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.

Because the Delta Dash is made from Baydur 667 polyurethane it is extremely lightweight and completely waterproof. It can be installed in approximately seven minutes, simply by slipping the dashboard over the steering wheel and fastening it according to the manufacturer’s patented fastening procedure.

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.
 
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.

“A primary design consideration of the Delta Dash was to cut down on the time required for customer assembly,” noted Peters. “The Bayer RIM process gave us the means to do so. Thanks to our partnership with Bayer MaterialScience, we have a commercially successful product.”

“Our years of experience in the auto industry provided a solid background for this marine application,” commented Gene Symosko, technical specialist, Bayer MaterialScience. “We’re always pleased when we can take our knowledge of the RIM process and translate it to benefit another industry.”

For more information about the Delta Dash, contact Indiana Marine at 260-665-6112 or visit www.indianamarine.com.

For more information about EPW, Inc. custom-engineered tools and molds, call 574-293-5090 or visit www.epw.com.

For more information about polyurethane RIM technology from Bayer MaterialScience, call 1-800-662-2927 or visit www.rimmolding.com.

Bayer MaterialScience LLC is one of the leading producers of polymers and high-performance plastics in North America and is part of the global Bayer MaterialScience business with nearly 19,000 employees at 40 sites around the world and 2005 sales of 10.7 billion euros.