Last year, an RV manufacturer we supply rejected 340 panels from a competitor’s batch. The aluminum honeycomb panel core density was spec’d at 54 kg/m³ on the PO. The shipment tested at 62 kg/m³. That variance fell within the supplier’s stated ±15% tolerance, so technically they delivered what their spec sheet promised. But across a…
Last year, a refrigerated truck builder in the Midwest swapped 18mm marine plywood flooring for what their supplier called an “equivalent” lightweight PP panel. Eight months later, the floors were delaminating across an entire fleet run. The supplier had shipped a PP honeycomb core rated at 40 kg/m³ — roughly half the density the spec…
We see three or four warranty disasters a year traceable back to one engineering decision: the pp vs aluminum honeycomb core selection. Last year, a European ambulance OEM scrapped 40 vehicle bodies because their aluminum honeycomb panels delaminated from carbon fiber skins. Galvanic corrosion ate the bond lines. Nobody caught the materials conflict during spec…
A truck body builder in Stuttgart swapped their wheel well liners from aluminum to a polypropylene panel configuration three years ago, saving 12 kg per unit. Six months later, 340 warranty claims hit the service desk — road salt had degraded the mounting points, diesel splash warped the face sheets, and the procurement lead was…
Last month, a truck body builder I know had to scrap an entire run of cargo walls. The supplier swapped a continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic skin for a cheaper alternative without telling anyone. The variance in thickness jammed their assembly line for two days straight. Sourcing the wrong pp honeycomb panel for a commercial build…