Manufacturing Magazine May 2019 | Page 38

LEADERSHIP
38 head-on crashes . Hallfeldt affirms that such an increase is vital to ensure the company meets its aims . “ The level of strength in the material used in the hot forming process is up to three times higher than the material which is normally used with the cold forming ,” says Hallfeldt . “ This technology helps us to get high-quality parts with a very high level of strength . It enables us to reduce the weight of the car bodies , in terms of reducing the emissions and also helps to increase the stability and the potential of crash safety issues . I believe this material is instrumental in allowing our goals to be completed .”
“ We have a clear understanding of the technology in our projects and we have had lots of technical discussions too ,” he says . “ We set up specialist meetings and discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the technologies and came to the conclusion that in order to be one of the first companies to embrace hot-forming , we had to rely on this technology . We think that this technology is robust enough to put us in a very good position .”
Looking to the future , Hallfeldt believes Ford is on the right track to success . “ I think that this technology is only the first step as the ability to operate fully automatically is very important and allows us to produce
MARCH 2019