Brose UK employs nearly 1,000 people at its two factories in Coventry and has just signed off the installation of its e-coat line, giving it the capacity to paint more than 3.5 million seat structures every year for UK customers.
In addition to providing greater control of production, the investment reportedly gives the firm a lean material flow and improved environmental performance.
Steve Bartholomew, technical director at Brose UK, said: “We have grown significantly over the last five years and have now reached a position where an in-house paint plant improves competitiveness.
“The e-coat line is one of the most advanced in the automotive sector and will immediately improve scheduling of production and ensure all structures are finished to the highest quality standards accepted by all of the major car manufacturers in the world.
“In short, we are now in control of our own destiny and we have cut the paint coating time from three days to just eight hours. The difference this makes to assembly will be huge in Coventry.”
Structures for four different Jaguar Land Rover models are the first to go through Brose UK’s new paint plant and it is anticipated that over two million seat structures will be coated within twelve months of operation.
From loading to unloading, a rack of parts is said to be painted in about two hours compared to 10-12 hours when sending to external painters.
Over the last 12 months, Brose UK sales have increased by 23 per cent and this has included new contracts to supply seats and window regulators to customers such as Jaguar Land Rover, Nissan and Toyota.
Red Bull makes hydrogen fuel cell play with AVL
Formula 1 is an anachronistic anomaly where its only cutting edge is in engine development. The rules prohibit any real innovation and there would be...