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Title slideThe future use and adoption of Remote laser Welding for First Tier Automotive Suppliers

AILU Cambridge 20th February 2008

Charles Marine – Stadco GroupRichard Hewitt – WMG (UK)

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• The Tier 1 parts supply marketplace is very competitive, fixed term part pricing leaves little margin for fluctuations in material and operating costs

• We must identify new processes, suited to our products which will reduce our piece part costs whilst maintaining quality performance

• From the evidence we have collected to date, remote laser welding offers opportunities to the multi part mixed volume nature of our business, once some challenges have been addressed

• Stadco and WMG are leading a DTI funded project, partnered by a major OEM, global steel supplier and laser component and system suppliers to review the technology and the feasibility of remote fibre laser welding and applications in the BIW part supply industry

Introduction

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• Introduction to Stadco

• Remote Laser Welding in Body in White

• Remote Laser Welding–Opportunities and Challenges

• Introduction to WMG

• DTI - Remote Fibre Laser Welding Project

Agenda

Richard Hewitt

Charles Marine

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Stadco is a Tier 1 supplier of automotive Body-in-White products and services.

Core capabilities are aluminium and steel pressings, assemblies and product and facility design.

Solutions from niche to high volume are provided.

Who we are

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Steel pressings

Aluminium pressings

Low volume manual assemblies

Largest pressings up to 4m

Small pressings& in-process fixturing Complete Body-in-White

High volume assemblies

Roof Panels

B/C Pillar

Our Products and Customers

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St Petersburg (SOP 2009)

Saarlouis

Coventry

CastleBromwich

Shrewsbury

Powys

European Locations

Longbridge

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140 million pressings per year

Double action auto tandem, single action auto tandem, manual tandem, progression. Transfer press introduction planned for St Petersburg.

Pressings

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Body closure assemblies in steel, aluminium and composite.Flexible production facilities produce major structural modules. Concept studies in conjunction with OEM to reduce cost.

Assemblies

15 million assemblies per year

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Remote Laser Welding in Body in White

• At Stadco Saarlouis, we apply 500,000,000 spotwelds a year, equivalent of 140,000 vehicles/year

• Resistance spot welding is a technology we know well, we understand its process and parameters and we know how to control its quality and output

• We are actively looking at new technologies to give our business a competitive edge and our customers a better product

• The technology which we believe may change how vehicles are designed and built is REMOTE LASER WELDING

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Fixed Focus

Scanner

Remote Laser Welding Systems in BIW

Fixed Optics

Adjustable Focus

Scanner

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Remote Laser Welding - Opportunities

• Faster processing speed – laser welding is 5 times faster than spot welding for an equivalent strength weld

• Single sided access – laser welding does not require access to both sides of the part, resulting in higher process content per weld station.

• Lower Investment Costs – studies have shown that for the equivalent process content a laser welding cell has 80% fewer robots and less tooling stations

• Reduced floorspace – studies have shown that for the equivalent process content a laser welding cell occupies 50% less floorspace

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Remote Laser Welding - Opportunities

• Lower Operating Costs - studies have shown that for the equivalent process content a laser welding cell has 10% lower operating costs

• Flexible Manufacturing – laser welding cells can be configured to allow beam switching between robots to maximise the laser speed and beam utilisation

• Flexible Facilities – the flexibility of the laser allows production cells to be configured for multiple assemblies with minimum changeover time – a flexible manufacturing facility

• Product Design– Flange dimensions can be reduced, resulting in an overall vehicle weight

reduction– Vehicle rigidity and strength can be increased due to stronger laser welds

Product Design– Higher strength materials can be welded resulting in lighter components with

fewer reinforcements

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Focus IIC214

5 Door

Focus IIC307

3 Door

Focus IIC307

5 Door

Focus IIC307

Wagon

Benchmarking Study

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Spotwelding

RH

LH

Remote Laser Welding

•Robot Qty reduced by 80%

•Floorspace reduced by 50%

•Less Tooling

Benchmarking Study

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• Business case - remote laser welding investment is significantly higher than spot welding, need to identify all investment and operating cost drivers to make a comparison

• Panel fitup important – not suited to all assemblies

• Degassing of zinc vapour – solution required in material selection, tooling or pre processing

• Tooling specification – clamping and location solutions required to maintain optimum fitup and welding access.

Remote Laser Welding - Challenges

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• Process monitoring not yet a proven production tool for real-time analysis, there is a need for robust Quality Control Planning

• Few system integrators offering turnkey full service supply

• Stringent Laser Safety requirements

• Education & training for maintenance & operators

• To maximise the opportunities of remote laser welding, product and process development is key. The OEM’s must buy in to this process

Remote Laser Welding - Challenges

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Remote Fibre Laser Welding Project

• Stadco Lead Partner

• Three year project

• British Government/Industry funding

• Partners from Industry & Academic Institutions

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WMG

• A stand alone group within the Faculty of Science

• Established 1980 by Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya

• In May 2005 WMG celebrated 25 years at Warwick

• Working in partnership with a majority of the world’s blue chip companies

• Mission statement;…to improve competitiveness through the application of value adding innovation, new technologies and skills deployment

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WMG Scale

• 450+ staff including 220 seconded industrialists.

• £100million annual programme, less than 10% of funding from HEFCE

• 7,000+ individuals worldwide on postgraduate and post experience education

• International excellence with satellite operations worldwide

• 25% of University’s research activity

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A joint initiative between WMG (Warwick Manufacturing Group), JLR (Jaguar Land Rover) with supporting funding from AWM (Advantage West Midlands)

This is a unique collaboration between an academic institution and the automotive industry to secure the future competitiveness of the Midlands as a supplier to and a manufacturer of premium automotive vehicles.

PARD

There were around 20 projects that will deliver the tools and techniques to improve supplier quality and competitiveness over a 3-4 year period and protect the employment base.

Of which Advanced Body Joining & Low Volume, High Flexibility Manufacturing are two.

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PartnersPremier Automotive Group

BIW Guild

Other Partners

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Project Definition and Deliverables

• Project Summary for DTI Submission –‘The programme will develop a remotely pumped, high-brightness, modular, multi-kW fibre laser with enhanced beam quality and power efficiency, enabling a new remote laser welding technology demonstrator to be produced, with superior processing speeds and vastly reduced energy consumption for application in the automotive, aerospace and rolling stock industries.’

• This programme will:– Deliver a business case for the application of Remote Fibre Laser Welding for

Tier 1 Body-In-White Suppliers.– Deliver a Multi-kilowatt laser for application within the automotive sector.– Integrate this laser into a prototype turnkey production facility.– Demonstrate the application upon a production representative component.– Identify product and material improvement opportunities.

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Project Scope

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Top LevelPlan

Process Window

Component Trial

Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3

2007 2008 2009

Business Case

Q4 Q1

2010

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Business CaseCost Drivers

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RSW verses RLW Cost Analysis

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DTI-RFLW Process Window Evaluation

PROCESS MONITORING

& QUALITY

PRODUCT DESIGN

MATERIALS & COATINGS

TOOLING SOLUTIONS

LASER BEAM PEAK POWER & BEAM PROFILE

LASER BEAM DELIVERY SYSTEM

PRODUCT JOINT CONDITIONS

LASER WELDING PROCESS

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•Product Design, Materials & Coatings:Design criteria for remote laser welding

Optimum flange dimensions

Stitch quantity v spotwelds

Benchmark material compatibility

New material & coatings

Remote Fibre Laser WeldingProcess Window Evaluation

•Laser Beam Delivery System:Working envelope

Positioning accuracy

Beam delivery types

•Laser Peak Power & Beam Profile :Optimum Power

Beam Diameter

Focal Length

Stand Off

•Product Joint Conditions:Optimise for laser welding

Stitch shape and orientation

Stitch size and strength compared to RSW

•Tooling Solutions:Cell concepts & layouts

Tooling requirements – shield gas/gap control

Review current clamping concepts

•Laser Welding Optimisation:Weld performance through:

working envelope, Welding speed, Shielding gasses, Varying gap, Stitch shape and orientation.

Optimising robot and scanner movements

•Process Monitoring & Quality:Welding Process FMEA

Process monitoring equipment

Quality Control plans

Laser welding standards

Benchmark weld quality/performance

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• Evidence has shown that Remote Fibre Laser Welding is one of the joining methods of the future

• A number of OEMs, e.g. VW, BMW, Audi, Renault, Hyundi, Toyota & Mercedes have installed systems within their facilities. These are mainly the result of internal development with equipment suppliers, there are very few System Integrators currently supporting this development.

• The opportunities are great, and supports the investment into a production representative facility at WMG.

• The DTI funded project aims to answer the challenges faced, and to benchmark a Turn Key System suitable for the OEM and the Tier 1 Supplier: mixed product, variable volume scenario.

• The project will enable OEMs and BIW Tier 1 Suppliers to specify and support the application of Remote Laser Welding, within the automotive industry; steel suppliers to understand the material requirements and the equipment and system integrators to understand the specific requirements of this application.

Summary

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• Thank you for your attention

Any Questions