LOTTE Advanced Materials wins ‘Most Innovative Use of Plastics’ at SPE Automotive Innovation Awards
November 2017
LOTTE Advanced Materials has won ‘Most Innovative Use of Plastics’ award with its partnership program with Ford in the category of Process, Assembly & Enabling Technologies at the 47th annual SPE Automotive Innovation Awards held in Detroit, the United States, on Nov. 8.
- Plans underway to expand the automotive materials business targeting European, US and Japanese manufacturers
LOTTE Advanced Materials has won ‘Most Innovative Use of Plastics’ award with its partnership program with Ford in the category of Process, Assembly & Enabling Technologies at the 47th annual SPE Automotive Innovation Awards held in Detroit, the United States, on Nov. 8. (local time).
The SPE Automotive Innovation Awards is organized by SPE’s Automotive Division, the biggest among the group’s 22 divisions. The annual event selects the most innovative products and technologies in the automotive and plastics industries in the nine competition categories including Process, Assembly & Enabling Technologies, Body Interior, Body Exterior, Environmental and Safety.
* SPE(Society of Plastics Engineers Inc) - http://www.4spe.org/
: Established in 1942, SPE is the biggest group in the plastics industry and the related academic field. The association collects, assesses and shares innovative and creative information about plastics products, production process, equipment and design.
* SPE Automotive Division - http://www.speautomotive.com/
: One of the 22 SPE divisions, the automotive division was set up in 1970. It is widely regarded as the biggest and oldest group in the automotive plastic industry and it is also an organizer of the annual award program that selects the most innovative technologies and materials.
LOTTE Advanced Materials won ‘Most Innovative Use of Plastics’ award with its Piano Black PC for Center Fascia of Ford Escape in the category of Process, Assembly & Enabling Technologies in 2010((Ford Escape for Center Fascia, Piano Black PC), and the same award in the category of Materials with its Luminous PC/ABS for Center Fascia of Ford Mondeo in 2014(Ford Mondeo for Center Fascia, Luminous PC/ABS). The company’s achievement in Process, Assembly & Enabling technologies this year marks the first-ever occasion in which a South Korean company has won a total of three awards at the prestigious SPE Automotive Innovation Awards.
LOTTE Advanced Materials has won the formal recognition in the category of Process, Assembly & Enabling Technologies at the 47th SPE awards with its double injection parts for automotive interior material. This component features 3D patterns thanks to the double injection process involving polycarbonate, which is a transparent plastics, and Luminous ABS, which is a paint-free metallic plastic. This eco-friendly material, which does not require the painting, comes with upscale metallic colors. As a result, it helps save production cost, while offering excellent resistance against color peeling and discoloration due to scratch.
The panel of judges at the SPE Awards gave high marks to LOTTE’s double injection method for producing 3D patterns largely because it helps generate far better appearance for automotive interior design and has overcome the technological limitations of the existing parts in a way that enhances the production efficiency and reduces production cost for customers. In addition, it has been recognized as an eco-friendly technology since its paint-free process helps reduce the pollution in the environment and help drivers avoid ‘sick car syndrome’ by minimizing the production of volatile organic compounds.
The award-winning material technology has been applied to the three interior parts of Fiesta (MFD *Multi Functional Display Cover, Passenger Deco Bezel, Gearshift Bezel), the 2017 model of Ford, which was launched in the second half of this year. With the help of LOTTE’s innovative material technology, Ford has achieved a 35 percent reduction in its parts production cost, compared with the IMD (*Insert Mold decoration) technology, which it had used to create the interior patterns. In addition, it has reduced its defect rate to as low as 55 percent, compared with the existing painting process. Ford is also getting positive reviews from customers regarding the improved automotive interior parts based on the new technology.
LOTTE Advanced Materials has secured a new lineup of engineering plastics in line with the environment-friendly, light-weight and high-efficiency trends in the automotive industry. The company has developed customized material solutions for exterior components such as radiator grilles, side mirrors as well as lighting and structure parts such as lamps, fenders and sunroof frames. These tailor-made material solutions are now being provided to a range of global automobile manufacturers. As the company’s innovative material and process solutions have gained recognition at the SPE Awards this year, it is looking to expand its business into the automotive interior parts, which have higher technological barriers due to its greater impact on the safety of passengers.
“In addition to the SPE award in the category of Materials in 2014, the company has won another award in the category of Process, Assembly & Enabling Technologies this year, which means our technology is now recognized not only in the North American market but also in the global market,” said Lee Ja-hyung, CEO of LOTTE Advanced Materials. “We are expecting to increase our brand value among European and Japanese manufacturers in the future.”
“The double injection material solution for 3D patterns was originally inspired by the double injection process applied to Samsung Electronics’ Bordeaux TV, and it has been successfully developed for automotive materials, highlighting LOTTE Advanced Materials’ technological edge that offers both excellent functionality and aesthetics,” Lee said. “We are planning to secure our competitiveness by actively utilizing our unique technologies and expertise in the automotive materials market.”