The ACSI edge Products Engineering capabilities Customers Promoters and partners Manufacturing facilities CEO Contact Corporate presentation (pdf 1.32 MB)

Automotive Composite Systems International Limited (ACSI) provides total composite solutions to the automotive and electrical equipment industries.

The ACSI edge

• Technology from Menzolit-Fibron, the largest producer of sheet moulded composites in the world
• Vertically-integrated capabilities, ranging from resin-formulation to moulding of composite parts
• Leading producer of class-A composite body panels in India

Products
Composites are an innovative replacement for conventional materials such as steel, aluminum and plastics for a wide range of automotive applications like class-A body panels, structural parts and NVH parts. General advantages of composites are:

	Weight savings up to 25 per cent over sheet metal
	Cost savings in parts and tooling; up to 65 per cent over sheet metal in tooling
	Cost savings in overall program through faster tooling and development time
	Cost and assembly time savings through superior part integration
	Corrosion / dent resistance
	Better acoustic behavior through improved NVH properties
	Styling freedom

Sheet moulded composites (SMC)
SMC is a thermosetting polymer reinforced with fiber (usually glass fiber), manufactured in the form of a sheet. Suitable fillers are added to SMC at the compounding stage to obtain specific properties and the material can be specifically formulated for applications like class-A surfaces or high-temperature applications. An additional advantage of SMC is its suitability for online painting with sheet metal components due to a coefficient of thermal expansion that is very close to that of steel.

Bulk moulded composites (BMC): BMC, used to make small and intricate parts, is similar to SMC in its composition but instead of a sheet it is manufactured in dough form.

Long fiber thermoplastic (LFT): LFT is a thermoplastic polymer reinforced with fiber longer than 1mm (usually glass fiber longer than 20mm). It is a state-of-the-art material developed in Germany barely ten years ago by Menzolit Fibron GmbH, ACSI's technology partners, and Dieffenbacher. ACSI is working closely with Menzolit Fibron and Dieffenbacher to develop value-added applications of LFT in both class-A body panels and structural parts. LFT has the additional advantages of faster cycle times (less than 60s) and the ability to be recycled 100 per cent online for almost zero process wastage.

To see some applications of these materials and technologies click here.

Engineering capabilities
A team of ACSI engineers trained at Menzolit-Fibron, Germany, offers a range of design and development capabilities, including:

	Concept design
	Product development and validation
	Rapid prototyping
	Tooling design and development

The company's software capabilities include CATIA V4, Nastran, Ansys. It also offers a facility for raw material development and formulation for a variety of customer needs.