RENPIM USED FOR LOW VOLUME AUTO COMPONENT PRODUCTION IN AUSTRALIA
31 October 2002 - Huntsman Advanced Materials

Automotive manufacturers in Australia are often faced with the need to tailor
components to suit the different local markets and environments found across the
country.

For Burwood Pattern & Design Services in Melbourne, virtually all their prototyping
and short run production work is undertaken for this type of specialisation in the
domestic automotive market.

Burwood are currently using RenPIM polyurethanes to manufacture side skirts or
‘spears’ for General Motors Holden. The spears are being fitted onto the new Holden HSV ute (utility) vehicles, equally at home in the city or over rough terrain.

Burwood are also using RenPIM to produce the navigational bezel (sloping fascia) that is being fitted into vehicles Holden supplies to the local Avis rental fleet.

The designs for the spears and the bezel were both largely developed by Burwood
Patterns. By using RenPIM 5214 rather than traditional moulded thermoplastics,
they can still offer the customer functional low cost parts quickly and cost effectively, even on a production run of up to 500 units.

Using RenPIM 5214 polyurethane, Burwood are able to produce these complicated
but highly accurate ready made parts within weeks of receiving CAD data from
General Motors Holden. The RenPIM system has proved particularly appropriate for
both these applications because it so closely resembles the characteristics of ABS,
which is a very common material in the automotive industry.

Two other major benefits that Burwood have found in using RenPIM materials are
that they can be blended to meet specific customer requirements, such as slowing
setting times on large components. They can also be pigmented, coloured or painted which is particularly useful for replicating finished components like these Holden parts.

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