BMW Starts Building the Ultimate Form-Filling Machine for Brexit
Many of its suppliers have never dealt with customs documents
Photographer: Geoff Caddick/AFP via Getty Images
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BMW AG makes cars that accelerate to 62 miles per hour in 3.4 seconds, park themselves, and let you crank the volume on your radio by waving your hand. But as Brexit approaches, BMW is working on something far more prosaic: teaching suppliers to fill out customs forms.
The German automaker has held training days for suppliers near its factories in Munich and Oxford, England, to make sure they’re ready for the customs clearance procedures BMW suspects they’ll need to move parts between the U.K. and the European Union. It’s a process that many haven’t spent much time on because they operate only within the EU.