And the approach has since, quickly spread throughout automotive production at a global level. But we also know that despite apparent homogenisation in many production processes, the most flexible and versatile OEMs will craft their operations with adaptation in mind; fit for their own purposes, and determined by what’s necessary (and pressing) at the time. So to what extent is Megacasting a one-size-fits-all solution?
Megacasting at Volvo to reduce waste and complexity
AMS interviewed Volvo Cars’ Anirudha Shivappa, Advanced Engineering Leader, Body Structures, to get an idea of what the OEM is doing in this area, and why. Volvo Cars is building a new foundry in its Torslanda car production plant in Gothenburg, Sweden, where it will build its next generation of fully electric cars. The foundry will be connected to the body shop and deliver parts at the same cadence as the car production. Shivappa explains that with Megacasting, Volvo Cars will replace around 100 stamped parts with a single cast part, meaning that it can eliminate a high degree of complexity related to production, assembly, as well as supply chain.
“The technology also helps us improve in terms of material utilisation,” he says. “By eliminating 100 stamped parts, we eliminate the scrap produced in each stamping production, which tends to amount for around 50 per cent of the blank weight. We remelt all the casting scrap in-house, thereby achieving 95 per cent material utilisation in our process.’
The challenges of implementing Megacasting into production
But application of the production tech is not without its challenges. “The biggest challenge,” says Shivappa, “is that it is still new, both in the industry and for Volvo Cars. To progress, we need to swiftly build our in-house knowledge and competence in various areas such as material quality, simulation capabilities etc. We have also worked to ensure we have sufficient time for commissioning and ramp up, to learn, address challenges, and get ready for production.”
In terms of this novelty, and the challenges that come with any incipient technology, not all OEMs are convinced of its mega-benefits. In a roundtable discussion together with AMS focused on manufacturing innovations, Stellantis’ chief manufacturing officer, Arnaud Deboeuf, made it clear that Gigacasting was not something that the OEM would be pursuing.
