Microsoft partners with BMW to build car systems in 'smart factories'

BMW has big plans for its iNext electric and fully autonomous vehicle, but making the car will require a streamlined, coordinated, and automated manufacturing system — something Microsoft wants to help them build. 
On Tuesday, BMW and Microsoft announced a partnership to launch a new open-sourced industrial manufacturing platform called the Open Manufacturing Platform, or OMP. It's based on Microsoft's Azure, which BMW already uses to run its more than 3,000 machines at 30 production