At the same time, the use of aluminum die casting revolutionizes body shop design, largely eliminating the underbody construction area and significantly cutting the number of people, robots, presses, work steps and buffer areas required. OEMs can use the additional space freed up for capacity expansion or building new product lines.
Pros and cons
Does that make introducing HPDC for large automotive parts a no-brainer? Not really. Automakers must carefully weigh up multiple factors before making any decision, especially one that involves major capital expenditure. On the plus side, HPDC reduces production complexity, reduces CAPEX compared to traditional body shop investment and takes up less physical space in the body shop. It offers car manufacturers shorter cycle times and generally better product quality and consistency. On the minus side, the cost of the materials used is high and the process offers limited flexibility. However, the total cost of ownership for OEMs i.e., initial CAPEX incl. OPEX and material cost is relatively low when compared to traditional body shop.
What is more, car manufacturers generally have little or no experience using the new production process for casting large parts, so there is a "technology risk". They are also operating in the dark when it comes to aftermarket issues. The decision about whether to adopt the technology for large automotive parts is not always straightforward – and automakers can benefit from expert insights and support during the decision-making process.
