Dürr builds two state-of-the-art paint shops for Sinotruk

In the eastern Chinese province of Shandong, Dürr is currently building two paint shops for Sinotruk, the leading manufacturer of heavy trucks for the world’s largest commercial vehicle market, China. The paint shops equipped with state-of-the-art technology will be used to coat truck cabs and pick-ups of Sinotruk’s premium brands, with the focus squarely on high quality, responsible use of resources and cost efficiency.

The two paint shops for the Sinotruk subsidiaries Ji’nan Truck and Ji’nan Commercial Vehicle are being built in Laiwu and Zhangqiu in the eastern Chinese province of Shandong. Cabs for various trucks and other commercial vehicles will be painted, including flagships such as Yellow River, SITRAK, and HOWO, with which Sinotruk aims to enter the league of world-class manufacturers. The site in Zhangqiu will also manufacture pickup trucks.

Dürr’s automated guided vehicles are an important building block for a flexible plant layout, which Sinotruk can expand at a later date, or integrate new models into. EcoProFleet was developed specifically for use in paint shops and is already in use in passenger car production. At Sinotruk, this flexible conveyor technology will now transport truck cabs for the first time. In order to move the heavy loads, the EcoProFleet has been designed with an unladen weight of 850 kg in good proportion with the maximum load capacity of 1,000 kg.

The fleet is intelligently controlled by the DXQcontrol software, making sure that all AGVs execute their transport assignments and are permanently on the move. The energy concept with supercap technology also contributes: AGVs are charged within just 1.5 minutes, and at charging points where the AGV is stationary anyway for picking up or setting down the bodies.