India has been called in recent years the “Tiger of East” due to the growing automotive industry, and it is one of the most promising markets. This is where SECO/WARWICK equipment was delivered to TATA Advanced Systems, a leading manufacturer of coolers.
One of the Indian automotive leaders has just expanded its line with the second three chamber CaseMaster Evolution (CMe-T)® furnace to be used for brazing heat exchangers. Thanks to vacuum technology, the plant will significantly improve its efficiency.
The three chamber furnace for automotive
The CaseMaster Evolution – T (CMe-T), is a three chamber vacuum furnace that can be used in many processes. It can, for example, ensure surface hardening using low-pressure carburizing (LPC) and high-pressure oil or nitrogen hardening. The equipment stands out not only by its three chamber construction but primarily, by a significant improvement in the quality of the process, cost efficiency, increased performance and better production flexibility. It is one of the most popular metal-working furnaces in the automotive industry. The furnace ordered by the Indian client will serve for gas brazing and quenching.
„India is an extremely interesting market and the fifth largest car manufacturer in the world. This is also the place where European corporations invest. Volkswagen announced two years ago an investment project in India worth 1 billion EUR. This project assumes the expansion of the VW and Skoda brands. In February this year, Tesla announced that it plans to manufacture in India. We also have a national leader in India – TATA corporation which is, by the way, our customer. In recent years, we have been delivering our furnaces to several large automotive sector factories in India. So, we know for sure that our equipment is ideal for the sector: effective, precise and cost-efficient,” says Maciej Korecki, Vice President of SECO/WARWICK Vacuum Segment.
„The CaseMaster Evolution-T furnace, that will go to the Indian client, is the second equipment installation of this type that the client has purchased during the last two years. The client picked this technology not only because of the higher production efficiency, the furnace is intended to provide several other benefits such as: limiting manual intervention, shortening the entire production cycle, increasing efficiency, improving the brazing quality, achieving a perfect batch homogeneity, reducing the operating costs and improving environmental protection. After two years of use, the client ordered identical equipment which confirms that the choice of technology the client made was right. What we enjoy most are the recurring clients, as they are the material evidence that our product meets their requirements and works well in production conditions,” adds Manoranjan Parta, SECO/WARWICK Managing Director in India. Dozens of CaseMaster Evolution devices assembled all over the world are the best evidence of their high quality, efficiency and the verifiability. The CMe-T technology operates and is currently applied in India, China, North America and Europe.
India and electric vehicles
India plans in terms of electro mobility are impressive. They assume that until 2030, 30% of all vehicles in this country will be electric cars. The plan goes even further in terms of the single track vehicle segment. In 2019, approximately 3.4 million passenger cars were sold in India. For comparison, according to Indian car manufacturers, at the same time as many as 21.2 million single track vehicles were sold. The number of tricycles sold was 0.7 million. The new project assumes that by 2023 India will have only three-wheeled electric vehicles. What is more, by 2025, India should have only electric single track vehicles. The government seems to have two high priorities: to control pollution and take the lead in a growing industry. India wants to become a “global electric vehicle manufacturing center,” according to the Minister of Finance, Nirmala Sitharaman.
The projected growth of electric cars and the resulting rapid increase in demand for battery coolers is a very good forecast for the brazing and aluminum heat treatment segment. Numerous installations worldwide, technical experience and an innovative approach makes the CAB solution from SECO/WARWICK to be the most frequently selected technology for brazing of the battery cooling plates in hybrid (HEV) and electric (EV) vehicles. Already in the first quarter of 2021, SECO/WARWICK received several large orders for CAB line deliveries for this sector.
Solutions from SECO/WARWICK for the automotive industry
The classic automotive industry gladly uses several solutions from SECO/WARWICK, like: vacuum furnaces from CaseMaster Evolution line, including the CMe-T furnace, single chamber vacuum furnaces equipped with highly efficient (up to 25 bar) gas quenching systems, vacuum pit furnaces Pit-LPC® and the 4D Quench® vacuum system designed for individual nitrogen quenching of separate component parts of gears. Electric car manufacturers use, in turn, CAB technology, of which SECO/WARWICK is an undisputed leader. For several decades, it has been the most common technology chosen by the automotive industry for manufacturing aluminum heat exchangers. Given the current market situation, the automotive industry must strive to introduce systems that generate significant savings without jeopardizing the quality. Thanks to SECO/WARWICK vacuum solutions, the entire automotive industry could save billions of EUR every year.
