Pioneering driveline-active technology

PIONEERING DRIVELINEACTIVE TECHNOLOGY

ZF Friedrichschafen AG is a global leader in driveline and chassis technology and recently enhanced its global position with the acquisition of another major global player, TRW Automotive. Philip Yorke reports on a company that has a combined turnover of more than €30 billion and looks at its latest active and passive safety technology. In addition, Industry Europe highlights the company’s special recognition of its top 14 suppliers worldwide.

ZF Friedrichschafen AG is also known as the ZF Group and is headquartered in Friedrichschafen, in the south-west region of Germany known as Baden-Wurttemberg. Specialising in engineering excellence, it is renowned for its design, research, development and manufacturing activities in the automotive industry. It is a worldwide supplier of driveline and chassis technology for cars and commercial vehicles along with specialist plant equipment for the construction industry. It is also involved in the rail, marine, defence and aviation industries as well as in many other industrial applications. Prior to its recent acquisition of TRW, the company had 113 production locations in 26 countries with approximately 72,000 employees.

Driving technology forward

ZF recently completed its acquisition of one of its main competitors, TRW Automotive of Germany. This will be incorporated into a new ZF division called Active & Passive Safety Technology. The

combined company operates under the brand name of ZF Friedrichschafen AG.

“Today marks the day we combine the strengths of ZF and TRW into a worldwide leading systems supplier in the automotive sector,” said Stefan Sommer, ZF’s CEO. “We are all very excited about our plans for the future, with the combination allowing us to capitalise on strategic opportunities and create near and long-term sustainable value for our customers and employees.

“The combined company is a powerhouse of automotive technologies, ranging from driver assistance and occupant safety systems, to drivelines and transmissions, and braking and steering systems,” said John C. Plant, president and CEO of TRW. “This unique combination of advanced technologies comprehensively addresses the growing industry-wide trends of safety, fuel efficiency and autonomous driving.

“With pro-forma sales exceeding €30 billion and more than 130,000 employees, the combined company is a top three global automotive supplier,” added Sommer. “Together with TRW, ZF will be even better positioned to benefit from major trends in the industry by building on the strengths of both companies, remaining focused on current and future business needs, and managing the transition with an emphasis on creating value.” Recognising supplier excellence

During its supplier summit event held in Amsterdam in 2015, ZF Friedrichschafen AG honoured its best performing suppliers with 14 coveted supplier awards. Oil and lubricant supplier Fuchs Petrolub was recognised as its top global supplier in the category. This was the first global supplier summit, with both ZF and TRW jointly presenting the annual Supplier Awards. E Winkemann GmbH emerged from a multi-stage process to be honoured as the winner of the ‘Innovation’ category. For over 20 years the company from Plettenberg has been supplying ZF Friedrichschafen AG with precision punching parts that are installed in every one of the company’s 8-speed automatic transmissions, including thrust washers, which absorb axial loads during a rotating movement.

The countries of origin of the award winners in the ‘Production Materials’ category perfectly reflect ZF’s global orientation. The eight award winning companies are headquartered in seven countries: MAT Foundry Group (UK), Stamp (Italy), Murata Manufacturing (Japan), Sunil M-Tec (South Korea), Gruner Systemtechnik, UTT Technische Textilien (both Germany), WR Controls (Sweden) and Taigene Electric Machinery (Taiwan).

Winners of the ‘Non Production Materials’ category include Balluff GmbH, which has supplied ZF with sensors and systems for

assembly lines, as well as Kontane Logistics, a tried and trusted logistics partner from the USA. The Esslingen-based family-owned and operated company Festo has been supporting ZF for decades with factory and process automation solutions, and Turin-based specialized multi-spindle machine tools manufacturer Vigel, which recently equipped the new ZF TRW plant in China Zhangjiagang with machining centers, was also among the award winning recipients in this category.

Paving the way forward

Outlining the future of sensing technology and making automated driving available to all, ZF continues to pave the way for automated driving in all classes of vehicles. ZF used the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas recently as a platform to highlight its leading position in environmental sensing technology. Through its ZF TRW division, the company is reinforcing its unique capabilities of camera and radar technologies and showing how these are helping to enable safety and automated driving across the full range of vehicle segments. The new S-Cam4 mono-camera features a new ‘form factor’ and is capable of supporting a wider field of view than the company’s current production camera’s in order to address future market requirements such as EURO NCAP’s AEB tests for crossing bicycles and other vulnerable road users.

Sommer said, “Our cameras also feature a lightweight design compared with competing sensors. We anticipate that both the S-Cam4 and TriCam are the smallest and lightest systems in their class, which is a distinct advantage in terms of not hindering the driver’s view and minimising critical weight being located high up in the vehicle.” n

For further details of ZF’s innovative automotive products and services visit: www.zf.com