Latest News & Features – Page 173
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Waupaca celebrates sustainability success
US – The Hitachi Metals company has been admitted to the state of Wisconsin’s Green Tier programme, which is run by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to recognise businesses that voluntarily meet environmental targets. Waupaca Foundry has also won two awards for its reuse of metal-casting byproducts.Waupaca has been ...
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ArticleWelding plays its part
Besides BIW, many component welding operations are in need of improvements in productivity and quality It is the archetypal image of automotive manufacturing: a huddle of robots working frantically around a body-in-white (BIW) on its conveyor track. However, every vehicle contains a myriad of sub-structures, closures and individual components that ...
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ArticleDaimler and Renault-Nissan co-operation expands
Germany/Japan – The five-year partnership will extend into the pick-up truck segment, with the development of a one-ton model for Mercedes-Benz. The pick-up will share some architecture with the new Nissan NP300 but be engineered and designed by Daimler, displaying “all of Mercedes-Benz’ distinctive characteristics and features”, say the OEMs.The ...
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ArticleFord recognised for water conservation
US – The OEM was mentioned in the ‘Michigan Blue Economy’ report by the Michigan Economic Center at Prima Civitas and the Grand River Valley State University Annis Water Resources Institute. The document notes that Ford has cut water use across its operations since 2000, ranging from cooling towers to ...
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ArticleGM wins fourth EPA award for sustainability
US – The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) gave the vehicle-maker its 2015 Energy Star Partner of the Year accolade for employing innovative energy-efficiency strategies, setting ambitious goals and achieving reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.Last year, the OEM reduced its energy intensity by 6% worldwide, implementing a number of measures to ...
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ArticlePorsche's Manufactory
Hand-built but high-tech, the 918 Spyder is made in a specially adapted production area at ZuffenhausenA space that formerly housed a paintshop and presents numerous logistical challenges might not sound like the ideal setting to hand build a hybrid supercar, but Porsche has created just such a production area. The ...
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ArticleFCA’s ITPI works 10m safe hours
US – Indiana Transmission Plant I (ITPI) and its 2,700 personnel, including 1,100 new hires, have now operated for three years without a lost-time injury. The facility makes six-speed transmissions as well as nine-speed units for the Jeep Cherokee, turning out 500,000 of the latter since May 2013.“The most important ...
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Article
Fenzi assumes Comau leadership
US – Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) announced that Mauro Fenzi will become the robot-maker’s CEO as well as COO Systems. He will also join the FCA Group Product Committee.Fenzi arrived at Comau in 2001 and has held a number of roles with increasing seniority, including head of NAFTA.Fenzi’s predecessor, Riccardo ...
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ArticleCleaning up the future
Under strong political pressure, the auto industry is sustaining its progress towards greener practicesAutomotive manufacturing is an energy-intensive business which has traditionally relied heavily on fossil fuels; PwC estimates that the industry is responsible for roughly 15% of global carbon emissions each year. While many automotive OEMs have had sustainable ...
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ArticleWelding for lightweights
With the automotive industry’s shift toward lighter materials, demands on welding technology are changingThe reasons behind the increasing demand for aluminium within the automotive industry are well documented: the material is around one-third the weight of steel, which in turn leads to fuel consumption advantages and, hopefully, higher sales at ...
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ArticleTesla contracts Eisenmann at Fremont
US – According to the Germany-based supplier, the deal to build a new paintshop at Tesla’s growing plant in California runs into “nine figures” and is the most valuable in its history. Eisenmann will provide two fully automated paint lines, one for car bodies and one for components such as ...
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ArticleSeeing green
Every major OEM has laid out bold sustainability targets, but how much concrete progress has been made?Automotive manufacturers have set themselves some ambitious targets regarding their use of renewable energy and how it will affect their emissions output. Honda is aiming to reduce CO2 emissions by 30% globally between 2000 ...
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ArticleTravel blog: Do the Chinese dream of electric cars?
Halfway through my trip around China’s carmakers, a few things inspired me to borrow shamelessly from the great Philip K. Dick’s novel. Firstly the smog-laden, rain-soaked night skyline of Shanghai, in all its neon-lit glory, reminded me of a scene from Blade Runner, the film version of Dick’s novel. Secondly, ...
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Article
Do the Chinese dream of electric cars?
Half way through my trip around China’s car makers a few things inspired me to shamelessly paraphrase the great Philip K. Dick’s novel. Firstly the smog laden, rain soaked night skyline of Shanghai, in all its neon-lit glory reminded me of scene from Blade Runner, the film version of Dick’s ...
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ArticleHonda to expand Indian capacity
India – Both the car and motorcycle divisions will increase their production in line with expected future growth within the market. Honda Cars India Limited (HCIL) will extend its second plant in the country, while Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Limited (HMSI) will expand its third site.HCIL’s Takupura plant in ...
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ArticleRogers to lead engineering at JLR
UK – Replacing Wolfgang Ziebart, who will stand down from the role next month, Nick Rogers will become engineering director and report directly to CEO Ralf Speth. Ziebart will continue to work with Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), focusing on technology development.Speth said Ziebart had “led the Engineering team through a ...
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ArticlePortable spectrophotometer offers colourimetric performance
Datacolor says its Check 3 portable spectrophotometer features a completely redesigned user-interface with a modern colour LCD display and an LED illuminated viewing port, enabling users to very precisely position samples for accurate measurement. The company claims an enhanced two-way Bluetooth interface allows the user to easily transfer standards and ...
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ArticleNew binder for automotive lightweight composites
BASF claims its new low-emission Acrodur Power 2750 X binder, helps produce cost-efficient lightweight composites with integrated functions and a higher share of natural fibres. The product is designed for the production of natural fibre composites for automotive lightweight applications, such as interior car door panels or shelves. The company ...
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ArticleWireless gap measuring for body construction
The new CALIPRI gap measurement device now uses WiFi, plus it has been redesigned to improve the ergonomics says NextSense. The company claims functionality has also been increased through a software update; derivatives of a car line can now be displayed in one measurement plan, and centrally created plans can ...
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ArticlePre-cleaning & final cleaning of powertrain components
Dürr Ecoclean has replaced the standard 6-axis jointed-arm robot with a proprietary scara manipulator in its new EcoCFlex 3, claiming this offers improved process reliability, quality and energy efficiency in pre-cleaning and final cleaning of powertrain components. The system is available in two sizes; 3M and 3L versions. The scara ...