Dürr installs 155 painting robots at Volkswagen in Bratislava

June 22, 2012: Mechanical and plant engineering group Dürr has installed a total of 155 painting and application robots at Volkswagen in Bratislava, Slovakia, in 2011 and 2012. Forty-five robots are for a new paint shop at the Slovakian auto plant. Dürr has installed another 110 robots to modernise two existing paint lines, on which VW will be able to paint both the body exterior and interior fully automatically in the future; the lines are due to be brought into operation this month. The robot orders for VW Bratislava are worth € 36 million (Rs 254 crore).

Besides the painting robots, Dürr is also supplying the complete application and paint supply systems, featuring high-tech products such as electrostatic high-speed rotating atomisers, paint-saving colour changers, and software. The scope of supply also includes robots for welded seam sealing and for applying underbody protection. In addition to the Volkswagen Touareg and Audi Q7 luxury SUVs, bodies for the Porsche Cayenne, the new compacts Volkswagen up!, Škoda Citigo, and Seat Mii are produced in Bratislava. An increase in production capacity to 400,000 vehicles is planned for this year. Ralf W. Dieter, Dürr AG’s CEO, commented: “We won the order from VW on our good technical performance in terms of quality of finish, paint consumption, and total cost of ownership. Bottom line: our technology increases production efficiency in Bratislava measurably.”

The Application Technology division, in which Dürr concentrates its robot and application systems activities, aims to grow its sales revenues from € 407 million to over € 500 million in 2012. Sales were already increased by 52% in 2011. The driver is the buoyant demand in the automotive industry, which has continued so far in 2012. Among the main investment motives in the automobile industry are the need for additional production capacity and the increasing automation of the painting process. For the group as a whole, Dürr expects sales revenues in excess of € 2 billion in 2012.

Dürr, which generates 80 percent of its sales in business with the automotive industry, has 50 business locations in 23 countries worldwide and approximately 7,100 employees. The Group achieved sales of € 1.9 billion (Rs 13,429 crore) in 2011.

Dürr has been active in India for nearly 50 years, with a local presence for over 20 years. Nearly all of Dürr’s business units with their complete innovative product portfolio are active in India, offering high quality balancing and diagnostic machines, application technology, paint and final assembly systems, as well as environmental systems.

Photo: The new swing arm robot EcoRP L153 provides accessibility for small and large car bodies on one production line.