11 Jun Bentley announces launch of new Spectraflair finish
London, (Oilandgaspress) – Bentley’s new state-of-the-art Paint Shop has today started operations, marking a milestone moment in the ongoing transformation of Bentley’s headquarters in Crewe. The occasion was celebrated by the completion of a one-of-one Continental GT S which launches a new ‘Spectraflair’ paint finish enabled by the new facility.
Bentley’s Continental GT and GTC, Flying Spur and the brand’s first ever Battery Electric Vehicle launching later this year, will be painted in the new Paint Shop immediately, with the Bentayga set to be integrated into the operations in the coming years.
Covering a 12,500 sqm footprint and standing as the tallest building at Bentley’s site, the facility marks the next step in Bentley’s journey in setting a new benchmark in high-value, digital manufacturing capabilities, having been designed with dedicated space to introduce new bespoke paint processes in the future.
Sophisticated energy and thermal management technologies are installed to ensure comfortable, cooler working conditions on the ground floor, where the handcraftsmanship of Bentley’s highly skilled paint team is required most, whilst simultaneously capturing warmer air generated from the high-tech paint application systems on the first floor and recovering its energy to redistribute across the facility, meaning the new Paint Shop does not require any heating for two-thirds of the year.
Alongside its improved energy efficiency, the introduction of a water-based paint primer replaces the previous solvent-based solution. At the same time, the improved accuracy of paint application, a reduction in masking materials and a filtration monitoring system means the new Paint Shop will see an overall reduction in waste materials of up to 45 per cent compared to the previous facility.
A Residual Thermal Oxidiser (RTO) directs fumes from the paint process to be burned at 1000°C to purify the air expelled from the new Paint Shop to protect the local environment and reduce VOC emissions attributed to Bentley’s long-term paint operations by up to 98 per cent.
Seamlessly connecting the new Paint Shop’s production stages together is a fleet of ten Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs), programmed to move bodies from one workstation to the next in the most efficient and secure manner possible – the first automotive Paint Shop in the world to introduce self-propelled carriers, enabling a completely flexible control of stations across to support highly-bespoke customer paint desires.
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