Indiana Marine Puts Bayer Materialscience On Board To Create New Boat Dashboard
Pittsburgh, PA - The boating industry is all revved up about a revolutionary improvement that gives manufacturers a classy looking, totally customizable dashboard that's both accessible and affordable. Lighter in weight, extremely waterproof and simple to install, the new Delta Dash is made from Baydur® 667, a polyurethane RIM system from Bayer MaterialScience.
According to Mike Peters, CEO of Indiana Marine, they wanted to design a high-quality, top-of-the-line dash that would be cost-effective for mid-range boat manufacturers. Their design consultant, Anthony Kalil, worked with molder EPW, Inc. to come up with a solution. The team immediately brought in experts from Bayer MaterialScience because they knew Bayer not only had the raw materials to create a composite dashboard, but also the technical expertise needed to realize it.
According to Indiana Marine, Bayer's Baydur 667 polyurethane RIM system proved to be the ideal solution because of its light weight, rigidity and ability to encapsulate and support all the instruments, switches and gages that must be contained in the dash. What's more, it has the ability to mold varying thick and thin cross-sections, creating bosses and ribbing on the backside for easy assembly. 
Bayer technicians worked hand-in-hand with both Indiana Marine and EPW engineers to create the Delta Dash. "We were looking for a material that could flow easily into a mold and had the dimensional stability and structural integrity to stand on its own. Ideally, we also wanted a material that could be sandwiched with another material to create a good quality textured surface," said Kalil. Bayer's RIM process made this possible.
EPW manufactures the Delta Dash using a foam-in-place, vinyl-clad molding process. First they thermoform a vinyl cover stock and place it in the cavity of the RIM mold. Bayer's Baydur 667 polyurethane is then shot on the back side of the vinyl. Excess vinyl is then trimmed from the shape. A variety of different vinyl colors can be used, matching the interior of the boat. The 29-inch-long, 25-inch-wide, and 9-inch-deep part is then shipped to Indiana Marine, where they further customize the dash by thermoforming the instrument and switch clusters in a variety of configurations. The composite dash is believed to have created quite a stir in the industry. Not only does the Delta Dash meet all the criteria for weight and performance, it saves valuable time and labor costs. When the dashboard is complete, it simply slips over the steering wheel of the boat and is fastened by a unique, patented procedure. The entire installation process takes about seven minutes, compared to 45 minutes for the old-style dashboards. Aesthetically, the Delta Dash is believed to have the style and appearance of a sporty automotive dash, making it even more appealing to style-conscious boaters.
For more information about the Delta Dash, you can contact Indiana Marine at 260-665-6112 or visit www.indianamarine.com.
SOURCE: Indiana Marine and Bayer MaterialScience