SOUTHFIELD, Mich. — Dürr is rolling out a new high-resolution paint application system that lets automakers print complex graphics, patterns and lettering directly onto vehicle bodies, replacing the manual step of gluing on films and decals.
This interview with a leading supplier of automation equipment examines the latest technology for assembling batteries, motors and other electric vehicle components, including chassis production lines and paint shops.
MUNICH, Germany—Deep in the mechanized heart of BMW's assembly plant here is a tiny but significant symbol of Australian ingenuity. Amid the 1,200 robots and other automated machinery is a buffing machine dusting car shells with emu feathers.
GOODWOOD, UK—If you’ve ever seen a Rolls-Royce with a painted pinstripe down the side—that long, thin dead-straight line that goes from the just behind the headlights to just before the taillights— you’re seeing the artwork of Mark Court. That’s his job and his alone—and he does it by hand.
TOKYO—Nissan has commenced testing of a new super-hydrophobic and oleophobic paint technology, the Ultra-Ever Dry, which would enable a car to automatically clean itself.
CHICAGO—Workers at Ford’s Chicago Assembly Plant have checked the quality of a vehicle’s paint job basically the same way since the plant opened in 1924—by eye. But the factory is now getting a new 3D imaging system that uses 16 computer-controlled cameras to detect the most microscopic grains of dirt in the paint.
DEARBORN, MI—Ford Motor Co. will expand its 3-Wet paint process to four more plants across three continents in 2013. The high-solids, solvent-borne process applies three layers of paint, including primer, base coat and clear coat, while each layer is still wet.
YORII, Japan—Honda has developed a more ecological painting technology that moves from a four-coat, three-bake process to a three-coat, two-bake water-based process.
