TI introduces fuel tank technology

LAVONIA, Ga. -- TI Automotive Ltd. plans to produce 700,000 Ship in a Bottle fuel tanks annually at its new plant here.

Ship in a Bottle is what TI calls its new fuel tank system technology. With Ship in a Bottle, some components normally found outside the tank have been moved inside. The plastic tank is molded around the components. Any leaks that could seep from joints or seals are held inside, rather than escaping into the atmosphere.

TI of Oxford, England, says the system meets the toughest U.S. fuel-emission standards.

By April, a machine that molds plastic will join a production system already in place on an adjacent line in the plant.

"Nowhere in the world can we make more (partial-zero-emission-vehicle) products than we'll be able to do right here," said TI global fuel systems President Howard Duxbury during a visit to the plant this month.

"These two lines here will be a fabulous, fabulous opportunity."

TI created and began producing Ship in a Bottle tanks in its Rastatt, Germany, operation. It also has made a small number of them at its Ossian, Ind., plant. The Ossian plant, south of Fort Wayne, used extensive hand labor to prepare the interior assemblies and the equipment to mold around them, said Manouchehr Kambakhsh, vice president of global advanced engineering.

While beefing up its capabilities in the United States, TI plans to open a tank-manufacturing plant in Thailand to supply Asian customers. And TI has launched a brake and fuel line operation in Turkey.

The $30 million, 145,000-square-foot plant in Georgia already is booked to capacity with orders to supply tanks for BMW's X5 SUV, built in Spartanburg, S.C., and the Hyundai Santa Fe SUV, set for production in Montgomery, Ala.

Prototype production at the Georgia plant will begin in September. When fully operational, each production line will be able to make 68 tanks an hour. The plant will employ 130 people when full output begins next year.

Workers will prepare the interior components on the plant floor, then transfer them into pits below the plastic molding machines. There, automated equipment will prepare the components for the machine. When ready, they will rise to the blow-molding line.

"Rastatt is our lead factory now, globally," Duxbury said. "This one is intended to take over from Rastatt. This is the single largest investment we've made in the history of the company."

The Georgia plant was designed for automated production of the tanks and will become the company's North American lead on Ship in a Bottle.

Joel Kopinsky, a principal with industry consultants ITB Group Ltd. of Novi, Mich., said automakers will not necessarily need to use partial-zero-emission-vehicle tanks to meet tough emission requirements, such as those in California. Manipulating other parts of the vehicle or fuel system - together with complex negotiations between corporations and government officials - can produce compliant cars.

But, Kopinsky said, the increased use of plastic tanks warrants technology and production investments.

TI is expanding but doing so carefully, said Brian Lindsay, commercial managing director for global fuel systems. The company needs to have global connections and respond to local technology requirements while moving cautiously into new regions.

"If we promise something and don't deliver, the penalty is harsh," Kopinsky said.

TI needs to make sure it can afford to meet customer expectations, expanding only when it makes sense, he said.

In its brake and fuel lines business, TI creates satellite plants geared toward specific customer needs, feeding the smaller operations from larger sites that have more expensive processing infrastructure.

Fuel tanks are not as simple, though. A blow-molding operation such as the new plant in Georgia is expensive. Even adding another production line to an existing plant could cost another $10 million, Duxbury said.

The complete tank systems, meanwhile, are difficult to ship long distances, making it necessary to have production in regions near TI customers.

For instance, the plant in Chonburi, Thailand, opening next year, will allow the company access to customers in multiple countries while keeping an eye on labor costs.

"You know how proud we are to be a Toyota supplier, but we can't afford to be everywhere Toyota is," Lindsay said. "We try to pick those places where we can be at our best. Not everybody who is expanding across the globe is going to be successful."

TI ranks No. 57 on the Automotive News list of the top 100 global suppliers with worldwide original-equipment automotive parts sales of $2.31 billion in 2004.