Sustainability in the automotive industry is a growing trend
With growing concerns over climate change, sustainability has quickly become a strategic priority for many automakers. Ford recently committed to investing $29 billion in electric vehicle (EV) development, Cadillac's first-ever EV is ready for its spy-shots, GM revealed it would strive to be all-electric by 2035, and Jaguar committed to an all-electric fleet by 2025.
How does sustainability fit into the automotive OEM picture?
Sustainable metal forming processes minimize both production waste and environmental impact. Automotive industry sustainability can be achieved by optimizing product designs, embracing Lean manufacturing principles, and employing new manufacturing processes. There are plenty of benefits to sustainable manufacturing for the automotive industry including:
- Heightened brand value.
- New PR and marketing opportunities.
- Improved customer loyalty and engagement.
- Cost-savings resulting from improved metal forming technologies.
- Waste reduction as a result of high part conformity.
- Lower carbon emissions.
- Better part performance.
- Access to government incentives.
- Qualifying for the R&D tax credit.
- Lower energy costs
To achieve sustainability success, automakers are identifying environmental pain points like material waste, non-conforming parts, and consumables. New manufacturing processes — like FluidForming — can help automakers achieve their sustainability goals.
Meeting automotive industry sustainability goals with FluidForming hydroforming
FluidForming's innovative, high-pressure approach to hydroforming offers a number of potential benefits for automotive manufacturers.
As a universal tube forming and sheet metal forming machine, the FluidForming FormBalancer is perfect for prototyping and low- to medium-volume production runs. The bladder-free metal forming machines are compact and since water is the forming force, pre-painted and pre-finished metals can be formed without damaging finish quality.
Parts produced using the FluidForming technology are lightweight and durable. In many cases, parts once manufactured with inferior plastics can now be formed with lightweight metal alloys — improving the lifespan, fit and finish, appearance, and the overall performance of any given component.
With forming pressures of up to 60,000 psi — which is 4x higher than legacy hydroforming methods used by most automakers — FluidForming's FormBalancers are capable of forming metal from .05 to 6.0 mm in thickness (forming depth subject to part geometry). Lightweight parts can also make a positive impact on fuel economy and performance.
The FluidForming sheet metal forming process manufactures unibody parts which exhibit a greater strength than that of conventionally welded joints or components. Other potential benefits of FluidForming in the automobile industry include increased component rigidity, reduced dimensional variability, a reduction in the number of parts, and a reduction in the number of joints per component.
For more information about FluidForming and our sustainable manufacturing process or sustainable manufacturing in the automotive industry, call 1-800-497-3545 or email us at info@ffamericas.com.
FluidForming Americas, Inc. is a member of the Precision Metal Forming Association and is AS9100 Rev D, ISO 9001:2015 certified.