BMC’s new Impec Frame Wins Eurobike Gold

From Eurobike’s Bike Show Daily:

Since July, BMC has been building carbon bikes at a factory next door to its existing facility in Grenchen. It took five years to plan and build the hi-tech factory. Much of the production is automated: bike frames built by robots.

BMC brand manager Markus Eggimann said. “On each shift, only eight people work in the production hall.”

Robots don’t make mistakes. “Thanks to the computer-operated production, we can count on the fact that each frame is built exactly according to plan,” said Eggiman.

“Series variation, as happens in conventional carbon frame building, does not exist.»

Such perfection doesn’t come cheap. Entrepreneur Andy Rihs, BMC’s sole owner, invested 31 million Euros in the new plant.

A finished bike frame will have visited seven stations. In a first step, the single fibres are woven into sleeves. The alignment and the density of these fibres are determined by a digital construction plan on the carrier which transports the finished sleeve to the second station where resin is added and the sleeve is baked to a tube. According to Eggimann, it was this process that was the biggest challenge in developing the automated production, taking three extra years to get right. A patent was the reward.

At the third station, the tubes are cut by robots with a diamond-saw blade. According to Eggimann, the finished tubes are cut so precisely no post-processing is required. Right next to this station, a fourth machine creates lugs and dropouts by an injection-moulding procedure. By computer steering, BMC succeeds in aligning the short carbon fibers in the synthetics in a way that they meet the requirements of loading and so provide additional frame stability.

Before the single frame parts are assembled, they are painted one at a time. By robots, naturally. Frame logos are applied by human hands. Further workers are employed to assemble the single frame parts before another robot sticks them together

At the end, the frames are tested.

“Each frame has to pass through a static test. The data measured during this test is retained together with all figures from the production,” said Eggimann.

The development team, which has its office right next to the production hall, also uses the testing machines. “We can assure the intended quality thanks to the short distances,” explained Eggimann.

Another advantage comes from the flexible production planning: “Having our own factory in Switzerland, we can react quickly to changes in demand, produce sought sizes and implement colour trends quickly.”

Inexpensive frames, however, cannot be produced by BMC’s automated production. At least not yet, said Eggimann: “Wage costs in Asia will keep increasing heavily. And therefore, handmade carbon frames from Asia will become more expensive.”

The first Swiss-made BMC bike is the Impec. It was ridden in the Tour de France and will be available in bike shops in September. At Eurobike, this bike won one of 12 Gold Awards in the Eurobike Awards.

The award-winning bike ships with a lifetime warranty. Not a EU-style ‘lifetime’ of 10 years but a genuine lifetime, even if used in races and irrespective of a rider’s weight.

Thanks to the BMC robots, this Swiss company will be able to produce 25,000 frames per year.