PROJECTS
The torque of the town
Danpal South Africa and MRC-Group drive excellence through the
roofing upgrade of the multi-Billion rand BMW Group Plant in Rosslyn.
By Candace Sofianos King | Photos by Danpal SA
Danpal SA and MRC-Group teamed up to revamp the roof of the Pretoria-based BMW Group Plant Rosslyn.
F
or the past 40 years, BMW has
assembled vehicles for the local
market at its Rosslyn plant in
Pretoria, which recently received a
roof upgrade.
The BMW Group Plant Rosslyn is the first
fully fledged factory that BMW established
outside of Germany. In recent years, some
R6-Billion has been invested in the plant,
which has been tasked with producing the
new BMW X3 SUV, which is exported across
the world.
The plant relies on a high-tech
automated robotic production system,
consisting of almost 300 robots. This
integrated production system enables the
Rosslyn plant to produce 15 BMW X3s every
10
JAN - FEB 2019
CLADDING // CONCRETE // INSULATION // STEEL // THATCH // TIMBER // TRANSLUCENT // WATERPROOFING // COMPONENTS
hour on the hour. Over 85% of all BMW 3
Series vehicles produced at the Rosslyn
plant are destined for BMW markets in the
US, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, New
Zealand, Hong Kong, Australia, sub-
Saharan Africa and Canada.
BMW has invested heavily on developing
and improving green technologies to
reduce their carbon footprint and reliance
on traditional energy resources. As a result,
the Rosslyn plant now draws 30% of its
power needs from the Bio2Watt
Bronkhorstspruit renewable energy plant.
While at the same time, other green
innovative building materials and systems
have been employed during the plant’s
recent upgrades.
A revving new roof
During the latest phase of refurbishments,
the entire roofing skin which encases the
paint shop responsible for spraying all the
vehicles produced at the facility, was
commissioned to be replaced. The
replacement solution had to meet rigorous
international specifications, all designed to
provide for a more energy efficient, thermal
balanced weatherproof barrier. BMW’s
stringent requirements are also intended to
ensure that any solution installed locally
will comply with ardent international
best-practice insurance guidelines.
MRC-Group – one of Danpal SA’s local
‘design, supply and install’ specialists –
eventually won the tender, with its
www.saroofing.co.za