Japanese supplier Stanley Electric have launched a new coating technology brand, ASTUV, with the aim of reducing CO2 emissions and preventing condensation problems. Their world-first innovation combines a newly-developed UV-curable coating material with a manufacturing process that uses UV light instead of hot air for drying and curing. The brand name is built up from All Surface Treatment (STanley) + UV.
The automotive industry is under increasing pressure to work toward carbon neutrality. In response, Stanley have set a target to halve CO2 emissions from business activities by 2030, compared to FY2019. One key focus is reducing thermal energy usage at manufacturing sites through production process innovation. By replacing conventional processes in the production of headlamps with ASTUV, energy consumption can be reduced by more than 70 per cent.
Traditional coatings cause streak marks (drip stains) and fogging due to condensation inside the headlamp. ASTUV uses a UV-cured film, which is resistant to water and does not contain anionic surfactants, thus preventing such streaking and maintaining long-term clarity. It’s cured with Stanley’s proprietary UV irradiation technology, optimized in terms of intensity, distance, and exposure time. This eliminates the need for energy-intensive hot air drying in headlamp coating processes, reducing CO2 emissions while enhancing product quality.
Stanley plan to introduce a series of innovations in phases, starting with anti-fog technology, followed by hard coating technology, and finally decorative technologies for design components to further expand the application scope of ASTUV.
Stanley have begun proposing this technology to automakers, and aim to replace the surface treatment process for automotive lamps with ASTUV at all Stanley sites by 2030.
