Profil wins 500,000 euro fastening technology order at Swindon Pressings

Citation

(2006), "Profil wins 500,000 euro fastening technology order at Swindon Pressings", Assembly Automation, Vol. 26 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/aa.2006.03326dab.004

Profil wins 500,000 euro fastening technology order at Swindon Pressings

Profil wins 500,000 euro fastening technology order at Swindon Pressings

Keywords: Fasteners

Leading pierce fastening technology specialist, Profil UK has won a 500,000 euro contract to supply Swindon Pressings with fasteners and automated installation equipment (Plate 1) for use on the next generation BMW Mini.

Through the order, seven auto-feed and insertion units will be incorporated within the customer's manufacturing processes, enabling Profil's high strength fasteners to be installed as an integral part of the production cycle for many sheet metal components on the new vehicle.

Plate 1 Profil UK automated fasteners installation equipment

“The ability to install our fasteners in-press provides tremendous cost and quality advantages”, says Profil's UK Sales Manager, Adrian Ellis. “ It is the ideal method for automotive manufacturers to mount male or female threads in pressed components. Similarly, exceptionally high installation rates – backed by excellent water sealing, vibration and corrosion resistance – mean that our systems are increasingly superseding welded and other threaded fasteners in `wet' vehicle areas and `safety critical' applications as well”.

Available in a wide variety of configurations, including large flange, shouldered, conical, ultra low profile, high shear, flush fitting and special purpose types, Profil fasteners will accommodate panel thicknesses from 0.6 to 4.0mm thick. They are just as suitable for use with coated or uncoated materials, high grade, stainless and sandwich steels, and can even be installed in aluminium and magnesium castings. In addition, they are ideal for use with corrosion resistant finishes and materials, such as galvanised steel or zintec, as well as the growing number of aluminium panels found on modern motor vehicles.

“These are major benefits over welded fastening methods, which are not only slow, but open to many more process variables than pierce/clinch installation methods”, says Ellis. “Our fasteners are installed as part of the presswork process, so offer significantly better positional accuracy and repeatability than other fixing methods. Typically, tolerances of ±0.2mm can readily be maintained, while a figure of five times this value might be expected for corresponding welded parts”.

The latest order builds on the success of Profil fastening technology in the assembly of the current Mini models. More than 70 Profil nuts and studs are used in applications ranging from simple brackets on the vehicle's fusebox and foot rests, through to “safety-critical” areas including the steering column, bumper and sub- frame mountings.

With setting rates in excess of 100 fasteners per minute, the process has proved easily capable of keeping pace with BMW's production requirements for the Mini of more than 2,000 cars per week.