American Trim Unveils Fuel Cell Technology

A few years ago it took a roomful of presses and the better part of a day to make one fuel-cell plate. Engineers at American Trim have come up with a way to make that same plate in 13 seconds using a machine the size of two chest freezers.

American Trim executives and their partners from The Ohio State University, the city of Lima and Edison Materials Technology Center unveiled the latest in high-velocity metal forming Thursday. What they showed off was an unimposing assemblage of gadgets they said would change the face of manufacturing.

"Mark your calendar because I believe this date and what you're going to see here is going to be the start of a revolution," said American Trim Vice President Rick Pfiefer before unveiling the machine.

The new technology is capable of producing a fuel cell plate every 13 seconds. When the company first began exploring the technology, it took an entire day to produce one plate. It can now produce 10,000 a day and company officials said they hope to expand to 1 million plates a year. It takes roughly 1,000 plates to make a single fuel cell.

American Trim received a $1 million state grant to develop the manufacturing technology and prove the cell plates could be made affordably. American Trim Research and Development Director Steve Hatkevich said with Thursday's demonstration the company has met its goal.

"We were trying to show the technology was technologically feasible and economically feasible. We've demonstrated that today," Hatkevich said.

Ultimately, the technology will be used to create fuel cells for cars for General Motors. That puts Lima at the center of the new technology and green movements that mark the future of manufacturing, said Mayor David Berger.

"This is just the beginning of a whole series of new industries we can all look forward to," Berger said,

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Source: www.limaohio.com