Reliability plus customer focus – that’s Aurora conditioning Aurora

RELIABILITY PLUS CUSTOMER FOCUS – THAT’S AURORA CONDITIONING

With a long and continuous growth record in the development, construction and production of HVAC systems, Germanbased Aurora is poised for further global penetration, as the general manager, Hannes Wolf, explains to Colin Chinery.

Eighty five years ago Konrad Schulz devised a water heater for the family Model A Ford. Another five for his small fleet of tourist buses quickly followed, and after impressing Karl Kässbohrer, head of the leading coach manufacturer in Ulm, BadenWürttemberg, and seeing the mobile market potential for HVAC systems, the enterprising Schulz launched Aurora in Leipzig.

That was in 1930, and today Aurora, now based in the southern German region of Neckar-Odenwald, is a sector byword for reliability and customer focus, with a global span across five continents.

Focusing chiefly on on–and-off highway vehicles and machines in the bus, rail, agriculture and construction industry vehicle sectors – and with a reach into specialist and military segments – Aurora offers customised solutions for complete heating and air conditioning systems, each individual component having advanced technical specifications that can be matched for maximum system performance.

The strategic product grouping consists of air conditioning units and devices – both roof-mounted and integrated air/heating systems, blowers – radial, twin radial, axial fans, roof ventilators and cabin blowers – heaters – built-in or supplementary, oil or water heater, and nozzles and accessories.

“Our whole thinking is based upon the belief that the entire operation – both components and systems – is only as good as its weakest part. We are developing components such as heat exchangers, blowers, water valves, controls, louvers – a new family of which is now going into production – and air distribution outlets, while at the same time looking at the whole system,” says general manager, Hannes Wolf. “Most of our competitors, certainly the big ones, are only focussed on systems supply. We believe in a highly integrated, vertically integrated production.”

From R&D to service

With a strong R&D focus on market-specific components – often with heavy-duty applications – Aurora’s research and production facilities at its Mudau headquarters are all-encompassing, with – on the systems side – a complete range of engineering tools including performance simulation, optical measuring systems, reverse engineering, and testing tools from small components up to an entire vehicle analysis in the climate hall. Of the company’s 240 employees 36 are highly trained engineers, with 15 per cent of all staff engaged in development.

For Aurora – 14001 certified – environmental considerations are very much a daily issue, and becoming more and more so

www.aurora-eos.com

HVAC Systems for on/off highway vehicles

AURORA can offer customised solutions for complete heating and air conditioning systems. The individual components with advanced technical specifications can be matched to give maximum system performance.

Our long term experience in the heating and air-conditioning of commercial vehicles is the key to the complete fulfilment of our customers’ needs.

AURORA Konrad G. Schulz GmbH & Co. KG Joachim-Schulz-Str. 4, 69427 Mudau, Germany Phone: +49 6284 9202-0 • E-mail: info@aurora-eos.com among the big league players says Mr Wolf. “Overall we are not a market leader in terms of volume, but we are part of the premium level in terms of service and technology.”

Since high-performance HVAC systems can continue functioning only at the highest level, any periodical servicing is carried out by specialised Aurora staff or through the company’s world wide partners. This close link to its global customer base gives Aurora a big competitive edge, one that Mr Wolf says it is being enhanced through the extension of the Aurora local brand presence – as distinct from partnerships.

Branding goes global

This process began in 2001 with the foundation of Aurora Turkey, with North America following in 2010. “We are seeing a lot of growth in North America with this approach, giving the right service to low volume customers,” says Mr Wolf. It is a brand growth strategy now in the final stages of being rolled out for China and the Far East, Russia, India and South America, and Mr Wolf promises some early news. “In the long run we want to have a much deeper presence in these areas, and within the next two months

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you should be seeing something more concrete in this respect.”

Since 1990, Aurora has been a 100 per cent subsidiary of INDUS Holding AG, based at Bergisch Gladbach, a long-term investor in medium-sized companies run as independent operating units whose continuity and brands remain secure. Aurora’s output has doubled in the past ten years and over the next twelve months Mr Wolf expects to add at least 10 per cent.

The strategy in place allows for both organic growth and acquisitions. “If there’s a good opportunity to buy a company then we will take that, but the test is that it must be one that is in line with our culture. However the main growth will be in the emerging markets. We will not be seeing big growth in Europe anymore.”

Even so, Aurora will be spending 4 million euros this year and next on a new production hall, extending the present five injection mouldings to twelve, and Mr Wolf sees this as a demonstration of its continuing confidence in Germany and Europe.

Customer loyalty

And confidence is what Aurora certainly enjoys from its customers. Kässbohrer – its first client back in 1930 – and now Evobus, part of the Daimler Group, is its fourth biggest customer. Fritzmeier, world market leadership in the production of cabs for agro and construction vehicles is another major purchaser, with the number one client being MAN Truck & Bus AG, the largest company in the MAN Group and one of the leading international providers of commercial vehicles and innovative transport solutions.

“For us, each customer has the same value,” says Mr Wolf. “We don’t differentiate between the large and the small. A customer is a customer. And whatever a customer’s question might be, we take the challenge to deliver the right answer, the answer specific to that customer and its needs. If there’s a problem, we have to solve it – and solve it at the beginning.

“Aurora is a stable company – when the family sold to an investor it was to a very stable investor – and we are on the growth track by going international, and having many new projects, production facilities and customers. We are financially sound, able to self-finance our investment, and we have never let a customer down.” n