BMW investing $100M to expand plant in South Carolina
BMW continues to invest in its South Carolina plant, with Thursday’s announcement that the auto manufacturing company will spend another $100 million to expand the operation.
The newest investment is to enhance the company’s logistics operations with a new building being developed across Interstate 85 from the Greer plant, and two new bridges, BMW officials said.
The new facilities, expected to open in 2022, will help supply parts to the 7-million-square-foot BMW Plant Spartanburg.
The new logistics center will be nearly 1 million square feet with an opportunity for future expansion, Gov. Henry McMaster’s office said in a news release.
Construction on the private bridges has begun and when completed they’ll connect the logistics center to the BMW campus, a move expected to minimize the impact of truck traffic in the area, according to the release.
Since 1992, the Greer operation has invested more than $11.4 billion in its Spartanburg County operations, and has produced more than 5 million vehicles — over 1,500 each day, BMW officials said.
“For nearly three decades, BMW has called South Carolina its second home,” BMW Manufacturing Co. President and CEO Robert Engelhorn said in the release. “This expansion in our logistics operation represents our continued commitment to this state, and it will prepare Plant Spartanburg for the future. The new warehouse will allow us to consolidate our logistics processes as well as implement efficiency measures for a more sustainable logistics operation.”
When the new logistics center opens, BMW officials said it will allow the company to consolidate two offsite warehouses — one for returnable containers and another for body shop parts — into one efficient onsite location. Inside the warehouse, shipments from suppliers will be sorted, then delivered to their respective Plant Spartanburg technologies.
“The result is a faster, leaner, more efficient supply chain,” officials said.
News of the investment was championed by McMaster.
“More than just a major economic driver, BMW’s Upstate operations — and the continued success of those operations — have helped transform South Carolina into a true manufacturing powerhouse,” McMaster said. “South Carolina applauds BMW Manufacturing for their longtime commitment to our state, our citizens and our communities, and we congratulate this great company on yet another expansion within our borders.”
State Secretary of Commerce Harry Lightsey said BMW’s Palmetto State plant has boosted South Carolina’s reputation for producing highly advanced, premium products.
The new logistics operations building is not the only expansion on BMW’s South Carolina operation.
After beginning in February, construction continues on the new $20 million, 67,000-square-foot training center BMW officials said. When it’s expected to be completed in the summer of 2022, officials said the building will feature multiple classrooms for professional development and technical training, an outdoor amphitheater, and a unique concept of outdoor meeting and workspace.
The factory has a production capacity of up to 450,000 vehicles and employs more than 11,000 people, officials said.
“BMW’s continued investment in Spartanburg County has been a transformative driving force of our county’s economic success over the last two-plus decades,” David Britt, Spartanburg county councilman and chairman of the Economic Development Committee, said in the release.
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This story was originally published November 18, 2021 at 11:52 AM.
