Fast Hydraulic Retarder Lightweight Smart Factory Construction Project: Boosting the Lightweight Development of the Automotive Industry

In the new plant of the Faste Hydraulic Retarder Lightweight Intelligent Factory Construction Project in Caijiapo Economic Development Zone, Qishan County, the main equipment has arrived and begun to be installed. Reporter Tian Xichao photographed

On February 11, workers in overalls and hard hats were directing two cranes to hoist 60-ton boxes onto flat trailers at the new plant of the Fast Hydraulic Retarder Lightweight Intelligent Factory Construction Project in Caijiapo Economic Development Zone, Qiji City.

"Inside the box are the parts of the die casting machine that we imported from abroad. At present, the die casting and cleaning workshop has been completed, and the main equipment has arrived and begun to be installed. According to the relevant person in charge of project management of Fast Group, the first phase of the project has a total investment of 560 million yuan, started construction in March 2021, built a new joint plant, public power and supporting facilities of 28,000 square meters, purchased more than 70 sets of die-casting equipment, melting equipment, testing equipment, information equipment, etc., and will have an annual output of 230,000 units of retarders and S transmissions and other core parts production capacity after completion.

With the rapid development of the automobile industry, automobile manufacturers have shifted their development goals to the production of high-quality, high-reliability, lightweight, energy-saving and environmentally friendly products. In July 2019, Fast Eaton (Baoji) Light Transmission Co., Ltd., a manufacturer of light transmissions for vehicles, started production. Fast Group's smart factory construction project will produce lightweight core components for high-end products such as automotive retarders and transmissions after it is completed and put into operation. Among them, the retarder products benchmark European and American technology, as auxiliary brake products, compared to the traditional brake pads have more safe, economical, energy-saving and environmental protection advantages, can reduce driving intensity, is an important configuration of heavy trucks; independently developed S transmission, quality and stability comparable to European and American products, in recent years in the domestic market share continues to increase; integrated AMT transmission has the advantages of mechanical and electrical system modularity, all-aluminum alloy housing, lightweight and so on. Taking the transmission as an example, the cast iron transmission used in many cars weighs about 400 kg, which not only increases the weight of the body, but also increases fuel consumption, and the lightweight products produced by the project are all aluminum alloy materials, which can reduce the weight of the transmission by more than 100 kg, not only reduce fuel consumption, but also improve the effective load and achieve double benefits.

"The first production line is expected to be completed and put into operation in May this year. After the completion of the project, the annual sales income will be 1.1 billion yuan, the annual profit and tax will be 100 million yuan, and about 300 new jobs will be created. The person in charge of project management said. (Reporter Tian Xichao)