Temperature Controlled Vehicle Bodies Assembled Up ... - Scott Bader

PRESS RELEASE May 2012
Temperature Controlled Vehicle Bodies Assembled Up to 4
hours Faster by Switching to Bonding with Crestabond ® M1-30
Solomon Commercials Ltd increased productivity by over
50% by switching from a PU adhesive to Scott Bader’s
Crestabond M1-30 primer-less methacrylate (MMA) structural
adhesive for bonding their refrigerated vehicle bodies.
Crestabond M1-30 primer-less structural adhesive was cost
effectively applied to a wide variety of applications and
substrates using Sulzer Mixpac DXH pneumatic dispensing
hand guns in combination with a Sulzer Mixpac DXR refilling
station.
The demand for refrigerated vehicles has been growing sharply, in part due to the increasing
consumer preference to do grocery shopping on line and have them home delivered. In response to
this increase in demand, Solomon Commercials Ltd., a leading European manufacturer of
temperature controlled refrigerated vehicle bodies, looked for cost effective ways to increase output
from their existing production lines. This was achieved, without compromise in build quality, by reengineering
a long established assembly process. They eliminated the need for riveting bodywork
panels together, switching to using only Scott Bader’s Crestabond M1-30 primer-less methacrylate
(MMA) structural adhesive; productivity increased by over 50%. Previously, Solomon Commercials
assembled vehicle body panels by mechanical fixing with rivets, and then switched to bonding with a

polyurethane (PU) adhesive. To gain a better bond strength and significantly improved productivity,
Solomon Commercials have now switched to using Crestabond M1-30 to bond all the aluminium
sections to glass reinforced plastic (GRP) panels and the outer aluminium profiles to vehicle boxes.
Crestabond M1-30 provides all the long fixture performance needed for their refrigerated vehicle
body applications.
Solomon Commercials has two production units in Rossendale, Lancashire. To suit the variety of
bonding applications required for the different refrigerated vehicle body designs, their technical and
operations project team worked closely with Scott Bader’s technical experts to find the best solution.
Crestabond M1-30 was selected from the range, as its working time of 25 - 35 minutes and fixture
time of 60 - 80 minutes gave optimum flexibility on the shop floor using only one structural adhesive
for all applications. The unique added benefit offered by Crestabond structural adhesives is that
they are primer-less, with none or only minimal surface cleaning needed of the substrates to be
bonded; this also saves production time and assembly costs. The bond strength and fatigue
resistance of Crestabond M1-30 is ideally suited for body panel assembly applications with GRP and
aluminium; typical mechanical properties for Crestabond M1-30 of 17-20 MPa for tensile strength, a
tensile modulus of 750 - 1000 MPa and an elongation of > 100% are quoted by Scott Bader, based
on laboratory test results. As Crestabond has been proven in other demanding structural adhesive
applications, such as in boat hulls, Solomon Commercials has a high degree of confidence in its
long term adhesion strength and structural performance for their refrigerated vehicle bodies.
The significant increase in shop floor productivity for Solomon Commercials, with overall reductions
in assembly times by up to four hours, depending on the vehicle size and specification, were cost
effectively achieved by applying the Crestabond adhesive using MeterMix ® Systems Ltd. supplied
Sulzer Mixpac DXH pneumatic dispensing hand guns used in combination with a Sulzer Mixpac
DXR refilling station. Significant material cost savings are made using this type of system, as the
refilling station uses bulk 20 litre pails of Crestabond M1-30 and activator, serving a multiple number
of pneumatic hand guns as needed on the shop floor. Sulzer Mixpac DXH pneumatic guns have the
unique benefit of point of application metering and mixing of the 10:1 ratio MMA adhesive from
pressure assisted, refillable adhesive and activator reservoirs located on the gun. MeterMix ®
Systems Ltd., based in Rushden, Northamptonshire, is the official UK distributor for Sulzer Mixpac
systems. For a limited number of applications, manual hand guns with Crestabond M1-30 400ml
co-axial cartridges are also used on the assembly lines.
Solomon Commercials Ltd. has been carrying out refrigerated truck and trailer conversions for more
than 30 years. They custom build refrigerated bodies onto truck and lorry chassis to specific
customer needs. Michael Solomon, director for Solomon Commercials stated: “Scott Bader has
become an important supplier partner to us. This is down to a combination of having high quality
adhesive products and their invaluable technical help and support. They also worked closely with
our Operations team to ensure a smooth introduction of the Crestabond adhesive into our
production process. Overall, we feel we have backed a winning horse to help us stay ahead of our
competition and achieve key business goals. ”
There are five Crestabond adhesive options in the current 10:1 range, offering manufacturers a
choice of working times from 5 minutes up to 90 minutes and structural bonding and gap filling up to
50mm. For more information on Scott Bader adhesives go to www.scottbader.com .
To find out more about Solomon Commercials Ltd range of refrigerated vehicle bodies visit
www.solocom.co.uk. For further information about the Sulzer Mixpac pneumatic guns and bulk
dispensing systems, go to www.metermix.co.uk

About Scott Bader
Scott Bader was established in 1921. Today it is a £200 million multinational chemical company,
employing 600 people worldwide. It is a common trusteeship company, having no external
shareholders, with a strong commitment to support its customers, workforce and the environment.
Scott Bader’s headquarters is based in the UK where they have purpose-built, state-of-the-art
technical facilities that provide R & D as well as complete evaluation, testing and application
support. They have manufacturing facilities in the UK, France, Croatia, The Middle East and South
Africa. For further information regarding Scott Bader, please call +44 (0)1933 663100, visit
www.scottbader.com or e-mail : info@scottbader.com