New FIM film cuts automotive production costs

MacDermid Autotype International Ltd has launched a new family of hardcoated films designed to meet the growing plastic component demands of the automotive industry, while helping to reduce both costs and lead times.

The new Autoflex In-Mould Decoration (IMD) films simplify the production process by reducing the number of manufacturing stages and streamlining part production. The hardcoated films are reverse printed, formed and cut to shape before being back injection moulded.

Developed for shallow, medium and deep-draw IMD applications, MacDermid Autotype’s new films provide the perfect solution whereby intricate graphics can be reproduced on 3D components, such as HVACs, PRNDLs and other automotive interior parts. The four films that make up the range have been individually designed to provide a variety of options, enabling end users to specify the film that best meets the demands of different applications.

The range includes Autoflex EBG, which is ideal for cost-effective embossing and shallow-form applications; Autoflex AutoForm, best suited for gently-formed parts where micro-cracking must be avoided; and the innovative Autoflex HiForm and robust Autoflex XtraForm films. HiForm features an ingenious self-healing coating that repairs itself when scratched and is ideal for parts that require a medium depth of form with simplicity of processing, whilst Autoflex XtraForm is designed for deep form applications where maximum draw and extra hardness are required.

The Autoflex IMD range delivers all the design and cost advantages associated with other forms of IMD technology, but also offers a number of additional benefits, including high levels of abrasion resistance for component parts likely to be exposed to excessive wear and tear, and the ability to be used for backlit components or where complex or photographic quality graphics are required. Perhaps as importantly, as Richard Townsend, Product Manager at MacDermid Autotype, explains, “Unlike first surface In-Mould Decoration or the use of uncoated films, Autoflex IMD is an extremely economical technology, offering low unit costs due to savings both in tooling costs and reductions in the number of moulding, assembly and finishing processes and materials required.”

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