Stadco Coventry paint shop appointed by iconic automaker
Stadco Ltd, the leading supplier of body-in-white services and facilities for the automotive industry, has announced it has secured a new contract with Coventry-based LTI Vehicles, Britain's premier manufacturer of purpose-built Taxis.
The win firmly underlines the decision made by Stadco to invest in their unique paint shop facility in Coventry last year, which now enables the company to ecoat all components in black paint, thanks to a switch to the Powercron 6200 Generation 6 cationic epoxy electrocoat.
As part of the agreement, Stadco will apply black ecoat paint to the chassis frames of the latest generation iconic London Taxi with volumes expected to reach an indicative volume of 3,000 units for 2008. Stadco already ecoat seam seal and primer coat for the complete body for LTI.
Commenting on awarding the contract to Stadco, Peter Shillcock, Managing Director, LTI Vehicles said: “We required a facility capable of accommodating the large chassis of the new TX4 Taxi model, and Stadco is able to provide a comprehensive solution which meets our requirements coupled with a first class finish.”
Dinos Andreou Commercial Operations Manager UK, Stadco Ltd, said: “This new contract is a welcome boost to the Coventry site which houses one of the largest paint shop facilities outside of a major OEM. With an 8m long, 80,000 litre cathodic electocoat paint tank which can process components and body shells over 6.1m in length, 2.5m in width, and 1.9m in height, Stadco has the capability to coat the large chassis used by LTI Vehicles.”
The ability to coat components in black paint, which has increasingly become the preferred choice for OEM customers and manufacturers, recently saw Stadco sign a long-term contract with Shropshire-based Ingimex, to apply paint to a variety of bodies supplied by the Shropshire-based light commercial vehicle specialist.
In addition to black being the most requested colour, the newly-introduced Powercron 6200 paint offers customers a host of other benefits too including broader film build capabilities, improved transfer efficiency and excellent chemical resistance. Importantly, Powercron 6200 has been formulated to meet the automotive industry’s increasing demand for improved corrosion resistance without the need to use heavy metals such as lead, thereby reducing any negative impact on the environment.
Dinos Andreou concluded: “Working with LTI Vehicles and our other customers justifies the investment made by Stadco in 2007 to be able to offer the latest paint coating technology. This complements our other core areas of expertise including pressings, sub-assemblies and product engineering. We look forward to the continuation of the long-term relationship we have enjoyed with LTI, an automaker synonymous with a rich heritage in the UK.”
