CompositesWorld
Issue link: https://cw.epubxp.com/i/697353
JULY 2016 36 CompositesWorld PLANT TOUR El Burgo de Osma — Mobility and automation Te Mobility facility is in El Burgo de Osma, a small town steeped in history several hours north of Madrid. Tere, CW meets Carbures' managing director Roberto Rey and Mobility's general manager, Josef Neuhäusler. Te latter founded the automotive system design frm aXcep (Munich, Germany), which was acquired by Carbures and combined with MAPRO, an automated assembly line/ machinery frm, and Technical Racing Composites (both of Barce- lona, Spain) to form Mobility in 2014. Mobility's sales soared from €3.3 million (US$2.9 million) at its inception to €39 million (US$44 million) in 2015, thanks to Neuhäusler's and MAPRO's deep auto industry roots. A big part of that growth is due, he says, to 2014 contracts with Shenyang Hengrui El Burgo de Osma: Charting effectiveness CW's tour guides at the El Burgo de Osma facility, Fabian Patus, Carbures Mobility's quality and operations director, and Mariangeles Gonzalo Vallejo, plant coordinator, pose with the facility's lean manufacturing charts, similar to those used in all Carbures locations to track project progress and issues. Source | CW / Photo | Sara Black A milestone on way to major capabilities Carbures' CEO Roberto Rey (right) and Josef Neuhäusler, Mobility's general manager, enjoy a moment in front of the facility's centerpiece, a high-pressure resin transfer molding (HP-RTM) workcell, a precursor of Carbures' patented Rapid Multi-injection Compression Process (RMCP), which will eventually anchor four production lines at the El Burgo de Osma site. Source | CW / Photo | Sara Black Metal-to- composites conversion? Two projects at the El Burgo de Osma facility involve assembly of mechanically activated emergency exit ramps for trains, for rail customer CAF (Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles, Beasain, Spain). Although they don't currently involve composites, Carbures is working with CAF to convert metallic elements of the current project to composites, via light RTM. Source | CW / Photo | Sara Black (New Castle, DE, US). In addition, Pastor notes that two new machines will be operational by CW press time: a diferential scanning calorimeter (DSC) from Mettler Toledo Inc. (Broomfeld, CO, US) and a tensile and compression tester from Zwick Roell Group (Ulm, Germany), to enhance the lab's testing abilities. CNC trimming and drilling of cured composite parts also is outsourced, but Pastor says the process will be brought in-house soon, before year's end. Some manual fnishing tasks are completed in a small workshop annex. Employees are working two shifts on layup, and the autoclaves run three shifts, fve days a week. Pastor and Plazas say Illescas is at about 50% capacity now, but Airbus is ramping up production. Says Pastor, "Our client's build rate is becoming more intense."