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The Industry Leader in Providing 21st Century Auto Body Solutions® |
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Our Business Noble International, Ltd. is the world's largest Laser Welder and global provider of 21st Century Auto Body Solutions®. We provide the automotive industry with Laser Welded Blanks and Tubes, as well as advanced Roll Formed and Hot Formed structural components. Our high-value products offer numerous advantages over traditional methods of automotive body construction. Our Facilities Our experienced team of more than 2900 associates operates 23 manufacturing facilities in 12 countries. Our global footprint includes manufacturing facilities in the following locations: Australia
Canada
China
Europe
India
Mexico
United States of America
Our Products The production of LWBs involves a blanking process followed by a precision laser welding process. The blanking process consists of cutting steel into individual blanks, which are later laser welded together. We then manufacture a continuous laser weld together. Combining blanks of various steel thicknesses, grades, and coatings into one LWB optimizes the structural and corrosion-resistant properties of the part, while minimizing cost and weight. The images below illustrate how the component blanks of different thicknesses are combined to create a Laser Welded Blank.
After the component blanks are welded into a Laser Welded Blank, the LWB is stamped into its final shape as a vehicle’s structural component. The stamping is then attached to the vehicle structure during the assembly process. The photograph below illustrates how our Laser Welded Blank (at right) is stamped into a bodyside panel (center) that becomes a major structural component of the finished vehicle.
Advantages of Laser Welded Blanks Laser Welded blanks offer a compelling value to automakers. LWBs:
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Laser Welded Tubes (LWT) We employ a similar process to create tubular products by forming flat steel into a tube and then laser welding the seam. Our manufacturing process allows production of tailored tubular products in a variety of thicknesses, steel grades, shapes and diameters to help customers meet their performance and commercial targets.
Tubular structures offer substantial safety benefits
when used for structural applications in vehicles. With our process, we can
produce highly engineered laser welded tubular structures at a lower cost
than other tailored tubular production processes. We believe
that laser welded structural tubes represent a major opportunity for Noble
as these products gain awareness and acceptance in the marketplace. Roll Formed (RF) Products We supply a variety of Roll Formed products to the automotive and other industries. Compared to traditionally stamped parts, Roll Forming offers comparable performance while reducing weight and capital investment and broadening design flexibility. We are committed to diversifying our Roll Formed customer base beyond our current product portfolio.
The advantages of laser welding listed above define the Value Equation that we offer our customers. For many parts of an automotive structure, the advantages of laser welding create a compelling value proposition that we use to promote the use of our products.
The value that LWBs provide are corroborated by studies commissioned by groups independent of the laser welding industry. These studies determined that laser welding was a necessity if automakers wish to optimize the design of a vehicle, i.e. maximizing strength and safety while minimizing weight and steel use. One study resulted in the creation of the Ultra Light Steel Auto Body, or ULSAB car. One of these body-in-white structures is currently displayed in the lobby of our Warren, Michigan facility. There are 18 LWB applications in the ULSAB car, with more potential applications identified in subsequent studies. We are working to commercialize these applications and more through our development of the flat blank and tubular products market. More information about the ULSAB study and other studies on automotive body structures can be found at www.ulsab.org. Noble’s ongoing product development and research has identified several additional applications for laser welded flat blanks and tubular structures. We have identified approximately 30 total applications and are working with our customers to design them into next-generation vehicles to improve vehicle safety, integrity and reduce costs. Recent proposed changes in the regulatory environment and consumer preferences provide additional growth prospects for Noble. Legislators are considering substantial increases in the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) program that will force automakers to improve vehicle fuel economy by 30% or more. Reducing fuel consumption will almost certainly require automakers to reduce vehicle weight. At the same time, safety cannot be compromised, making the task more difficult. The easiest way for automakers to meet these conflicting requirements is through the use of laser-welded flat blanks and roll-formed tubular structures. Nobles's products allow the use of high-strength steels in more vehicle applications, reducing weight while maintaining or increasing structural strength. Our Future We believe that the future of our Company depends on our ability to develop new LWB and LWT applications and more efficient ways to manufacture them. Our focus on new application development provides us with an important competitive advantage. We believe that our superior technical capabilities, unmatched record of launch performance and our industry-leading quality record have enabled us to be the world's largest laser welder. To build upon this foundation and carry us into the future, we are focusing our resources on providing 21st Century Auto Body Solutions ®.
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