Automotive manufacturers require customized, flexible and robust multi-metal processes. The Gardo®Flex pretreatment system provides this flexibility. It copes with the increasing use of aluminium substrates as well as with the different local market needs and legal restrictions. Gardo®Flex meets even the most challenging demands and specifications from automotive manufactures.

One of the strengths of the Gardo®Flex technology is the deposition of a uniform, thin phosphate coating on the aluminium substrate, regardless of the total amount of this substrate on a car body. Minor surface irregularities resulting from car body construction or pressing, like for example scrub marks, scratches or impressions from the vacuum cups of the robots, are smoothed by a thin phosphate coating and enabling a homogeneous deposition of the E-Coat. Thus, extra sanding operations can be avoided. There is no need for expensive cooling of the activation or rinsing tanks to suppress the formation of the phosphate layer on aluminium. Even when treating higher amounts of aluminium, the Gardo®Flex process allows lower etching rates on this substrate resulting in a significantly reduced amount of phosphate sludge.

Gardo®Flex is made up of a variety of high performing modules, which are individually combined for each single customer line in order to maximize output. Practical experiences have shown that energy costs in the six-digit range can be saved. 35 °C phosphate tank temperature is not only feasible for steel substrates but also achievable in multi-metal processes including aluminum substrates. All process elements are optimally aligned and together with a distinctly longer bath service life, meaning lower water consumption and smaller effluent volumes, contribute to the resource-saving aspect of this technology. The reduced amount of modified phosphate sludge in a Gardo®Flex process is soft and easy to remove. Clogged pipes and tons of sludge are things from the past.

Renowned car manufacturers worldwide already rely on this modern zinc-phosphating technology from us, because Gardo®Flex offers them unprecedented flexibility with regard to their production process – at a high quality and optimized process costs.

• Gardoclean® S
• Gardolene® V
• Gardobond® R
• Gardolene® D

• Automotive manufacturer
• Automotive supplier

• Multi-metal process, no limit to aluminium
• Eco-friendly: less energy, less water
• Direct implementation without line alterations
• Globally available technology