The Challenge
A supplier machines mixed-metal automotive components, steel housings with aluminium and copper fittings, and ships them to assembly plants through a supply chain that runs through monsoon humidity and, for export orders, a multi-week ocean voyage. Bare machined metal begins to oxidise within hours in humid air. By the time parts reach the line they can show rust spots and discolouration, and an OEM goods-inward inspection will reject a corroded lot outright, stopping the line and forcing rework or a fresh production run.
The traditional fix, coating parts in rust-preventive oil, creates its own problem: the OEM then has to degrease every part before assembly, which adds cost, mess and delay. What the customer needs is protection that leaves the part clean and ready to fit straight out of the pack.
The BENZ Solution
BENZ specifies BENZPACK Multimetal VCI Film for sealed unit packs and BENZPACK VCI Paper for interleaving. VCI, volatile corrosion inhibitor, releases a dry, invisible vapour inside the sealed pack that settles on every metal surface and forms a microscopic protective layer, stopping rust without any oil or coating. Because it is a multimetal formulation, it protects steel, aluminium and copper together in the same pack, which matters for mixed-metal assemblies. It is nitrite-free, and parts unwrap clean, dry and assembly-ready with no degreasing step.
The protection system is matched to the parts and the route:
- Heavy or sharp parts wrapped or interleaved with VCI HD reinforced paper.
- Unit packs sealed in Multimetal VCI film for the vapour to work.
- For long ocean legs, a moisture barrier layer and a desiccant added inside the pack.
- Sealed protection lasts up to about three years depending on grade and conditions.
This is the same VCI corrosion-protection approach used and approved by leading automotive OEMs:
BMWMercedes-BenzVolkswagen
The Outcome
Components arrive at the assembly plant dry, bright and free of corrosion, and go straight to the line with no degreasing and no goods-inward rejection for rust. The supplier removes the oil-and-degrease step from the process entirely, protects mixed metals in a single pack, and ships with confidence through monsoon and ocean conditions alike.
Oil-Free
Parts unwrap clean, no degreasing before assembly
3 Metals
Steel, aluminium and copper protected in one pack
Up to 3 yr
Sealed protection depending on grade and conditions
This is a representative application of the VCI corrosion-protection BENZ supplies to automotive manufacturers. OEM approvals refer to BENZ VCI products; protection duration is a product specification and varies by grade and conditions.