Benchmarking

Report On Under Body Coating (UBC)

Aim

To get a detailed report about the UBC (Under Body Coating), and the advantages and disadvantages of using this in Automobile.

Definition

Underbody coating means a coating labeled and formulated for application to wheel wells, the inside of door panels or fenders, the underside of a trunk or hood, or the underside of the motor vehicle. The thickness of the under-body coating varies from 0.1mm to 6mm depends on the specifications and regulations.

Types of Under-body coating

Rubberized Undercoating

Underbody coating is usually a dense cladding (often based on rubber) applied uniformly to the undercarriage of the automobile. It is normally sprayed or painted on when the car is just out of the dealership and is clean.

Rubberized vehicle undercoating is easy to apply and offers sound-cushioning as well as protection from dust, moisture, and dings or dents.

In addition to your undercarriage, rubberized undercoating is also safe to use on wheel wells and quarter panels, and dries to a soft rubbery finish that prevents further rust, damage, or moisture seeps. The coating can be painted over and, if necessary for bodywork, can be easily removed with an undercoating removal spray.

Overall, rubberized coating is generally the best option for protecting your vehicle's undercarriage, as it provides the simplest and best protective measures against rust and moisture.

Polyurethane Undercoating

The other option for undercoating your vehicle is to use a polyurethane-based sealant. This type of vehicle undercoating is a little bit quicker and easier to apply.

Oftentimes, polyurethane undercoating will come in canisters ready to preload into an application gun. This type of sealant works by seeping into all cracks and seams, displacing salt and moisture and oozing around rusty areas to bond with and protect unoxidized metal. It also sands quickly in case you'll need to perform bodywork and can be painted over.

On the flipside, this type of car undercoating generally requires a little bit more surface prep work before applying -- sanding and applying an etching primer to bare metals before using are generally recommended.

Wax or Paraffin-Based Under coatings

A paraffin-based undercoating will be the cheapest and quickest option available with which to protect the undercarriage of your vehicle. However, keep in mind that it will wear off quicker than other types of undercoating and will need to be stripped and reapplied at least once every year.

Wax-based under coatings never truly harden. During application, they drip or flow into seams and cracks to provide protective properties. They are usually available in a spray gun canister or in an aerosol can and offer at least a base protection in moderately humid climates.

Asphalt-Based Undercoating

For standard vehicles, any of the aforementioned types of undercoating will provide sufficient protection. For large trucks and heavy machinery, asphalt-based undercoating provides a bit of extra durability against rocks, chips, and moisture.

Asphalt-based undercoating generally contains a little bit of rubberized material that sets up firmly and also helps soften noise. Generally sold in five gallon containers, this type of undercoating also needs more cure time than the other three, and is NOT paintable, making it best to use only for undercarriages.

Advantages

• Minimizes Sound: It minimizes the sound from underneath the car resulting a noiseless, smooth driving experience.
• Heat Insulation: It insulates the interior of the car from extreme temperatures from beneath the vehicle providing a comfortable cabin experience.
• Anti-chipping property: If any stone hits the coating it does not get chipped away hence protects the underbody from exposure to water.
• Rust Prevention: Undercoating gives you an extra layer of protection against rust and corrosion, protecting your car. Undercoating will eventually wear out, but you can get years of protection from it. Even vehicles in warmer climates gain protection as debris is repelled and kept away from eating at the vehicle.
  

Disadvantages

• Undercoating will work best on new vehicles that have not been exposed to road conditions. A used vehicle may already have residue on the bottom of the car or even have spots of rust and corrosion. Undercoating will not help you if corrosion already exists and the corrosion needs to be removed first before it can be applied, which can be expensive for you.
• One of the main disadvantages of under-body coating is the overall weight of the vehicle get increased. Even though they are applied in microns. They add at least 10–20 pounds of the car, which will reduce the mileage of the vehicle.
• An undercoating can provide a hardened layer of protection against dirt and debris that may cause corrosion. Depending on where you drive, however, the lifespan of this product may be minimal. If you drive your vehicle on gravel roads or dirty areas frequently, you reduce the overall life of the protective layer.

Maintenance

• Most vehicles that are on the road today are able to make it five years before any corrosion begins to show.
• If you wash your vehicle regularly, especially during the winter months, then you might be able to save the time and money required for this service.
• It must be reapplied every 3 to 5 years for the best results. If it is not used in the dirty and gravel roads it can withstand up to five years. If we use the vehicle mostly in gravel roads or in dirty places it needs to be reapplied for every 3 years.

Conclusion

In this report we learned about the advantages and disadvantages of using the under-body coating. Depends on the usage and surroundings of our vehicle we need to decide whether this is suitable for the automobile or not.

Aim

To do a case study on currently available car to suggest a car based on the customer’s specific requirements by bench-marking.

Bench Marking

Benchmarking is a process of measuring the performance of a company’s products, services, or processes against those of another business considered to be the best in the industry, aka “best in class.” The point of benchmarking is to identify internal opportunities for improvement. So that we can decide what is best for the customer’s requirement.

Types of Bench marking

• Performance benchmarking involves gathering and comparing quantitative data (i.e., measures or key performance indicators). Performance benchmarking is usually the first step organizations take to identify performance gaps.
• Practice benchmarking involves gathering and comparing qualitative information about how an activity is conducted through people, processes, and technology.
• Internal benchmarking compares metrics (performance benchmarking) and/or practices (practice benchmarking) from different units, product lines, departments, programs, geographies, etc., within the organization.
• External benchmarking compares metrics and/or practices of one organization to one or many others.

Objective:

The main objective of the case study is to give a good suggestion for our customer Mr. D.S. Pughazhyendhii.

The following is his requirements:

“Mr. D.S. Pughazhyendhii is a married man who lives in Bangalore which is a highly crowded city. His Family comprises five members including his wife, five-year-old boy, his father, and his mother. He visits his native place Madurai which is 500kms away from Bangalore once in a month. Also, he will be using his car to commute to his office. His budget falls between 8 to 10 lakhs on road. Please suggest to him with options so that he will buy a good car for his family.

Note: Pughazhyendhii is fond of big cars”

According to his statement what he need is

• A five-seater car
• Good mileage
• Compact SUV (since his budget is low)
• Spacious & it should be big from both inside and outside.
• Price around 8-10 lakhs.

The top 5 cars I would suggest for him is listed below

• Kia Sonet.
• Tata Punch.
• Tata Nexon.
• Hyundai Venue.
• Nissan Magnite.

Kia Sonet

Kia has launched the Sonet at prices starting from Rs 6.89 lakh. It includes the brand's new logo along with additional features such as paddle shifters, voice operated sunroof, and rear door sunshades. Select feel-good features offered in the top-spec variants have been introduced to the lower variants.

Kia Sonet 1.2 HTK Plus is the mid petrol variant in the Sone lineup and is priced at Rs. 8.25 Lakh (ex-showroom, Madurai). This 1.2 HTK Plus variant comes with an engine putting out and of max power and max torque respectively. Kia Sonet 1.2 HTK Plus is available in transmission and offered in 10 colors: Glacier White Pearl with Aurora Black Pearl, Beige Gold with Aurora Black Pearl, Glacier White Pearl, Steel Silver, Gravity Gray, Intense Red, Aurora Black Pearl, Intelligence Blue, Beige Gold and Intense Red with Aurora Black.

KEY SPECIFICATIONS:

Mileage (ARAI) – 18.4 Kmpl

Fuel Type – Petrol

Fuel Capacity – 45 litres

Max Torque – 250nm@1500-2750rpm

Engine Displacement - 1197 cc

Max Power – 113.43bhp@4000rpm

Emission Norm Compliance - BS VI

Transmission – Manual

Boot Space - 392 Liters

Drive Type - FWD

Power Windows – Front and Rear

Airbags – Driver and Passenger

ABS – Yes

On Road Price in Madurai – 10.42 lakhs

Tata Punch

The Tata Punch has got all the required segment-cred to be a competitor among the crop but with the added advantage of the SUV body style. The Tata Punch ranges from 7.32 lakhs to 11.58 lakhs.

ARAI Mileage - 18.97 kmpl City Mileage - 13.86 kmpl

Fuel Type - Petrol

Engine Displacement (cc) - 1199

No. of cylinder 3

Max Power bhp@rpm 84.48bhp@6000rpm

Max Torque (nm@rpm) - 113Nm@3300+/-100rpm

Seating Capacity - 5

Transmission Type - Manual

Boot Space (Litres) - 366

Fuel Tank Capacity - 37.0

Body Type – SUV

On Road Price in Madurai – 6.87 lakhs

Tata Nexon.

The price of Tata Nexon starts at Rs. 7.60 Lakh and goes upto Rs. 13.95 Lakh. Tata Nexon is offered in 68 variants - the base model of Nexon is XE and the top variant Tata Nexon XZA Plus P Dark Edition AMT Diesel which comes at a price tag of Rs. 13.95 Lakh. The key feature of Nexon is that it has a Five-star rating.

KEY SPECIFICATIONS:

Mileage (ARAI) – 22.07 Kmpl

Fuel Type – Petrol

Fuel Capacity – 44 litres

Max Torque – 260nm@1500-2750rpm

Engine Displacement - 1497 cc

Max Power – 108.49bhp@4000rpm

Emission Norm Compliance - BS VI

Transmission – Manual

Boot Space - 350 Liters

Drive Type - FWD

Power Windows – Front and Rear

Airbags – Driver and Passenger

ABS – Yes

On Road Price in Madurai – 11.38 lakhs

Hyundai Venue

The price of Hyundai Venue starts at Rs. 7.53 Lakh and goes upto Rs. 12.72 Lakh. Hyundai Venue is offered in 16 variants - the base model of Venue is E and the top variant Hyundai Venue SX Opt Turbo DCT DT which comes at a price tag of Rs. 12.72 Lakh.

KEY SPECIFICATIONS:

Mileage (ARAI) – 18.0 Kmpl

Fuel Type – Petrol

Fuel Capacity – 45 litres

Max Torque – 172Nm@1500-4000rpm

Engine Displacement - 998 cc

Max Power – 118.41bhp@6000rpm

Emission Norm Compliance - BS VI

Transmission – Manual

Boot Space - 350 Liters

Drive Type - FWD

Power Windows – Front and Rear

Airbags – Driver and Passenger

ABS – Yes

On Road Price in Madurai – 7.53 lakhs

Nissan Magnite

Nissan launched its smallest crossover SUV, the Magnite in India in December 2020. This SUV comes with a host of features and four variants. It gets two petrol engines and two choices of transmission. The Magnite is available in four dual-tone and four single paint alternatives. There is an optional Tech Pack that adds - a JBL sound system, a wireless charging pad, an air purifier and three other features.

KEY SPECIFICATIONS:

Mileage (ARAI) – 17.7 Kmpl

Fuel Type – Petrol

Fuel Capacity – 45 litres

Max Torque – 152nm@2200-4400rpm

Engine Displacement - 998 cc

Max Power – 98.63bhp@5000rpm

Emission Norm Compliance - BS VI

Transmission – Manual

Boot Space - 336 Liters

Drive Type - FWD

Power Windows – Front and Rear

Airbags – Driver and Passenger

ABS – Yes

On Road Price in Madurai – 7.18 lakhs

Conclusions

On comparing the above five cars. I would suggest Hyundai Venue. It is more spacious and has a large boot space for carrying cargos for the five of your family members and you will have a spacious legroom for the rear seats as well. Considering the comfort and safety you can choose this car. It can satisfy all your needs at this price. I would suggest Venue S variant for Mr D.S Pughazhyendhii’s , family. Thus, the bench-marking has been made and the best car has been suggested.