Performance: “highly commended“
Lear builds new plant for the internal fittings
on PT Cruiser and Voyager
Flexibility and rapid response times are increasingly
important factors in the plastics industry. Time pressure on projects is increasing,
especially in the car industry – changing market demands, new trends
and face lifts mean the auto fittings industry needs to adapt swiftly. Suppliers
have to consider these issues and take action. The production of the interior
panelling for the PT Cruiser and Chrysler’s Voyager, which are assembled
by Eurostar in Graz/Austria, is an example of this type of demanding project
for the Lear Corporation.
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| Fig. 3: Lear produces
interior panelling for Chrysler (photos: Krauss Maffei) |
Fig. 1: Picture of Peter Genaersch, Operations Manager in Zwiesel |
When they received the order from Chrysler, Lear did not
have the necessary capacity at their plant in Plattling/Germany. A suitable
location was found in a former glass factory in the nearby town of Zwiesel
in the Bavarian Forests. Lear carried out a complete internal overhaul, purchased
the necessary operating equipment, such as injection moulding, materials handling
and body painting equipment. The decision was taken to install the body painting
equipment actually in the injection moulding plant. Short processing times
should help to keep the buffering of parts from the production to a minimum
and cut costs. For assembly ultrascan welding equipment was purchased. “This
ground-breaking project had to be up and running within 8 months – a
real race against time, if you consider the size of the project”, commented
Peter Genaersch, Operations Manager in Zwiesel.
Large parts require large spaces
Lear are supplying virtually the entire injection moulded internal panelling
of the PT Cruiser, including column panelling, door panelling, the dashboard,
as well as the door panelling of the Voyager. In short, large parts requiring
large spaces. The production of this range requires completely new injection
moulding equipment with a pressure of 5000 to 27000 kN. For the new production
a total of 8 machines was purchased from Krauss-Maffei, mainly from the MC
series. “Reliability in the injection-moulding is critical. Our experiences
in the past with compact equipment in two-platen technology convinced us to
go down this route again in Zwiesel“, Peter Genaersch explained Lear’s
decision.
In this project the amount of equipment that had to be planned, built and
mass-produced was a real challenge. Plus the equipment is very demanding –
a series of multi-tiered equipment was used in Zwiesel. “We were able
to complete on time. Thanks to the commitment of our suppliers, who supported
us all the way, we achieved our ambitious goals”, Peter Genaersch described
his experiences of this demanding project.
www.lear.com
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| Fig. 2: Approved technology at Lear: KM2700-17200 MC (MC-series) in the two-platen technology |
Global partner
In the car industry, Lear has the reputation
of being a global, efficient and competent partner for internal fittings.
They have increased their production capacity with their new plant in Zwiesel.
Approx. 120 employees work in 3 shifts in the new plant. Upon completion 160
employees will work there. The Krauss Maffei compact MC series in two platen
technology were used for the injection moulding. According to Lear their ready
availability, small footprint and high production capacity means these machines
are highly commendable in this class.