Modernisation of an Automotive Paint Shop
Published on : Tuesday 11-08-2020
Why Lotus, a long-established British brand, chose high-quality and high efficiency top coat line from Dürr.
Sports car manufacturer Lotus is automating its body painting facility at its British headquarters in Hethel. Lotus contracted Dürr to install an automated paint shop boasting a number of extremely efficient processes. Dürr beat worldwide competition during the awarding process thanks to its efficient technologies which produce less waste with a low environmental impact. The modernisation includes an automated application line including a special paint supply and conveyor systems. The contract was awarded in 2019.
Currently all Lotus cars are painted manually, but Lotus is embracing automation for the exterior painting with four Dürr EcoRP E133 painting robots. With six axes and rail, these robots are flexible enough for a number of applications. When designing the new paint shop, the priority for Lotus was elevating process efficiency while maintaining the high quality of the current manual spraying process.
With the composite body panels coated with conductive primer, one pair of robots applies the primer and clear coat in one mixed spray booth while a second pair of robots applies the color coat in another booth. The robots not only paint, but can also open the body doors and hoods thanks to their modular design.
Economical and fast – special paint supply using pigging system
The high efficiency and high quality is not only achieved through the use of robots, but also through technologies with low material consumption. All Lotus cars are built to order with Lotus Exclusive allowing customers to make their Lotus unique. Each vehicle is finished according to the customer's individual requirements, including a choice of an almost infinite number of colors limitless on all of its model lines. Individualisation including stripes and highlights are painted manually.
To be able to provide such a variety of colors in low quantities, EcoSupply P special paint supply systems will be installed. These units pump the various paints to the painting booth in hoses with almost zero losses reducing paint waste. EcoSupply P also minimises cleaning material consumption and color change times compared with conventional ring line systems.
Sixty per cent less energy
EcoDry Rack also helps to increase efficiency. The multi-stage overspray filter system, which is extremely compact thanks to its permanently installed filter walls, offers all the advantages of dry separation. It needs neither water nor chemicals, which keeps running costs low and has
minimal impact on the environment. Up to 95 per cent of the supply air can be recycled as recirculated air using this technology, which reduces energy consumption in the paint booth by more than 60 per cent compared with a classic wet scrubbing system. This process reduces the volume of CO2 emissions. EcoDry Rack is easy to use and service. Once the filters are saturated, they can be replaced during production breaks or on weekends. The new Lotus body painting facility is scheduled to be commissioned in 2021.
The Dürr Group is one of the world's leading mechanical and plant engineering firms with extensive expertise in automation and digitalisation/Industry 4.0. Its products, systems and services enable highly efficient manufacturing processes in different industries. The Dürr Group supplies sectors like the automotive industry, mechanical engineering, chemical, pharmaceutical and woodworking industries.