Up to forty percent of the total revenues of two billion CZK will have to be replaced by MOTOR JIKOV GROUP in the coming years. This is because these revenues are related to automotive components that are no longer used in electric vehicles. “Critically endangered parts include, for example, engine systems, fuel tanks, exhausts, fuel systems and gearboxes. Whether the EURO7 standard comes into force or not, the onset of electromobility will mean the end of production of such components. It is just a question of how quickly it will come. Our dealers are already working on replacing production for conventional combustion engines with orders for electric vehicles,” said Miroslav Dvořák, CEO of MOTOR JIKOV Group a.s.
The Die-Casting Division of MOTOR JIKOV Slévárna a.s. has been awarded a new project to supply components for electric vehicles. “It is the caps for water pumps, of which the electric car may contain up to six. The castings will be delivered to our customer Aisin and then to Volvo and Jaguar Land Rover,” said Petr Šíma, director of the Die-Casting Division.
As a result, MOTOR JIKOV Slévárna a.s. will almost double its sales generated in relation with Aisin. At full production, the foundry should deliver over 1.5 million caps per year in two versions. “Annual sales should then be around two million euros. We should deliver thirty thousand caps per week. Production is expected to start in the third quarter of the next year, and we expect to pass the approval process in early 2024,” added Petr Šíma.
As part of the project, the Die-Casting Division will try out multiple innovations. The first one will be an eight-impression mould, where the casting machine will produce eight pieces of casting at a time. “We have worked with one- to four-impression moulds so far. It will be, for sure, a challenge, but it will allow us to be competitive,” Petr Šíma pointed out.
Another new feature will be an inspection line that will directly follow up on the casting process. The line will be built by the Single-Purpose Machines Division of MOTOR JIKOV Fostron a.s. and will be in charge of a total of three inspection operations. On the one hand, there will be a 100% surface quality control, which will be provided by cameras. “This is also new for us. The surface flatness will be checked by laser and the tightness of the casting will be checked as well. The line will work at a rate of one piece every ten seconds,” the director clarified.
The next operation that the line will provide will be production cleaning of the casting. We have chosen a new process for us again. Instead of the conventional wet washing, we will introduce dry ionized cleaning where the manufactured pieces are cleaned with a stream of air that is ionized by radiators to remove the electrical charge. The electrostatic charge is the reason why all impurities stick to the casting,” Petr Šíma explained. The investment in the inspection line will amount to nearly twelve million Czech crowns.
