Summit R&D Center Co., Ltd. is a research and development center for automotive parts. It is a subsidiary of Summit Auto Body Industry Co., Ltd., a leading Thai auto parts and body manufacturer. The company was established to support business expansion from an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) contract manufacturing to a design house for product research and development. The company also aims to improve engineering and technological production processes and foster innovation in production to reduce dependence on technical consulting from aboard.

Mr. Aunarut Praromp, Director of Research and Product Development of Summit R&D Center Co., Ltd., said that the Company’s know-how is initially based on the contract manufacturing of metal parts as customers need, followed by stamping technique. Later, when the company started collaborating with NSTDA, it had an opportunity to participate in the research and development of metal forming processes. This endeavor aimed to improve the mechanical properties of metals, for example increasing tensile strength from 270 MPa to 590 MPa, or up to 980 MPa. The company has recently begun to study Ultra-High Tensile Steel (UHSS) with a tensile strength of up to 1180 MPa. Furthermore, other materials such as rubber, plastics, and polymers have been used as components in some parts.

Mr. Aunarut Praromp mentioned the preparation for plastic substitutes to cope with the trend of electrical vehicle (EV) technology, which will has an impact on the automotive parts industry. The company, therefore, is aware of the changing market demands and plans to promote production capacity to be more diversified to sustain customer satisfaction. For this reason, the company acknowledges two main factors: product innovation that gives customer business advantages and cost reduction of the manufacturing process.

The conversion of the combustion-to-electrical system required a reduction in the weight of automotive parts. Mr. Aunarut Praromp said that reducing the weight of the product might seems easy, but in reality it is not because various properties must be maintained, such as the workpiece’s strength and performance. As Summit R&D Center Co., Ltd. is a Thai company that does not own the design, it’s a challenging starting point. Also, it is not an easy task to switch its skill from fabricating parts from metal to an alternative material in which the company has no expertise, especially polymers. This problem constitutes an obstacle in design, production, and communication with customers. Therefore, the collaboration with MTEC research team was the right choice.

The company is satisfied with the research results: a stay side step prototype that use polymer in place of metal, which makes the part lighter. This new stay side step has mechanical properties that meet the specified standards. Although, it is a small part but it plays a vital role in absorbing an impact during an accident. Therefore, this work is considered a big accomplishment.

Mr. Aunarut Praromp would like to thank Dr.Patcharee Larpsuriyakul, MTEC research team, and the company’s team for working together to overcome this difficulty and achieve our goal of creating a licensed product. Currently, the prototype of a stay side step is ready for use in many truck models, which is an opportunity to generate income for the country.

Furthermore, MTEC research team has effectively focused on the research and development within the specified time frame as the company has to plan the product presentation about 1-2 years in advance for application with a new automotive model with minor change. This time management has helped increase the company’s opportunity for new parts production in the future.

In the future, the company expects that MTEC will have technology to help reduce the cost of  raw polymeric materials so that it could compete with foreign suppliers. In the past, the metal sheets had to be imported, which were expensive. On the contrary, switching to polymers will be better since production cost is lowered and there is a research team with knowledge and experience that the company could consult.  Furthermore, collaborating with suppliers makes it possible to create innovative product with reduced cost.

Mr. Aunarut Praromp said that in the future, the company plans to collaborate with MTEC on developing a stay side step made from polymer that could be joined to other metal parts without sacrificing strength and properties.

Mr. Aunarut Praromp also would like to thank MTEC for publicizing the research and potential of the company in various channels because it not only benefits the company but also generates income for the country. Most importantly, the company received a warm welcome from MTEC, which made the staff happy working together and helped create a good learning atmosphere.

Lastly, Mr. Aunarut Praromp hopes that our country will have the possibility to build machinery and spare parts to reduce imports, maintenance and production costs to increase its competitiveness.