By Redação AutoIndústria | 7/31/23 | Translated by Jorge Meditsch
After almost two years of investing in machinery and developing local suppliers, ZF concluded the complete structure for side and curtain airbags nationalization at its plant in Limeira, SP.
The process was started in 2021 with two side airbags assembly lines. At the beginning of this year, two more lines were added, as well as a third, specific for curtain airbags.
ZF did not disclose the amount spent in the five lines. Nonetheless, the company informs that the new assembly structure will enable the launching of three other products until the end of the year.
Gustavo Ducatti, director of Passive Safety and Electronics Systems Operations and Business director for South America, said that the production should initially meet the demands of vehicle manufacturers operating in Brazil, which are increasingly incorporating safety devices as standard equipment, even if not mandatory by law – such as side bags.
The two years demanded for the expansion in Limeira, according to Ducatti, were possible only with the local development of the machines used in the new assembly lines. “This way, we could short the development lead time and meet the market needs more fastly”, he said.
ZF’s engineering team proposed improvements and adaptations in lines already existent in other company plants abroad, which were applied to the Brazilian operation.
Folding and inspection equipment previously available only abroad, for example, were developed locally. Twenty-two workstations were installed to produce the curtain and side airbags.
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