BMW accelerates data and process overhaul with Celonis deal

BMW is looking to overhaul its data optimisation processes to boost customer experience as part of an expansion of its partnership with process mining firm Celonis.

The German carmaker has been working with Celonis since 2016, with the partnership leveraging the German data processing firm’s technology to transform over 80 processes across financing, development and production at BMW in that time.

Announcing a new deal, Celonis said it will work closely with BMW’s Center of Excellence for Process Mining to drive innovation across several fields, including supply chain management across the manufacturing giant.

BMW will integrate new AI technologies to boost areas including the processing of information for operational employees in production. It will also use automated data transfer systems to improve efficiency in cross-company supply lines.

The expanded agreement will see Celonis’ solutions made available to all of BMW Group’s employees, to analyse relevant company processes to eliminate inefficiency.

As part of the deal, the vendor has agreed to improve the software’s user experience to make it easier for non-IT-savvy employees.

Commenting on the deal, Bastian Nominacher, co-founder and co-CEO of Celonis said:

“BMW is known as a trailblazer in the use of new technologies: the company has been using process mining since 2016 and is also using our recently introduced Process Intelligence Graph to gain a holistic overview of their entire supply chain – from vehicle development to customer delivery and subsequent service.”

It is just the latest announcement from BWM, which in January unveiled plans to install humanoid robots in its car making plants in the United States.

Alexander Buresch, CIO of the BMW Group added that the software’s ease-of-use, thanks to the integration of AI models, opened up new opportunities for the firm to make process mining available to many users throughout the company.

“Continuous analysis and optimisation of our end-to-end processes with Celonis is a decisive factor in increasing productivity, minimising resource consumption and making supply chains more resilient,” he added.