This time, the workshops of the Leonardo project were held in Koper. In three days from Tuesday to Thursday, we thoroughly studied the concept of the housing of the steering system for BMW vehicles together with our suppliers. Together we found several solutions for an optimal high-quality production in the areas of die casting, mechanic processing and product purity.

The workshops were held in the Koper unit of Hidria Alutec. Together with 20 representatives of our suppliers we were preparing for the serial production of an innovative part of the steering system for future electrical vehicles of the prestigious BMW make. Because of the innovative aluminium housing developed by Hidria, Nexteer and BMW these vehicles will be lighter and safer.

At a whole-day workshop on the first day, we and our suppliers were looking for improvements in the production process of mechanical machining of parts, focusing on the optimisation of clamping devices, machining tools and process parameters.

We spent the second day focusing on the die casting of preforms; their quality is the key to ensuring an appropriate quality from the aspect of preventing deformations of preforms after machining and of the final mechanical properties of the product. We carefully inspected the concept of a die cast mould that was previously planned and tested with simulation tools.We focused especially on ensuring temperature stability of the mould using suitable tempering and lubricating equipment, upgraded with an advanced system of thermal cameras that ensure that the mould temperatures remain within the prescribed limits.

The third day was dedicated to high-pressure washing and deburring of workpieces. We briefly discussed the technology of electrochemical deburring that allows for a high level of repeatability and thus reliability of the process. And we got to know surface laser cleaning processes designed to reach the highest level of cleanliness.

In these three days we found quite some practical solutions together with our suppliers; these will ensure an efficient high-quality production. We have again demonstrated that cooperation is the key to success. So, the Leonardo days remain one of our key strategic projects to stimulate innovation in an open dialogue with our suppliers, which makes us all more competitive and successful.