"Our main development focus will continue to be in the area of assembly"

AutoRevista - What are the medium and long-term challenges for AutoForm in the transformation of the automotive industry?

Mário Marques.-  Vehicle weight reduction is a challenge that has been with us for the last 15 years and became fundamental with the transition to the EV, which incorporates a battery with a weight similar to that of the body itself.

The process engineering for manufacturing parts engineering of manufacturing processes for parts
with advanced materials requires the availability of the mechanical characteristics of these materials,as well as the evolution of algorithms associated with the numerical simulation of these processes.
 

At AutoForm we have focused, in one hand, on incorporating these data and technologies, and, on
the other hand, we have developed new solutions that can reduce the sheet metal format required to stamp a particular part.At AutoForm, we have focused on the one hand, on incorporating these data and technologies, and on the other hand, we have developed new solutions that allow us to reduce the sheet size required to stamp a given part. These tools allow our customers to develop the optimal production process with the minimum sheet metal format to produce a part with a complex geometry within their tolerance ranges.

AR.- In which areas is the company focusing its innovation efforts?

M.M.- In 2019 we launched our software solutions for the simulation of BiW assembly processes. This technology allows us to integrate the BiW development process from the stamping of individual parts to the assembly of the complete BiW in a virtual prototype. This allows us to identify and solve problems at a much earlier stage of body BiW development, minimising the need for physical prototyping and providing significant time and cost savings at later stages. 

Through projects developed in recent years with our customers we have demonstrated the value of this approach, the acquired know-how has allowed us to develop ideas for improvements in this process chain that we will implement in future versions of our solutions. 

AR.- What is the influence of the evolution of steels towards more sustainable products, as well as the increasing use of aluminium body components?

M.M.- Scientific studies point to consumption savings in the order of 0.3 l/100 km, which corresponds to 7 g of CO2 emissions per 100 kg of vehicle weight savings.

With the use of state-of-the-art materials and engineering tools that ensure the optimal use of these materials in the development of body components, savings in the order of 20-30kg can be achieved from one generation of vehicle to the next. Extrapolating these values to vehicles circulating globally and considering an average of 12,000km/year, it is calculated that the total saving in a year reaches 30 million tonnes of CO2, a value that illustrates the importance and potential of the use of these technologies.

AR.- How can you describe the dynamics of AutoForm's cooperation with other players in the stamping value chain?

M.M.- Collaboration with other participants in our value chain, either other solution providers or customers, is fundamental for the evolution of processes. In our case and in recent years we have collaborated with OEMs such as Mercedes and VW in the development of solutions, with Schuler we are currently working on the development of an AI solution to assist stamping production processes, and we maintain open lines of collaboration with steel producers and several universities and institutes in the field of materials technology.

 Four years ago the company opened an office in China, how do you work between AutoForm's different global locations?

M.M.- The main objective of our presence in China as well as in other centres relevant to the automotive industry is to be close to our customers in order to support them from a commercial and technical support point of view with our solutions.

Our product is global, our network of offices covers all the important centres in the automotive sector and the technical teams in each country are in charge of supporting our users locally, according to their needs.

AR,- Are there new application possibilities for AutoForm simulation solutions?

M.M.- Our main focus of development in the coming years will continue to be in the assembly area. On the other hand, in the stamping area, we will continue to follow the evolution of the electric vehicle which incorporates new BiW concepts with different part typologies using new materials and processes. Aluminium and high-strength, cold-formable steels will certainly play an important role in this context.

Another area where we still see development potential in the market is the definition of robust processes in the engineering phase, which ensure repeatable and reliable production. Due to long-established structures, many companies do not leave room for such analyses, often forcing production to cope with processes that are very sensitive to small changes in the materials or other parameters.

In this regard, we will continue to improve the solutions already available in the current versions of our product, while at the same time, we are working on new products based on Big Data and Artificial Intelligence technologies that allow us to take advantage of the knowledge generated in engineering to control the equipment in production.

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Interview published en AutoRevista 2.379