Fresh Pain t
in 2007 when the auto industry publication Automotive
News presented DuPont with a PACE Award, the highest
honor in a competition staged annually by the publication.
“The global automotive industry has never been as competitive as it is today, so every cost advantage is vital,” said
Marty McQuade, vice president and general manager,
DuPont Automotive Systems. “This technology offers multiple benefits, providing auto manufacturers with a competitive advantage by delivering identifiable, measurable
and meaningful cost and environmental savings.”
EcoConcept eliminates one complete coating layer, the
primer-surfacer, and combines it into a single environmentally compliant water-based basecoat. As a result, a spray booth
and curing oven are eliminated from the auto production line.
Specifically, the technology reduces energy consumption
and solvent emissions related to the painting process by
approximately 25%. Carbon dioxide emissions are reduced
by 45-50 kilograms per vehicle built. The combination of two
coats into one reduces production time and saves on the cost
of equipment needed for the conventional three-coat process.
DuPont EcoConcept technology currently is used at two
Volkswagen plants in Mexico and Spain. Some 200,000 cars
have been produced using the process.
ALERIS TO CLOSE ITS TORONTO COIL COATING FACILTY
Aleris International, Inc. has announced that it will be permanently closing its Toronto, Ontario, Canada coil coating facility.
Production will be phased-out during the first quarter of 2008
and the site will be permanently closed shortly thereafter.
The facility, which was acquired by Aleris when it
acquired the downstream aluminum business of Corus plc
in 2006, employs 64 people and supplies coated aluminum
coil for building and construction, transportation, distribution and consumer durables applications. Aleris expects to
take a restructuring charge of approximately $5 million to
$6 million related to severance, shutdown costs and asset
impairment. Production will be transferred to other Aleris
facilities in North America.
UMR COATINGS INSTITUTE
BECOMES MS&T COATINGS INSTITUTE
On January 1, 2008 the University of Missouri-Rolla (UMR)
officially changed its name to Missouri University of Science
and Technology (MS&T). MS&T was founded in 1870 as the
first technological university west of the Mississippi River. The
original name was Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy.
In 1964 the university was re-named the University of
Missouri-Rolla in an effort by the state of Missouri to consolidate the names of the four campuses, which form the
University of Missouri system. The new name will more accurately describe the university’s true focus. CW
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