Reference BMW Group Munich

Spot welding guns, grippers and adhesive equipment on robots are maintained in the central workshop of the BMW Group plant in Munich so that they can subsequently be returned to production. Depending on the tool category, there are around 700 tools in use, which creates a considerable workload. The maintenance department faces yet another challenge: it is not possible to know when which tools will enter the workshop and how much effort will be involved in maintenance and repair. This means that 90% of the work cannot be planned – and this not only applies to maintenance but also to the cleaning that is required in advance. 

Dry ice blasting has proven an effective cleaning method for spot welding guns and other tools. This is why the Central workshop of the BMW Group plant in Munich invested in a blasting cubicle and a dry ice blaster some time ago. To make sure they were always ready, dry ice had to be delivered every week. Alfred Weber, foreman at the central workshop, explains, “Over time, we experienced the familiar problem with dry ice blasting: sometimes we had no cleaning to do, so it evaporated – other times we had so much cleaning to do that we didn’t have enough. This is unsatisfactory in terms of both costs and logistics.” Weber spoke to a cleaning service provider, who cleaned various areas of the plant with dry ice at the weekend. Even there, large quantities of dry ice were often left over, depending on cleaning requirements.

Weber started the search for a provider who could solve his problem – without a concrete idea of what the solution might look like. His research finally brought him to Kärcher, where a new dry ice blaster was just being launched onto the market. Best of all, the L2P itself produces dry ice from CO₂, which
means that processes can be made significantly more efficient. Several members of the Kärcher team visited the central workshop to demonstrate the product. One thing that was noted was that the cleaning speed was not quite as high as with a large dry ice blaster. As Weber says, “There is no single
solution to every problem and every solution has its pros and cons. I want to be able to speak openly about this with my suppliers.” The L2P has now been in use for some time and the fact that logistics is now simpler is a clear plus as far as Weber is concerned. “The machine is user-friendly and is easy
to switch on and start up. We can store the CO₂ bottles without loss of quality. It’s just like a drinks crate. You take out a bottle...” Weber and his colleagues do not mind at all that individual cleaning tasks now take 5 minutes longer than before.

Weber was also pleased with the approach to a problem that was not discovered until the product had been delivered. An employee reported that the L2P did not have the samem power as the previous model. “I talked to Kärcher about this and a service technician came immediately to take a look.” The issue was a technical one: the CO₂ bottles used featured a pressure reducer, but the L2P needs bottles without a valve in order to work at full power. “Problems exist everywhere. When a supplier comes along and solves them, I’m impressed”, says Weber.