we started with the ECOS machine where in the initial and basic tests are done to the vehicle. It took him about 30 minutes at that station. He carefully did as the computer guided him to do. There were checks to the doors, boot lid, horn, lights, the computers, wipers, locks. And this was being feeded to the computer through OBD. Next he went to the headlights alignment station where in the beam of the projectors was aligned with a very basic equipment produced by bosch (i forgot the name). Next we went to the rollers where in the brakes and the ABS were tested. The car was taken to about 140-150 km/hr and accordingly the tests were done. By this time we had spent almost 2 hours with the vehicle as small adjustments were done during the process. The pace was slow as not many vehicles were there to be worked upon. Then it was time for the road test. The engineer took the vehicle to a test track which is built in the complex itself. During the testing, there was a small judder in the right side B pillar of the vehicle. The sound was so little that it could hardly be heard. But still, its BMW, and they need to meet up to the expectations. The car was put back to rework and the B pillar was worked upon. the cause of the judder was a clip that wasnt put tightly. With this we had a technically perfect vehicle with us. Next was the water leakage test, final inspection and badging. This took us another 2 hours and finally we were with a perfect 328d ready to be shipped. With this i was more than satisfied with a work. Soon i got the order to go back home. And in no time i was out of the plant.

DAY 3 (6TH june 2012)
The process of punctuality still persisted and i was back to the shop floor in time. My today's work was very similar to what i did yesterday. The only difference was that i had a 520d this time. All i can say is that the process went very smoothly and we were able to complete it in time.

With this i have narrated my journey till now. So as the days pass, i'll keep the thread upgraded with the happenings. Cameras are not allowed inside the plant so unfortunately no pics. But still for the love of cars, i'll try to ask for permission to take a few snaps of the shop floor.

So please stay tuned and do post in your suggestions and comments about the vehicles so that i can put it forward in front of the people at BMW.

With this i end my post. waiting for comments.

Last edited by Rehaan : 8th June 2012 at 17:49. Reason: Adding a little formatting to aid readability ;)
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Old 8th June 2012, 16:07   #2
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Re: In-Plant Training At the BMW Chennai Factory

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Technical Forum. Thanks for sharing!
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Old 8th June 2012, 16:45   #3
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Re: In-Plant Training At the BMW Chennai Factory

Hey buddy, good to know you are getting a first hand feel at these beauties when they are being assembled. Do share on your background and the procedure for the In-plant training at BMW Plant. Also what would be the duration and future prospects on completion of the training.

All the Best!
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Old 8th June 2012, 16:53   #4
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Re: In-Plant Training At the BMW Chennai Factory

328d! Wow! thats a good news, so we will get 328d along with new 320d? What are the specs of 328d? Thanks, keep updating us.
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Old 8th June 2012, 18:06   #5
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Re: In-Plant Training At the BMW Chennai Factory

Ok. For the introduction part, i am Namandeep S.I.N.G.H Oberoi, a native of new delhi and doing my bachelors of engineering, Automobiles being my major. I am perusing this course from SRM University, Chennai. Currently i am in third year.

To get an opportunity of training with BMW, i dropped in a few mails with the HR. After a long email exchange, i finally got a chance for a 15 day in-plant training program.
Here in the plant, i would be working with the quality control department for my training.

and for Mr. kapoor's reply- yes we would be getting the 328 variant as well. due to legal issues, i cant share the technical aspects as of now. but as soon as i get a green chit for that, i'll post it. All i can say is that its an even more peppy engine with more power (twin turbo). The build quality is no doubt very good and the vehicle is very spacious and luxurious. pls feel free to ask any further questions. I would be more than happy to reply, but bound by the rules.


to add to this, i would like to post the happenings of the further days,

DAY 4 and 5 (7th & 8th june 2012) -
Reaching well in time to the office, i rushed to my guide. We had a small chit chat for a while and then he took me in for a surprise. In his hand he had a booklet. Soon he told me that it was the technical manual for the E90 model and i had been allowed to read it. It had detailed information of the vehicle. All the parts including the smallest of the nuts and bolts were mentioned there with the assemblies. The machine drawings were also there. Its was so elaborate that it took me about two continuous working days with overtime work just to read it. I had to sit and read it there as we were not allowed to take it home.

With this i call it off. Now i am ready to relax over the weekend as the production is starting on monday and i want to be all ready for it. That is THE event i am actually waiting for. Lets see what happens next. I'll keep the thread updated.
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Old 8th June 2012, 18:16   #6
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Re: In-Plant Training At the BMW Chennai Factory

What do you mean by 328d? It's either 320d or 328i
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Old 8th June 2012, 18:23   #7
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Re: In-Plant Training At the BMW Chennai Factory

sorry, that was a typo error. it was the 328i. i am sure after even sitting in the vehicle, one can feel the difference.
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Old 8th June 2012, 19:39   #8
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Re: In-Plant Training At the BMW Chennai Factory

328i, thats what I thought nevertheless, 320d should also be a different fun with 8 speed gearbox.
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