CREDIT: DURR SYSTEMS AG
Dürr Systems AG has received a significant order from Italian battery manufacturer FIB S.p.A, a Seri Industrial Group company. The major order was awarded in December and includes the delivery of a giga-coating system comprising of four anode and four cathode lines, as well as the associated calenders, slitters, and solvent recovery systems. The order value is in the upper double-digit million-euro range.
The order is the result of a strategic intensification of activities in battery production, which Dürr began in 2018 with the acquisition of the U.S. company Megtec/Universal. With its coating, drying, and solvent recovery systems, Megtec brought solutions for three key steps in lithium-ion battery production. In 2020, the partnership with the Japanese coating equipment manufacturer Techno Smart Corp. was established. The acquisition of Ingecal in 2023 brought a specialist in calendering technology into the company.
From January 2025, Dürr's coating business operates in the new Lithium-Ion Battery business unit. For the new business unit, the order from FIB is a significant success, reflecting the strategic decisions made in recent years. In times of global volatility, FIB, active in the production of lithium-iron-phosphate batteries, is investing in a competitive, technologically advanced battery production facility in Europe, using innovative, predominantly Western technology.
The equipment supplied by Dürr includes the tandem coater, a proven system that sequentially coats the foil on one side and then the other. Other sections include the webline, dryer, calender, slitter, and solvent recovery for the anode and cathode areas. The plant’s capacity at full load, based on the FIB cell and capacity design, is expected to be 8GWh/a.
The schedule for the two-phase project near Naples is tight, with installation to begin in the fall of 2025 and production to start in the course of 2026. "Particularly noteworthy is the short time from receipt of the order to the start of installation of the first lines in just 10 months – after all, the ink is only just dry," says Bernhard Bruhn, vice president Global Business Unit Lithium-Ion Battery at Dürr.
BYD selects Dürr’s sustainable robotic painting technology
In addition, Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD Auto Company Ltd., one of China’s largest vehicle manufacturers, is building a European car factory in Szeged, Hungary, becoming one of the first Chinese car manufacturers to do so. For painting its New Energy Vehicles (NEV), BYD has partnered with Dürr. For this project, Dürr will supply and install more than 120 painting and handling robots. “As a world market leader in automotive painting, Dürr is the right partner to implement projects of this size successfully and on schedule. It was not just our outstanding technology that won over BYD, but also our experience in Hungary, where we have already completed a number of projects,” explains Dr. Lars Friedrich, head of the Application Technology division at Dürr. This is the first order the company has received from the Chinese carmaker in the passenger car segment. Dürr was successfully audited extensively by BYD before being considered as a supplier.
The painting lines will use Dürr’s latest EcoRP series painting robot, available in both six- and seven-axis variants for interior and exterior painting. The seven-axis robot offers high precision and flexibility for interior painting, reaching even the most difficult to access areas. Six-axis robots will handle exterior painting. The scope of supply also includes the corresponding door, lid, and flap openers as additional aids for the painting process.
EcoBell3 high-speed rotary atomizers ensure flawless painting quality with uniform shade, flow, and layer thickness. When combined with the associated cleaning equipment and color change technology, the atomizer family minimizes paint and solvent consumption and enables fast color changes within the cycle time. In the future, BYD will also be able to sustainably implement customers' special color requests using Dürr's standardized, modular EcoSupply P paint supply system with pigging technology. The pigs – which are what the fitting bodies matched exactly to the internal diameter of the hoses are called – push paint to the color changer and return any leftover paint back into the paint container, leaving absolutely no trace of residue and eliminating the need for cleaning. This process reduces both paint and the rinsing agent consumption, benefiting both budget and the environment.
The supply scope also includes cleaning robots that remove dust and dirt particles from the bodies before painting. Flexible-action feather rollers clean different body shapes efficiently and independently of each other in nearly any combination and order – ideal for BYD’s various NEV types.
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