Automotive Roll Forming

Rising steel prices is a cause for concern for everyone other than the automobile industry that uses maximum steel. In automobile manufacturing, structural body parts like C-Pillar, D-Pillar, D-Post, body floor, crossmembers, Unibody construction and auto rack parts are made out of high-strength steel. All these body structural parts are produced in a cost effective way so that rising steel prices have no impact on the price of new cars. The probable question that is asked is how can an auto part manufacturer produce low cost body structural parts out of high priced steel? The answer lies in the use of roll forming machines.

A structural body parts manufacturer needs to use maximum steel for producing roof cross member, load room cover, bumper, window slide, window frames, side impact beams and window slide section. Earlier, every car maker used to produce these parts with metal stamping, which is a labor intensive and scrap producing method. Today, he employs labor friendly roll forming machines. A roll forming machine produces no scrap and also reduces the number of defective parts. In this way, today's prudent auto parts manufacturer saves labor and earns profit.

Latest roll-forming machines utilize flying technology for cutting the profiles ‘on-the-fly’. This process allows auto parts manufactures to produce virtually uninterrupted assemblies with high-quality repeatable designs. By incorporating ‘rafted’ or ‘cassettes’ on their roll forming machines, auto parts manufacturers can reduce roll tooling change overtime dramatically. Finite Element Analysis software is another technique they can use to add quality to their roll forming products.