FIREBIRD PRO S GE CAS Cordless Rivnut tool with CAS battery used for accessory fitments
German riveting and processing technology company Gesipa recently introduced the Cordless Alliance System (CAS) battery to the South African market. CAS is used in tools such as Gesipa’s Accubird Pro, Powerbird Pro and Firebird Pro rivnut tools.
“Gesipa’s Firebird Pro rivnut tools are operational at some automotive manufacturers in South Africa such as Daimler, Volkswagen and Dalian Auto Tech. Other models of Gesipa tools are operational at Nissan, Toyota, ZF, RG Brose, Lumotech and TI Automotive. The new CAS battery should hopefully boost sales through lower costs and the growing choice of cordless over pneumatic tools, and owing to its power upgrade, sustainability and its cordless design,” says Gesipa Southern Africa industrial and electronic products importer and distributor Actum Western and Eastern Cape sales specialist Herman Parsons.
These tools are mainly used to fit rivnuts to the interior of the car body for optional accessory fitment later, during final assembly. The tools are preferred in these instances as conventional pneumatic rivnut tools have hoses attached, which makes handling cumbersome, especially when operators have to install rivnuts in awkward or tight spaces, he enthuses.
Parsons explains that CAS platform is a battery system in the 18 V class that fits more than 200 different tools of 20 manufacturers and such a platform makes using battery tools more sustainable and reduces e-waste.
Gesipa had to change some of the design of its tools to suit the new CAS battery. This resulted in a power output upgrade of 30% for the Accubird Pro tool.
Actum sees the introduction of the CAS systems in rivet and rivnut tools as an opportunity to strengthen the grip it has in the automotive sector.
“As far as tooling is concerned, there seems to be a trend away from the standard of compressed- air operated tooling to using cordless tools. “There are various reasons for this transition such as energy efficiency and process security. Fastening systems employed are also becoming mostly electronic and have high process security to ensure traceability and efficiency. In automotive safety critical assemblies, such tools, are compulsory,” he explains.
The automotive sector in South Africa, similar to many other industries, has taken a severe knock during the Covid-19 pandemic; however, although production levels and sales have declined, “we are confident that this will soon recover and that we will be part of the new growth expected”, Parsons concludes.