FAST FLOWING INNOVATION The Tristone Flowtech Group is a global leader in automotive engine, battery and turbocharger fluid cooling systems. Philip Yorke reports on a company that leads the field through innovation and continues to invest in new technology and state-of-the-art facilities worldwide.
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he Tristone Flowtech Group is headquartered in Frankfurt am Main and employs over 2500 people worldwide. In 2015 the group recorded sales of more than €228 million, which makes it one of the world’s leading suppliers of fluid application products in the area of automotive fluid cooling systems. The company operates manufacturing and R&D facilities in Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Turkey, Spain, France, Italy and China. More recently Tristone invested heavily in a modern manufacturing plant in Mexico and in September 2016 it officially inaugurated its latest state-of-the-art manufacturing plant in India. The group was established on the spin-off of the former fluid automotive business unit of Trelleborg AB of Sweden in July 2010. Today it supplies leading automotive OEMs such as VW Group, BMW, Daimler, Suzuki, Renault, Nissan Fiat Chrysler, Ford, Volvo and General Motors, as well as many automotive tier one suppliers.
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Innovation driving growth The first six months of 2016 were the most successful the group had ever recorded and it continues to benefit from the development of new, hybrid and battery driven electric vehicles. This takes into account the fact that the company’s share of battery cooling systems increased by almost 20 per cent on total order intake. Tristone is highly specialised in the development of fluid applications for not only battery cooling, but also for complex air-charge and air-intake systems. A large proportion of global sales are dedicated to research and development into new and innovative fluid cooling systems, and it is these new technologies that are driving Tristone’s global sales. Today the group is benefiting from the trend towards a reduction of space and fuel consumption with the introduction of polyamide materi-
