At this year’s
EuroBLECH exhibition,
AP&T, which has a UK branch in Redditch, will be hosting seminars (Hall 27, Booth H52) on two of the exhibition days. On 23 and 24 October, the company’s own speakers — together with ArcelorMittal, GEDIA, and Fischer Group — will share ‘technological insights and the latest industry news’. This will include presenting production solutions for the efficient manufacturing of large press-hardened automotive components — and all seminars will be live-streamed for those who cannot attend the exhibition.
AP&T says improved material usage, lower weight, less climate impact, and simpler production are all reasons for the car industry’s interest in press-hardened body components made of large blanks consisting of many smaller welded parts, adding that ArcelorMittal’s ‘Multi Part Integration’ (MPI) process is well-suited to AP&T’s press-hardening concept. Moreover, since late 2023, AP&T has had a production line for manufacturing ‘double door rings’ in commercial operation out at a customer site.
Jan Larsson, a business developer at AP&T, said: “With MPI, parts with different material characteristics can be integrated in one and the same blank. The constituent parts are custom-welded without overlapping, consuming less material and saving weight of the blank without impacting its strength or impact safety. Moreover, the savings in material not only lead to lower costs but also less of a climate impact, as most of such impact caused by a press-hardened part during its lifecycle can be traced back to the manufacturing of the steel; and the weight reduction has positive effects on the finished car’s energy consumption and climate performance.
“Furthermore, MPI also simplifies production, as manufacturing components from a large blank rather than from many small ones means there are fewer work steps and tools — and less space needed on the shopfloor. A double door ring can be made up of five or six different parts that normally need to be stored, moved, formed and assembled in the factory. With MPI, you save space and achieve a less complex flow.
“With our module-based programme of presses, linear robots, and furnaces, we can always develop an optimised line, regardless of the type of parts to be produced. Moreover, our multi-layer furnace (MLF) takes up only a fraction of the floor space needed by a conventional roller hearth furnace. We are now focusing on developing our offer of press-hardening large blanks, and are encouraging close collaboration with the car manufacturers’ designers early on.”