Material substitution to reduce the environmental impacts in construction of car body manufacturing plants

The efficient use of resources is a key driver for reconciling nature and technology in the automotive manufacturing process. Resource efficiency not only considering the final product but also the construction of the manufacturing system is therefore essential for achieving the sustainability goals pursued by global automotive manufacturers. In this context, the substitution of energy-intensive primary materials with renewable raw materials represents a significant potential for reducing the environmental impacts of automotive plant engineering. However, the use of new materials often leads to conflicting objectives in terms of environmental and economic aspects as well as technical feasibility. To ensure an effective contribution to sustainability, it is necessary to evaluate the entire product life cycle of the substitute material, to localize the resulting secondary effects and to develop target-oriented solution concepts. Against this background, an approach is presented for the implementation of material substitution. The feasibility is demonstrated with a case-study on the substitution of energy-intensive steel with renewable wood material for the structural elements of a vertical conveyor pallet in the car body construction. The technical development and series testing is described and subsequently a comparative environmental and economic evaluation is carried out to analyze the potential benefits compared with the status quo while considering the resulting secondary effects. Finally, a potential assessment is made based on a reference body shop.