Zero emission paintshops on the horizon

Paint shops with zero waste water and carbon emissions by 2020 are the vision of the Taikisha Geico Global Alliance, which was formed under a year ago. 

Both Geico and Taikisha are major players in the turnkey original coating systems and plants for the vehicle industry. Taikisha’s strengths include providing systems that improve paint finish quality and maximize the counter-measures against dust and extraneous materials. These include robot, paint circulation, conveyor, and anti-pollution systems. 

The company also has expertise in parts painting plant facilities. “With automated system management, next-generation painting plants are set to deliver more efficient and consistent quality of painting for both mass and multiproduct production with smaller energy consumption and more eco-friendliness,” says Taikisha. 

Geico has strong ties with local partners in five countries through its all Geico Project. Significant growth is expected by Geico and Taikisha from vehicle manufacturers headquartered in emerging markets – in particular, China, Brazil, India and Russia. Geico has its own internal division called Pardis, which is dedicated to developing energy-saving and environmentally friendly solutions.

Geico paint shops have on average a 30% reduction in environmental impact when compared with existing facilities, and include 10% renewable sources. A number Geico’s solutions can also be retro-fitted. These include the programmable rotating dipping system J-Flex, the modular handling system J-Jump, the compact aluminum booth called Amir and the wet and dry scrubbers called Hydrospin and Dryspin. Geico is also certified by the British Standards Institution (BSI), and its quality management system with regards to regards to design activities, the supply and installation of painting plants and systems for environmental protection, is in compliance with ISO 9001:2008. 

Automotive Industries asked Ali Reza Arabnia, chairman, president and CEO of Geico, what had been the benefits reaped by Geico since its alliance with Taikisha.
Arabnia: First and foremost, the confidence of our customers! Car producers around the world have loved Geico, its technologies, its innovative solutions, its people, its loyalty, and its culture in general. But, there was always this size issue which didn’t give them the confidence they needed to consider us as one of their long-term strategic partners. This is gone now! Having become an active part of an alliance with an annual sales of US$1,7-bn has changed this attitude drastically, and as a consequence has benefited Geico immensely. 

AI: Please give us examples of how the two companies are working together. 
Arabnia: Two concrete examples: Taikisha is using Geico’s patented dipping system called J-JUMP for one of its most important PT-ED projects in India. And Geico is using Taikisha’s patented Automatic Application Package for a very important paint shop in Brazil. 

AI: Last year you spoke about Geico’s global position being strengthened thanks to the alliance with Taikisha. How has this translated in reality?
Arabnia: Geico won a complete paint shop from Mitsubishi in Brazil, whilst Taikisha brought home two projects from PSA in China. Both were due to the alliance’s strength.
AI: What are some of the green technologies Geico has brought to the alliance?
Arabnia: Almost all the recently patented technologies and solutions from Geico are aimed at the reduction of energy consumption and CO2 emissions, and all are at the disposal of the alliance’s customers. Alternative dipping systems for PT-ED; such as, J-Jump and J-Flex in different versions are already quite well known, as is our super-efficient dry scrubber solution called DRYSPIN, or the globally acclaimed the best wet scrubber, called HYDROSPINplus. There are many other new developments in other sections of the paint shop, all aiming to reach our Energy Independence Day of June 16th, 2020. That is when we want to present to the market a completely self-sufficient energy paint shop with zero CO2 and zero waste water emissions. We are at 35%, and we still have eight years ahead. We’ll be there!
Automotive Industries also spoke to Satoru Kamiyama, Executive vice president and representative director of Taikisha, and asked him what the benefits of the alliance have been to Taikisha.
Kamiyama: Geico brings to the alliance a fresh perspective with its international and innovative management attitude.In addition, its new and state of art technologies enhances Taikisha’s position to become a true global leader. 

AI: How have your automotive customers benefited from the alliance with Geico?
Kamiyama: Quite a lot! One concrete example is in procurement. Having shared Geico’s supplier and international partner networks, we have been able to offer a more competitive solutions globally. This, of course, also benefits Geico as they have increased significantly their purchasing power as the result of us coming to the picture.
AI: Tell us a little about Taikisha’s strengths in the automotive original coating systems sector, and how these have helped Geico.
Kamiyama: Taikisha is a true customer-oriented group – as we have found Geico is. We effectively listen to the alliance’s customer expectations, and one of the most important requests to Geico has been to be consolidated in a sizeable group. Well, I believe Taikisha with US$1,7-bn annual sales has just done that. This gives Geico’s customers the confidence they need for future big projects.
In addition, Taikisha’s world class manufacturing facilities for metal sheets and structures in India, Thailand, and the U.S.A., as well as those for conveyor engineering and manufacturing in China are an important enhancement for Geico’s continuous cost improvement goals. Furthermore, I believe we complete Geico’s offering with our own developed Automatic Application that would become a key package for Geico to offer its customers as it has been for us over twenty years. 

AI: How do you rate the success of the Geico-Taikisha Alliance and how you see the way forward?
Kamiyama: Simply great for now! And even greater for the future!