Pune '26

Pretreatment to Paint: Understand the physical behaviour of the process during the car-body design phase or a greenfield setup, and translate it into optimized operating conditions in production. Fully automated, interoperable solution: The only end-to-end system we know that delivers complete automation with all required interoperability.

Speaker

Martin Schifko

CEO at ESS Engineering Software Steyr GmbH

This talk shares validation insights and the workflow from CAD data to OLP, covering even offline programming across multiple robot brands. We’ll show how high-fidelity fluid simulation for sealing and process windows. You’ll see our automatic path and motion planning that ensures uniform bead geometry and homogeneous mass flow—critical for cosmetic sealing having fully interoperability to the major robotic manufacturers.

Speaker

Ravi Borra

Head of Global Strategy and Strategic Business Development at ESS Engineering Software Steyr GmbH

In this workshop, we will showcase the alsim Sealing Module and its easy-to-use, simplified workflow that allows process engineers—without any CFD expertise—to easily set up and simulate sealing in the paint shop. Through practical use cases, we will demonstrate how the module helps ensure BIW producibility, supports consistent paint shop production, and reduces both material usage and takt time in production. We will show how evaluations can begin immediately with only the BIW, using built-in path generation and a library of preconfigured nozzles and PVC materials, eliminating the need to wait for external path data. Additional options such as path creation from CAD bead geometries or extraction from OLP will also be presented. Finally, we will highlight advanced post-processing and reporting tools that improve accuracy, efficiency, and flexibility in sealing operations.

Speaker

Ravi Borra

Head of Global Strategy and Strategic Business Development at ESS Engineering Software Steyr GmbH

Body-in-White (BIW) structures are often developed before the final production paint shop is defined. When a BIW fails in the paint shop, the root cause can be either limitations of the paint shop itself or of the BIW geometry. ESS has developed a so-called “BlackBox” solution that highlights the areas where the BIW geometry needs to be modified. This is applicable for dipping, draining, and e-coating processes. Optimized BIW geometries experience a much smoother production process in any given paint shop.

Speaker

Sagar Vu

Head of Sevices at ESS

In this workshop, we will showcase the alsim E-Coating Module and its easy-to-use, simplified workflow that allows process engineers - without any CFD expertise - to easily set up and simulate E-Coating in the paint shop. Through practical case studies, we will demonstrate how the module helps ensure BIW producibility, supports consistent paint shop production, and reduces both material usage and takt time in production. We will show how it enables early design validation, providing actionable insights on coating thickness by showing how changes in paint materials, voltage profiles, and application parameters impact uniformity and coverage. The E-Coating tool helps identify optimal configurations that boost production efficiency, reduce material waste, and minimize potential coating defects. Advanced post-processing and automated reporting further streamline analysis, improve accuracy, control costs, and enhance corrosion protection, ensuring more reliable E-Coating operations.

Speaker

Sagar Vu

Head of Sevices at ESS

This presentation highlights the role of paint shop simulations in improving vehicle design and manufacturing efficiency. By simulating processes such as fill and drain, e-coat, air bubble detection, and oven behavior, we were able to identify potential issues early, reduce physical trials, and save significant development time. These simulations helped ensure better paint coverage, minimized design errors, and supported smarter, faster decision-making in vehicle development.

Speaker

Maninder Singh

Director - Engineering and Business Development at ESS India LLP

In this workshop, we will showcase the alsim Oven Module and its easy-to-use, simplified workflow that allows process engineers—without any CFD expertise—to easily set up and simulate Oven in the paint shop. Through practical use cases, we will demonstrate how the module helps ensure BIW producibility, supports consistent paint shop production, and reduces both energy consumption and takt time in production. We will walk through how alsim Oven can be applied across different stages of a paint shop project—from evaluating BIW design changes in existing ovens, to guiding RFQ decisions during greenfield planning, to checking the capability of current ovens in brownfield scenarios. We will also highlight how process parameters such as conveyor speed, inlet temperature and inlet velocity can be fine-tuned to achieve reliable paint curing.

Speaker

Nikhil soman

Senior Simulation Engineer Service / Support & PreSales. Customer Experience at ESS Engineering Software Steyr GmbH

Wrap-around effects in e-coating make it difficult to lower film build on exterior panels without compromising deposition inside the body: increasing interior thickness typically drives an unwanted increase outside. We present Anode Master, a rectifier-optimization technology that intelligently modulates anode voltage to preserve the required film build inside complex cavities while reducing deposition on outer surfaces. The solution requires no paint-shop design changes and can be integrated into existing lines. Depending on the initial setup, it enables material savings of approximately €0.50–€5.00 per vehicle, improving efficiency without sacrificing corrosion protection.

Speaker

Martin Schifko

CEO at ESS Engineering Software Steyr GmbH

Baking ovens are among the most complex systems in the automotive paint shop. Consistent curing quality depends on precise control of airflow, temperature uniformity, and heat transfer through intricate body geometries. In practice, paint shops face persistent challenges such as energy inefficiency and uneven bake profiles. Traditional trial-and-error validation is both costly and time-consuming, while conventional CFD simulation demands significant expertise and effort. This presentation introduces ESS’s alsim Paint Shop Oven module, which makes realistic oven simulation accessible to all engineers. ALSIM enables users to virtually optimize oven operation settings, reducing commissioning time, improving first-time quality, and lowering energy consumption. We will also highlight new features that further enhance simulation efficiency and accuracy, extending the practical value of oven modeling for paint shop operations.

Speaker

Ravi Borra

Head of Global Strategy and Strategic Business Development at ESS Engineering Software Steyr GmbH

ESS built a simulation tool that integrates the realtime robotic data to perform a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulation of the surface painting process. The CFD simulation pictures all aspects of this multi-physics process such as paintflow, shaping air flow, rotary bell dynamics, electric high-potential, and dynamic thickness growth. At design stage, the digital twin can provide valuable insights to improve process or design to ensure quality without increasing prototype costs, by ensuring uniform painting thickness on critical regions and reducing overspray for better paintbooth efficiency. Car manufacturers can use this tool for brownfield projects to reduce OPEX by improving the booth design and process design, and in greenfield projects to create a digital twin of the painting plant before construction and in particular in operation lines to maintain the quality over time.

Speaker

Martin Schifko

CEO at ESS Engineering Software Steyr GmbH

ABB is driving forward its vision for Carbon Neutrality in the paint sector through a clearly defined and actionable sustainability roadmap. As part of this commitment, ABB’s current product portfolio is undergoing a significant transformation with the upcoming launch of the next generation of PixelPaint, along with our high transfer efficiency atomizer lineup, which includes both cartridge-type and external charge-type atomizers. These innovations are designed to enhance precision in paint application, reduce material waste, and maximize production efficiency—paving the way for a more sustainable future in industrial painting.

Speaker

Venkataramanan R

Solution Centre Manager- Paint Process Automation at ABB India Limited

In this workshop, we will showcase the alsim Topcoating Module and its easy-to-use, simplified workflow that allows process engineers—without any CFD expertise—to easily set up and simulate paint shop operations. Through practical use cases, we will demonstrate how the module helps ensure BIW producibility, supports consistent paint shop production, and reduces both energy consumption and takt time in production. Additionally, we will explore advanced capabilities such as optimizing paint coverage on complex BIW areas, simulating moving and stationary conveyor scenarios with different rotary bell technologies, and refining booth design and airflow management to maximize efficiency and throughput.

Speaker

Durgesh Gupta

Product Manager at ESS India LLP