BMW’s digital brain: Dr. Michael Nikolaides on AI, robotics and resilience in a complex global supply chain

At the Automobil Produktion Kongress in Munich, Dr. Michael Nikolaides, BMW’s senior vice president of production network, supply chain and logistics, revealed how the automaker is harnessing next-generation technology to stay ahead of disruption.

“Flexibility is key,” Nikolaides stated, highlighting BMW’s ability to reallocate production globally in response to geopolitical uncertainty and trade disruption. “You need real-time data transparency—that’s how we stay fast and resilient.”

Key to this agility is a growing ecosystem of smart automation. BMW has deployed over 600 autonomous robots, developed by its Idealworks subsidiary, to optimise intralogistics. Autonomous forklifts and tug trains are also being integrated across plants.

But BMW is also thinking beyond conventional robotics. “We’re combining robotics with AI,” Nikolaides said, referencing a humanoid robot pilot underway at the Spartanburg plant in partnership with robotics firm Figure. “It’s left to your imagination what might happen.”

Central to all these efforts is data standardisation. BMW has built a unified “data lake” across its global production network, making AI deployment scalable. “Only when your data is standardised and accessible can you begin unlocking real AI use cases.”

Nikolaides sees BMW’s transformation as a fusion of software and hardware: “Artificial intelligence is the brain. Robotics and automation are the hardware. Combine them, and the possibilities are immense.”

As BMW leans into AI, digitalisation, and real-time strategy, its supply chain stands as a benchmark for smart, adaptive manufacturing.

Dr. Michael Nikolaides, was a speaker at the 2025 Automobil Produktion and AMS Kongress in Munich, Germany, where he joined other manufacturing leaders to share exclusive insights into BMW’s latest AI and robotics applications.

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