Full speed ahead

And it is a large order in every way: PIA Automation has won a contract with the BMW Group plant in Steyr (Austria) to provide a transmission assembly system for electric drives with enormous system dimensions covering a total area of around 50,600 square feet.

“We are very pleased that we were able to persuade the BMW Group plant in Steyr with our many years of expertise in the field of electromobility,” says Franz Reiter, Segment Manager e-Drive & Powertrain at PIA Automation.

For close to 20 years, PIA Automation has been supplying systems for the fully automated assembly, measurement, and testing of various e-mobility components. PIA and the car manufacturer have already worked together successfully on previous projects at other locations, most recently also in the field of electromobility. While the Austrian PIA site is the group-wide powertrain competence centre, this transmission assembly system is the first joint project between the PIA Austria location and the BMW Group plant in Steyr. PIA and the car manufacturer have already worked together successfully on previous projects at other locations, most recently also in the field of electromobility.

The new assembly line is the largest project of PIA and the BMW Group plant in Steyr to date: the transmission is initially produced on two levels in pre-assembly. It requires around 40 individual parts, such as gear wheels, bearings or connecting shafts, that are assembled fully automatically. Then, the components are precisely aligned by the PIA system. Next is the “marriage” which is the most complex station. This is where the transmission cover, transmission and engine are combined. The system moves the assemblies together until the transmission and engine mesh perfectly. Finally, all of the components are securely and tightly bolted together.

The BMW Group plant in Steyr places high demands on the system. For example, an excellent cycle time, a high degree of automation and no set-up times are necessary. PIA will meet every prerequisite: the assembly system achieves high cycle times, requires no set up and automatically adjusts to different product variants. Plus, they can all be produced on the same system.

“First and foremost, a large order means we have a great responsibility to reliably fulfill our customers’ wishes.” says Franz Reiter. And this is only possible through teamwork: the international PIA teams maintain close contact with each other in order to optimize the use of their expertise and to meticulously plan the development, design and implementation of the system. The project for the BMW Group plant in Steyr, for example, involves colleagues in China and Croatia in addition to the team at the PIA Competence Centre for e-Drive & Powertrain in Grambach, Austria.

Although the schedule for the coming weeks and months is ambitious, PIA has experience creating routines for projects like this: the design phase is followed by construction, and assembly will start in the fall of this year. Seeing the system up and running is always a highlight for Franz Reiter too.

“We are simply delighted when one wheel meshes with the other – which will happen quite literally with this system. Electromobility is an absolute growth market for us and projects like the one with the BMW Group plant in Steyr demonstrate that our automotive customers in this sector can completely rely on us.”