[From the Scene] Where 20,000 BMW auto parts are sent out daily

Anseong, GYEONGGI PROVINCE -- BMW’s Regional Distribution Center in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province, can be described as an automotive version of Amazon’s warehouses. 

It opened in 2017 to facilitate auto parts supply for customer satisfaction. Piles of cardboard boxes of different sizes are stacked on shelves at the BMW RDC, where approximately 20,000 lines, or auto parts, are sent daily to dealerships nationwide. 

Each employee works with a handy scanner, moving on personal carts called Electric Pallet Trucks, so they can work in a timely manner, with efficiency and safety as priorities. 

On Wednesday, The Korea Herald joined a visit to the BMW RDC in Anseong, as part of BMW Group Korea’s Footprint tour from Wednesday to Thursday.

BMW has been avidly making investments in expanding infrastructure here, including the BMW RDC in Anseong and the BMW Driving Center in Yeongjongdo, which is the only comprehensive automotive cultural complex in the world. 

“The sole purpose of the BMW RDC is to satisfy customers, which is backed by optimization of repair and maintenance time for their vehicles,” said Jung Sang-chun, head of BMW Group Korea’s aftersales.

“To do so, we supply auto parts through precise demand forecasting, manage the supply chain network and control crisis management at RDC. That’s why we needed a large-scale site like the RDC in Anseong to store all auto parts and operate management seamlessly.”

Located on 57,000 square meters of land -- larger than 30 football fields -- the BMW RDC in Anseong is the largest of all 40 RDCs scattered globally, excluding the Munich headquarters.

The center comprises six buildings: a warehouse, two storage areas for hazardous goods, storage for pallets, a welcome house and a security building. Some 600 employees directly and indirectly work here, according to BMW. 

At the BMW RDC, approximately 46,000 auto parts are stored. Compared to previous RDCs, the parts-loading rate has improved to 95 percent from 75 percent, to immediately and efficiently respond to supply demand from each dealership, the carmaker said. 

“The BMW RDC in Anseong’s product supply availability, so-called ‘first picking availability,’ is the world’s fourth-highest at 95.1 percent, after China, UK and Russia,” said Chun.

“This kind of supply-centered management process was very useful in completing our latest recall process, also through efficient communication with the Munich headquarters for the RDC in Anseong to ‘digest’ the entire process from supply distribution to customer management,” he added. 

When a BMW dealership in Seoul or the metropolitan region orders auto parts before noon, the ordered items will be delivered by 5 p.m., while orders made in the afternoon will be sent to a dealership by 7 a.m. the next day.

The BMW RDC in Anseong also serves as a crucial logistics hub for BMW Group, in terms of facilitating the speed and stability of auto part supplies to countries including China, Japan and Malaysia via Incheon Airport and Pyeongtaek Port in Gyeonggi Province, which is only an hour’s drive away from the RDC.

BMW Group said it plans to expand the Anseong RDC to 88,000 square meters by injecting 30 billion won ($24.7 million). The Driving Center -- currently under construction for expansion -- will open in October.

By Kim Da-sol (ddd@heraldcorp.com)