Constant growth BorgWarner

CONSTANT GROWTH

BorgWarner is a global leading company in powertrain solutions with a focus on developing leading powertrain technologies that improve fuel economy, emissions and performance.

The American BorgWarner group is a technology leader in the field of turbocharging, and today it has 59 locations in 19 countries. The company sets high standards in regards to performance, smooth running, reliability and durability. It has established sites in Mexico, China, South Korea, Poland and Germany in addition to the Hungarian site in Oroszlány. The German manufacturing site in Kirchheimbolanden is the European headquarters.

In 2011, BorgWarner acquired the Traction Systems division of Haldex Group – a leading provider of innovative products for the global vehicle industry headquartered in Stockholm. This has accelerated the group’s growth in the global all-wheel drive (AWD) market as it continues to shift towards front-wheel drive (FWD) based vehicles. This has added industry-leading FWD/AWD technologies, with a strong European customer base, to BorgWarner’s existing portfolio of front- and rear-wheel drive based products. This means that the group can now provide global customers with a broader range of AWD solutions to meet their vehicle needs.

Traction Systems produces electronically controlled FWD or AWD systems for cars. The fact that these systems are controllable means that they can better interact with other subsystems in the car. The system software can be customised to meet each carmaker’s particular wishes in terms of driving characteristics and traction.

Growth in Hungary

BorgWarner turbochargers are made for cars as well as for light trucks and commercial vehicles. The Hungarian produc-

tion facility was built in 2001. The factory, located in Oroszlány, was initially built to serve the Audi factory in Hungary. At first it was only a site to assemble the turbochargers, but soon they began to manufacture and assemble the products. The company has seen dynamic development ever since, and has doubled its turnover every year. Parallel to its increasing turnover, the capacity of the production site has also continuously grown, requiring greater investment in infrastructure. Most recently was in November 2007 when a new 4000m2 production hall opened, increasing the company’s total area to 13,386m2 .

Initially BorgWarner only manufactured turbo systems for passenger cars in its Oroszlány plant.The company’s largest client is still Audi but its client base is expanding and

now includes other prestigious car manufacturers including Renault, Fiat, VW, BMW, GM/Opel and Volvo.

The demand for cars with turbochargers is on the rise because of their reduced carbon dioxide emission and increased performance. Therefore it is not surprising that whilst the growth of the global automotive sector was on average 3 per cent in the last decade, BorgWarner achieved five times greater growth in the same period. The company will continuously improve its product range with newly developed, improved products whilst maintaining high quality.

Lean management

Besides significant technological investments BorgWarner puts great emphasis on training its human resources, using a new and unique training method. “In order to maintain our competence we have to continue to produce market-leading products, and this requires excellent engineering staff that speak many foreign languages,” says a company representative from the Hungarian site.

Predominantly the company is aiming to maintain its lean concept whilst developing its current site. For example, the assembly equipment will be implemented in one direction, whilst the factory will aim to take full advantage of its existing equipment and bring in changes that will increase the efficiency of the production.

“We would like to manage our operation based on a concept that decisions are made at the lowest possible levels, which will increase the quality of our products and improve our customer service,” he reveals. “This is quite a serious investment, which is not put into bricks and iron but to our human resources.” n