BMW Manufacturing in Spartanburg, South Carolina, said it would expand its logistics operations to a new building being developed across the Interstate 85 freeway from the plant.
The project will cost about US$100m. When completed, the new logistics centre would be nearly 1m sq ft in size and could be expanded.
Robert Engelhorn, president and CEO, said: “The new warehouse will allow us to consolidate our logistics processes as well as implement efficiency measures for a more sustainable logistics operation.”
The new centre, due to open mid-2022, would allow consolidation of two off site warehouse operations – one for returnable containers and another for body shop parts – into one on site location. Inside the warehouse, supplier shipments would be sorted, then delivered to the car plant.
To minimize the impact of truck traffic in the area and allow for easy access, two private bridges are being constructed to connect the logistics centre to the main site.
Separately, construction continued on the new $20m, 67,000 square foot training center on the site, which was announced in February.
It’s due for completion in summer 2022 with multiple classrooms, an outdoor amphitheatre and outdoor meeting and workspace with wireless equipment.
BMW Group spent $11.4bn since 1992 at the South Carolina site which builds 1,500 SUVs a day and exports two-thirds to 125 markets.
Production capacity is 450,000 vehicles and 11,000 people are employed.