ITW Plexus supplies the structural adhesives which provide an improved bodywork styling of the trucks at a reduced cost.
Prior to implementation, full testing of the substrates took place at Plexus’ technical centre in the UK. Here MA320 White structural adhesive provided an exceptional all-round performance on each of the painted metal substrates. In addition, its properties and colour enabled it to double up as a sealant, further reducing costs. MA320 fills gaps up to 10 mm, acts as a sealant, withstanding low temperatures and is offered in white, off white and black to meet most vehicle body manufacturers’ requirements.
During testing it was also found that a working time of 10 minutes together with just 25-20 minutes fixture time would also offer Solomon additional time savings in production. Based on these test results, Solomon undertook small-scale production trials before presenting the new process to its production team. To begin with, the company used MA320 to bond cappings to the vehicles boxes.
Building the entire vehicle in one factory, Solomon now use MA320 adhesive to bond other structural components including bonding glass reinforced plastic (GRP) to itself and GRP to aluminium, as well as to produce door assemblies. The installation of a bulk dispensing unit has made the bonding process more accurate, easier, quicker and cleaner.
“We needed a lot of convincing that we should move away from using mechanical fastenings, “ says Mark Solomon, Solomon’s Managing Director. “ITW Plexus was very professional in the way it went about discussing our requirements and testing adhesives with our substrates. The new process which replaced the conventional riveting of the cappings with MA320 structural adhesive increased our production speed, gave better flush appearance to the vehicle, and reduced cost too.”
