The METALCLEAN project objective is to make available to the market a metal cleaning machine that has the ability to apply precision cleaning on specific metal parts, at a selling price below market and generating significant operating cost saving, with a low environmental impact.
The project will be carried out by our company, ILSA, which has a 40-year-experience in cleaning machine operating with solvents and the experience of many product launches since its creation.
Companies manufacturing or assembling metal parts for other industries like the automotive or aerospace industries have difficulties to meet in one metal cleaning process the 3 targets of (1) precision cleaning of oil and dusts on metal parts with a complex geometrical shape or small holes, or delicate components including plastic, (2) at a reasonable operating cost and (3) taking into account the lowest environmental impact due to the solvent type used in existing efficient metal cleaning machines that can be Ozone Depleting Solvents (ODS) or Hazardous Air Pollutant (HAP).
The alternatives available on the market are metal cleaning machine with a closed circuit using high boiling point solvents. Those machine usually have a high energy consumption due to their vacuum system and have not got the capacity to apply precision cleaning on specific metal parts with a complex geometrical shape or small holes, or delicate components.
METALCLEAN is the solution as it is operating with the new generation solvents that have a low surface tension permitting the cleaning of metal parts with a complex geometrical shape or small holes, or delicate components. Moreover, those solvents have a low boiling point, which lowers the temperature requirements during the cleaning process compared to existing metal cleaning machines, thus creating savings in energy of 50%. The small size of the machine and its ease of use also generate savings in operating costs. About the environmental impact of the machine, 95% to 98% of the solvent is recovered throughout the process, limiting its contact with the atmosphere and the solvents used are non-ODS and non-HAP.
The objective is to launch METACLEAN in the quarter 4 of 2018 and to sell it in the USA, various countries in Europe, India and China. In 2022, we have made projection of 93 units of METALCLEAN to be sold on that year, generating a revenue of €7,8 million for METALCLEAN and €17,6 million for ILSA. This represents a growth of 85% on sales compared to 2015 for ILSA.
