DuPont has received a 2007 PACE award for superior innovation, technological advancement and business performance. The award recognizes the company’s development and commercialization of EcoConcept, a finishing system that allows automobile manufacturers to eliminate an entire coat in the painting process.
Volkswagen AG also was honored with a PACE Collaborator award to recognize its willingness to work closely with DuPont on EcoConcept to develop and commercialize the new process in a manner best suited to the company’s needs. The PACE judges stressed that as a result of Volkswagen AG’s creation of a unique collaborative environment with DuPont, VW gained a low-cost and low-emissions improvement in production.
“EcoConcept succeeds in doing what coatings manufacturers and automobile companies have been attempting for decades. It combines two coating steps into one waterborne basecoat, so the automobile manufacturer can eliminate an entire spray booth and its associated drying equipment,” said Marty McQuade, vice president and general manager of DuPont Automotive Systems. “The benefits are astounding, including reduced emissions of greenhouse gases due to reduced solvent use, lower energy consumption and higher productivity.”
The Volkswagen (VW) Mexico plant at Puebla was the first assembly plant to install the new system. The systems are now in place at the Volkswagen plant in Pamplona and its SEAT plant in Spain. The process is being considered for implementation in a new VW paint shop scheduled to begin operations in Russia in 2008.
Presented byAutomotive News, Microsoft Corp., SAP and the Transportation Research Center Inc. (TRC Inc.), the 13th annual PACE Awards were held April 16, 2007, at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit, MI.
For more information about the 2007 PACE awards, click on theAutomotive Newswebsite link below. DuPont’s website is atwww.usa.dupont.com.
