Press hardening in focus

Header image: MA Polska's press hardening line is a complete, turnkey solution, equipped with AP&T's system for in-line process monitoring.

MA Polska, with headquarters in Rivoli (Turin, Italy), has been a large manufacturer of cold-formed sheet metal parts for the global automotive industry since the 1970s. A few years ago, the company decided to begin manufacturing press hardened components as well which, because of their combination of low weight and high strength, are increasingly being selected for use in modern passenger cars. 

Swedish press specialist, AP&T, which has worked with press hardening since the beginning of the 2000s, was entrusted with supplying a press hardening line to MA Polska's facility in Tychy, southern Poland. The line was deployed in Spring 2018 and was the first of its kind for MA as well as being the hundredth press hardening line that AP&T had installed at that point. The installation was a milestone for both companies. 

“The new line is a complete, turnkey solution. It is equipped with our system for in-line process monitoring, which means parts can be manufactured with a consistently high level of quality in a carefully controlled process with short cycle times. As a result, the car industry's CQI9 quality standard can also be effectively fulfilled,” AP&T told ISMR.

Enabling an optimised and controlled press hardening process, pyrometer and infrared camera technologies are used to measure the material’s temperature in the new line with a high degree of precision, before and after pressing.

“We are very satisfied with the challenging and productive cooperation that we have had up to now. We are confident we will continue along the same path in the future, as we are aware that this technology is becoming more and more strategic in the automotive industry,” added Jean Lamontanara, responsible for R&D and material management at MA. 

MA is the metal automotive components division of the CLN Group. It specialises in producing and assembling metal automotive structural parts, components, subassemblies and modules. It has a presence in Italy, the rest of Europe, South America, Africa and Asia. The company manages 26 production plants and three research and development centres.

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