BMW South Africa has opened a new paint preparation plant at its plant in Rosslyn that is the first phase of the manufacturer’s R2 billion plant expansion.
BMW South Africa has opened a new paint preparation plant at its plant in Rosslyn that is the first phase of the manufacturer’s R2 billion plant expansion.
The preparation plant, opened by trade and industry minister Alec Erwin on Monday, was constructed at the cost of R350 million.
The plant will use the newly-developed Vario-Shuttle to transport a car body through the process of degreasing, phosphating and electro-coating.
Previously, this was done in a continuous line by means of a carrier drawn by a chain. The Vario-Shuttle uses an individually programmable conveying device that runs on rails. The Shuttle has the flexibility to be programmed to take a car body through the 14 stages of the preparation process and can, if required, follow a different dipping curve for each of those stages with the time in each stage varying according to the process needed. It is also possible to individually programme different criteria for different models.
“This plant represents a major leap forward in the technology of outer body surface preparation. We can be justifiably proud that BMW’s South Africa plant was chosen to be the trailblazer for this radical new technology, which exists in only one other small car plant in the world,” said Ian Robertson, BMW South Africa managing director.
