RUSAL has announced the investment of more than 870 million rubles (USD12 mln) in an overhaul and modernisation program of the plant for the production of aluminium alloy car wheels, SKAD.
RUSAL completed a comprehensive program of overhauls and modernisation of production at the SKAD plant, through which the overhaul of workshops and main process equipment on the production line were carried out, new foundry machines and equipment for production of aluminium wheels were installed, including those from the “Almaz” line, as well as new equipment for in-line quality control of each wheel. In addition, an Italian acrylic wheel paint line, designed exclusively for the plant, was put into operation at SKAD.
The manufacturer of the acrylic line - Italian company IMEL Spa - is a supplier of paint for the leading European automobile manufacturers, produced in line with best-in-class technological and environmental standards. To reduce waste, acrylic lacquer is reused thanks to a recovery system. The new painting technology makes it possible to achieve high corrosion resistance of the paintwork. Wheels in “Almaz” have a more spectacular and brighter appearance. In addition, the technologies used allow a large margin to withstand all the current tests for such equipment, which, in turn, allows the plant to guarantee high quality products and paintwork of alloy wheels.
There are now two wheel painting complexes at the plant - the Eisenmann complex and the IMEL complex. The annual production volume of the enterprise is about 3.5 million wheels.
“The decision to purchase new equipment aligns with the modernization strategy of production at the SKAD plant. The measures taken are aimed at increasing labor productivity, improving product quality control and increasing the production of wheel disks. In the second half of 2021, an automated painting complex was fully commissioned, which made it possible to produce an additional 130 thousand wheels per month for our customers,” said Alexander Barantsev, Managing Director of SKAD.
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