TPV AUTOMOTIVE receives five awards for innovation
22.9.2021
On 15 September, 2021, Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Dolenjska and Bela krajina (GZDBK) conferred awards for the best innovations in the Dolenjska and Bela krajina region in 2021.
The awards committee consisting of eight members awarded five TPV AUTOMOTIVE innovations in total, one gold and three silver and one bronze;
GOLD AWARD
Process development Volvo
Innovators: Jože Blažinč, Boštjan Dobovšek, Lea Gregl, Maja Hribar, Gregor Jordan, Mario Leskovec, Dario Novak, Boštjan Piletič, Matija Požgaj, Aljaž Rebselj
Description of the innovation:
At TPV AUTOMOTIVE, we worked with Volvo to develop an innovative process for the production of an electric car battery tray, which improves the production process and contributes to a lower carbon footprint of the product. Due to the innovative approach, we have been selected as the most suitable supplier of an aluminium battery holder, which is a key component of the Volvo XC40 recharge car. Thus, we gained a very important strategic business in the field of electrification and production of components for electric vehicles on the market.
SILVER AWARD
Quality Control Robot Cell EAGLE
Innovators:
- TPV AUTOMOTIVE: Anton Juratovac, Mateja Koblar, Jurij Kranjc, Hidajet Kurbegović, mag. Vili Malnarič, mag. Rajko Marinčič, Anton Petrič, Boštjan Piletič, dr. Tomaž Savšek
- FINI Novo mesto: dr. Urška Florjančič, dr. Anatolij Nikonov, dr. Tomaž Savšek
- Alpineon: dr. Tomaž Černe, dr. Žiga Golob, dr. Stanislav Gruden, dr. Jaka Kravanja, dr. Aleš Mihelič, dr. Boštjan Vesnicer, dr. Jerneja Žganec Gros, dr. Mario Žganec
Description of the innovation:
We developed the quality control robot cell EAGLE which enables visual bypass or frequency quality control of geometrically complex products. The quality control is performed by an innovative machine vision system built on our patented solutions. The innovation boasts several new breakthrough solutions resulting in significant advances well beyond the state-of-the-art. The product has been validated and demonstrated in a simulated operational environment. The innovation has a strong market potential in factories of the future in the automotive as well as in related industrial sectors.
SILVER AWARD
Robotic weld gap tracking
Innovators: Uroš Brinc, Janez Jereb, Tilen Kovačič, Marko Malnarič, Boštjan Piletič
Description of the innovation:
Due to the tendency to lower consumption and lower carbon footprint, the weight of the vehicle is of great importance. Lower vehicle weight can be achieved by using thinner high-strength steels, which due to altered mechanical properties and smaller thickness cause welding position problems, which we solved by using an advanced system that allowed us to make a viable product and gain business.
The system for our innovation consists of a burner sensor and advanced software. The system uses real-time read data to define the actual position and width of the weld gap to the robot. This will significantly improve quality, productivity and reduce congestions.
SILVER AWARD
Costs reduction by optimizing the design of the ENGINE PROTECTION
Innovators: Boštjan Dobovšek, Lea Gregl, Gregor Jordan, Matija Požgaj
Description of the innovation:
The innovative design of the product improves its price competitiveness, which has enabled the company to gain business. In this way, we reduced the weight of the vehicle and contributed to the reduction of emissions throughout the life of the vehicle. With this solution, we eliminated additional CNC machining of the final product which greatly shortens the production time and eliminated the additional CNC machine.
BRONZE AWARD
Robotization of handling in press
Innovators: Matjaž Kofalt, Primož Kozan, Ivan Radman, Nenad Rađenović, Samo Tomc
Description of the innovation:
The innovation represents ergonomic arrangement of the workplace, as with its implementation, manual shifting of products in the tool by two operators has been replaced by robotic shifting of products in the tool. Innovation also represents an additional contribution to the automation of production in the company and consequently to the increase of competitiveness. The existing two operators have been replaced by one, which now takes care of the smooth operation of the line.
Congratulations to all the innovators!
