Sirus Automotive specialises in designing and manufacturing wheelchair-accessible vehicles to give greater independence to wheelchair users, but needed a way to make them more affordable.

This meant reducing costs and increasing production volumes by finding a quicker, more efficient way to attach the one-piece composite floor pan to the vehicle in place of the traditional welding method.

Sirus had found that welding the floor pan to the vehicles was delaying its overall production time, so turned to 3M’s innovative alternative solution of bonding composites together using 3M™ Scotch-Weld™ Adhesive DP490.

Using this gap-filling, two component epoxy adhesive with excellent heat and environmental resistance not only reduced build time by 30-40 per cent, but created a lighter, more fuel-efficient vehicle.

Said Simon Pearson, managing director of Sirus Automotive: “From the offset, we knew that bonding a composite floor pan into a vehicle would be challenging, but 3M’s adhesive as well as the technical team’s constant support has been instrumental in bringing our product to market.”

Sirus now produces 25 wheelchair-accessible vehicles every month that offer a much-improved, more affordable solution.

Added Simon: “Working with Scotch-Weld adhesive helped to increase our build efficiency. The service was exceptional and I would highly recommend 3M.”

Download the Sirus Automotive case study