One of the biggest challenges facing companies today is creating carbon-neutral supply chains without sacrificing both quality and profits. One of the most effective ways to achieve carbon-neutral supply chains is by replacing parts and processes with a heavy carbon footprint with ones that have less of an impact on the environment.

For this reason, many auto manufacturers, among other manufacturing industries, are turning to self-tapping fasteners such as TAPTITE PRO® fasteners as they have been proven to significantly reduce carbon emissions.

To quantify how much CO2 reduction is resulted from switching to thread-forming fasteners, the United States Council for Automotive Research LLC conducted a study titled “MACHINING ELIMINATION THROUGH APPLICATION OF THREAD FORMING FASTENERS IN NET SHAPED CAST HOLES” (USCAR) Project No.: FAS 1005) in which they calculated the estimated reduction in CO2 for both automotive and non-automotive applications.

In the report, USCAR found that if the automotive industry were to transition to TAPTITE PRO® the estimated carbon and energy reduction would equal “at least 5 trillion BTU of electrical energy savings is achieved annually, at least 190 million pounds of carbon equivalent will be eliminated.”

To uncover these results, the team at USCAR used the following calculations.

“An average automotive powertrain (engine, transmission through rear axles) has more than 500 threaded fasteners. At least 60% of these fasteners are realistic candidates for replacement by thread forming fasteners. Proprietary Corporate Plant Engineering studies at one of the US automobile manufacturers have estimated that machining in automotive powertrain plants accounts for 0.90 mmbtu per unit (vehicle). It was also estimated that 30% of that energy was identified with creating drilled and tapped holes. Assuming 60% of the drilled and tapped holes could be eliminated then the calculation for energy savings to a typical automotive powertrain would be:

60% of 30% of 0.90 mmbtu/unit or 0.162 mmbtu/unit.

If 16 million powertrains are produced per year in North America, the resulting energy save could be: 0.162mmbtu/unit x 16 million units/year or 2.59 trillion btu/year.

There are an estimated 200 additional candidate fasteners for replacement with thread forming fasteners in chassis, (control arms, suspensions), body structures that utilize large castings (inner doors, lift gates, under-hood attachments and supports), and interior assemblies (instrument panels, steering columns, seat structures and accessories). If energy savings proportional to the potential powertrain savings can be achieved an additional 1.73 trillion btu/year can be realized.

The total direct energy savings identified is therefore, 4.32 trillion btu/year. Further energy savings can result from the elimination of parts resulting from use of thread forming fasteners:

  • Elimination of manufacturing energy for locking materials such as lock washers or cementing fluids like Locktite.
  • Elimination of tool manufacturing energy consumption through elimination of drills, taps, probes and gages.
  • If aluminum thread forming fasteners can be made to work in magnesium castings, corrosion preventing isolating washers, sleeves and separation plates could be eliminated further reducing parts and their corresponding manufacturing energy consumption.
  • Fewer parts to handle would result in reduced assembly operations energy consumption as well

Further energy savings would result from the elimination of chip reprocessing and coolant reprocessing and disposal. Finally, the energy savings resulting from never having to build machining centers, automation, chip handling, coolant handling and building space for new model lines and Greenfield sites would add significant one-time energy savings as well.

Ultimately, more than 5 trillion btu/year appears feasible due to full implementation of this technology in the North American automotive industry. “

The team then used the US Department of Energy’s energy savings worksheet carbon dioxide emission rate of 0.019 million tons of carbon equivalent per trillion Btu to conclude the following rates:

Which then resulted in the 190 million pounds of carbon equivalent elimination figure. The same calculations were used for non-automotive application greenhouse gas emissions and can be found in table 9.1 below.

The results help companies in two ways.

The first is an immediate reduction in CO2 emissions and other greenhouse gases. Switching to TAPTITE PRO® fasteners cleans up the manufacturing process and helps companies achieve their ambitious goals of becoming carbon neutral. Furthermore, since TAPTITE® products have decades of proven implementation globally, the switch is a fast and relatively painless one that has instant direct results that can be calculated and reported on.

Second, because of the work done by USCAR and the US Department of Energy, the switch to TAPTITE Pro® fasteners gives measurable CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions that can be used to calculate total environmental impact. Giving the company a blueprint and goalpost for carbon-neutral goals. The switch makes it easier to offset the emissions while saving the industry up to $1.05 Billion annually in cost savings (Link article here).

In conclusion, the quickest way to achieve tangle CO2 and greenhouse gas reduction is making the fastener switch to TAPTITE PRO®. To read the report in full, please follow the link here (report link).

And for support or advice on transitioning your assembly to TAPTITE PRO® thread-forming fasteners please do not hesitate to contact us here at REMINC | CONTI.