BMW Y'All

SPARTANBURG, S.C., March 28 -- BMW Manufacturing Corp. will host the fourth annual Society of Automotive Engineers' Southern Automotive Manufacturing Conference and Exhibition April 8-10 at the Palmetto Expo Center in Greenville, South Carolina.

SAE established the SAMC in 1998 to address the technical and business needs of the growing automotive manufacturing sector in the southeastern United States. The theme of the 2002 show is, ``You have questions -- we supply the solutions.''

Sixteen sessions will be held in the areas of workforce development and partnerships, lean manufacturing, supply chain management, emerging innovative technologies, and manufacturing infrastructure, which are subjects that are useful to all manufacturers regardless what product is made.

The new 7-Series, which was recently named the Best Engineered Car for 2002 by Automotive Engineering International magazine, will be the focus of BMW Manufacturing's exhibit. BMW staffers also will be available to talk with visitors about how BMW handles computer-assisted technology, the North American Free Trade Agreement and the American Automobile Labeling Act. More than 100 exhibits will be on display at the conference.

Dr. Helmut Leube, president of BMW Manufacturing, will speak at the keynote luncheon at noon Tuesday, April 9.

Henry ``Hank'' Aaron, baseball's all-time home run leader and a member of the Hall of Fame, will be a panelist during a Minority and Small Business Development session at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, April 9.

You may register for the SAE SAMC show at the Palmetto Expo Center beginning at 5 p.m. Monday, April 8. SAE members may register for only a $25 fee for lunches. For non-SAE members, the cost is $99.

For more information about the technical sessions at the conference, visit www.bmwusfactory.com and click on the SAE SAMC button.

BMW Manufacturing Corp. is a subsidiary of BMW AG in Munich, Germany. In addition to the South Carolina manufacturing facility, BMW's North American subsidiaries include sales, marketing and financial services operations in the United States, Canada and throughout Latin America; an information technology consulting and systems integration firm in South Carolina; a production facility in Mexico; and a design firm in California