Global leader in automotive interiors

GLOBAL LEADER IN

AUTOMOTIVE INTERIORS

As a global leader in automotive interiors, providing everything from seating, overhead systems, doors and instrument panels to electronics, Johnson Controls Automotive Experience supports almost all major automakers in their vehicle development. Industry Europe looks at the company’s worldwide presence, innovative products, its latest supplier awards and the importance it places on maintaining strong supplier relationships.

Headquartered in Burscheid, Germany, Johnson Controls Automotive Experience operates 240 production plants and development centres throughout the world, from North America and Europe to Asia. The company’s main focus is the continuous development of state-of-the-art technologies, to which end it employs over 6000 highly skilled engineers and designers. This is how it remains at the forefront of the automotive interiors segment.

The main Technology Centre is housed at Johnson Automotive’s Burscheid headquarters. This facility houses everything from product development and industrial design, to consumer and market research, benchmarking, prototyping and testing. Today more than 1700 of the division’s 91,000 global employees are based here.

Complete automotive solutions

Johnson Controls Automotive’s products and solutions fall into two main categories: Seating and Interiors. The first of these encompasses everything from complete seats, metal structures & mechanisms to seat foam, seat fabrics and trims. With a full-service design offering, the company is able to apply its expertise to create automotive seat systems that integrate seamlessly with the interior to enhance both the user experience and the vehicle appeal. Comfortlab®, its global laboratory network, provides insights into differing regional and global comfort expectations so it is able to tailor its offering to meet the needs of its customers wherever they are.

In the area of Interiors, Johnson Controls is able to work with its OEM customers to develop functional solutions that can significantly differentiate their products from those of their competitors. These solutions cover instrument panels, floor consoles, door panels, headliners & overhead systems, and overhead consoles that offer superior quality, craftsmanship, colour and consistency. It uses high-end surface materials from cut & sewn wrapped leather to foils and slush skins. It is also the market leader in developing natural, renewable lightweight materials, such as natural fibre carrier materials for interior components that look great but can also enhance fuel efficiency. Dedicated to innovation

As R&D and technological design play such a key part in the company’s activities, it is no surprise that in the past few months alone we have seen some exciting new additions to its portfolio. For example, it has recently developed an automatic seat preadjustment system that brings the driver’s seat into a comfortable and safe position based on the size of the driver. Given that many people suffer from neck and back pain owing to poorly adjusted seats, this is an important step forward in terms of user comfort. It is also very convenient if one person drives the same vehicle, as the seat will automatically adjust itself to fit the new driver. To create this groundbreaking solution, the ergonomics specialists at Johnson Controls developed an algorithm that determines the optimal seat position based on the driver’s size. Based on this, the adjustment motors move the seat to a position that is both comfortable and safe.

In September 2013 Johnson Controls introduced a door panel manufactured using its new Compression Hybrid Moulding

(CHyM) process technology. This technology for manufacturing door panels is able to combine the benefits of both natural fibre components and thermoplastic injection moulding. Rigorous tests have shown that door panels manufactured using this process are able to achieve a 40 per cent weight reduction without compromising on strength or safety.

Finally, in December 2013 the company announced that it will be supplying key components for the new Mercedes-Benz S-Class. These will include front seats and optional Executive rear seats, the rear-seat entertainment system, the headliner and sun visors. It will be providing the automaker’s own seat production plant with key seat components, with the seat structure based on a modular solution that can be adapted to different vehicle segments.

The seat adjustment mechanisms have a compact, lightweight design and there is an optional Memory package to save the seat positions. Johnson Controls has also come up with an all-new tandem solution. With this, the patented, specially mounted actuator limits the forward adjustment range of the cushion base to only half, while lengthening the complete seat cushion and adapting the suspension to suit the size and weight of the passenger.

Sika Automotive GmbH received a Johnson Controls Supplier Performance Award for their adhesive solutions for various applications

Sika’s strength as automotive supplier of innovative adhesive solutions is the global availability of the products. Additionally Sika offers a professional technical support for the customer. Close collaboration in an early stage of a project is important to ensure the feasibility and guarantees the best solutions. Sika as a strong partner provides a full range of adhesive technologies to automotive customers like Johnson Controls.

The importance of suppliers

In part, Johnson Controls’ worldwide success is down to the strong global supplier network it has built up in the 80 years since its establishment. Indeed, the importance of certain of its key suppliers was recognised in October 2013 at the company’s third annual European Supplier Awards. They include both Performance Awards and Leadership Awards, taking into account factors such as quality, cost awareness, logistics, design, technology and service. The Performance Awards were presented in gold, silver or bronze, depending on the total number of points achieved.

Among the recipients of the Leadership Awards were EOC Belgium N.V., which supplies a compound formulation for a new line of lightweight automotive seats; Bayer Material Science AG (Germany), which has succeeded in combining excellent quality performance with strong environmental improvement programs; Robert Bosch GmbH (Germany), which supplies motors and drives for car seats with electric seat adjustment functions; and Kostel Promet D.O.O. (Croatia), which cuts and sews seat covers for Johnson Controls.

Winners of the Supplier Performance Awards were as follows: Higa S.R.O. from Slovakia, Robert Bosch GmbH from Germany and Scherdel Marienberg GmbH from Germany received Supplier Performance Awards in gold. Asmo Co. Ltd (Japan), Baumann Springs Ltd (Switzerland), voestalpine Stamptec (Germany), Havd-Group AB (Sweden) and BASF Polyurethanes GmbH (Germany) were awarded Supplier Performance Awards in silver. Eight companies received Supplier Performance Awards in bronze: W.E.T. Automotive Systems (Germany), SINFLEX Indústria de Molas Técnicas Lda (Portugal), Leoni Wiring Systems (Germany), GABEC s.c. P.J. Kotkowscy (Poland), Estampaciones Industriales S.A. (Spain), Industrias Garita S.L. (Spain), Harbort GmbH & Co. KG (Germany) and Bayer MaterialScience AG (Germany).

A separate awards ceremony was held for Johnson Controls’ Interiors suppliers, also including Performance and Leadership awards. The winner of the Gold Supplier Performance Award was IZO-BLOK SP Z.O.O., a Polish manufacturer of foamed plastic parts. Sika Automotive GmbH from Germany and the Belgian company Total Research & Technology both received Silver Awards. The Bronze Supplier Performance Awards for Interiors went to Polyvlies – Franz Beyer GmbH & Co KG (Germany), Polydesign Systems S.A.R.L. (Morocco), Euroform Deutschland GmbH, Jute Kassel GmbH (Germany), Aditec S.A. (France), ITW Automotive Products GmbH (Germany), and J.H. Ziegler GmbH & Co. KG (Germany).

The Leadership Award for Quality also went to IZO-BLOK. The Customer Satisfaction awards went to C.H. Müller GmbH from Germany, a market leader in laminating and coating; and ChongQing BoAo Magnesium Aluminium Manufacturing Co. Ltd from China. For Global Growth, the winners were Styron Deutschland Anlagengesellschaft mbH, a plastics manufacturer; and Carl Bechem GmbH, a supplier of technical lubricants and additives for users in the automotive industry.

Kelly Bysouth, group vice-president Purchasing, said at the prestigious event: “Johnson Controls Automotive Seating places high importance on effective supplier management. Excellent suppliers are a competitive advantage in our industry. With the Supplier Awards we acknowledge the value our best suppliers have brought to use in the past 12 months.” n