Gearing up for new business awards ZF Group

GEaRInG uP FoR nEW BusInEss aWaRDs

The ZF Group is the global leader in the advanced design and manufacture of driveline and chassis technology for cars and commercial vehicles. Philip Yorke takes a closer look at a company that continues to drive global automotive technology and set the standards for the industry. Unrivalled innovation is achieved in collaboration with its key suppliers, who collectively strive to win the company’s coveted ZF supplier awards.

The ZF Group was founded in 1915 in Friedrichshafen, Germany to produce gears for Zeppelins and other airships. Today the company specialises in the precision engineering of driveline and chassis technology for cars and commercial vehicles. It is also involved in the rail, marine, defence and aviation industries. Currently ZF has more than 230 production locations in over 40 countries worldwide and in 2016 employed around 140,000 people.

Best of the best

Supplier innovations and a global presence are strategically important to the ZF Group, and in 2016 seven companies were honoured to receive the coveted ZF Global Supplier Award. The event was held on 6 December at a summit in Katowice, Poland where the company recognised the best-in-class performance of its suppliers in four categories: Global, Innovation, Production Materials and

Non-production materials

Wilhelm Rehm, a member of the ZF board of management, emphasised the importance of suppliers for the ZF 2025 strategy: “At least two of our five strategic goals, namely globally-balanced market penetration as well as innovation and cost-leadership, are difficult to achieve without the commensurate performance of our suppliers. It makes me very happy to report that the majority of our suppliers are already aware of, and support, our strategic directions. Those being honoured today are ‘merely’ the summit of this movement.”

The Murata manufacturing company took the top prize in the category ‘Innovation 2016’, which marks the second year in which the Japanese company has been bestowed with this special supplier award. Murata supplies ZF’s E-Mobility as well as Active & Passive Safety technology. The E-Mobility Division was able to draw on constant development support from Murata, in particular during volume production development of the electric axle drive for passenger cars.

TDK was presented with the ZF Supplier Award in the ‘Global Award’ category. The global Electronics Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo, supplies ZF Europe, Asia and South America with advanced electronic components characterised by consistently high quality, professional management of subcontractors and a high level of cost efficiency.

ZF also determined that three companies were praiseworthy in the production materials category: Dutch DSM Engineering Plastics BV; German Bausmann GmbH for its innovative spring technology, which is now implemented in almost all ZF divisions; and Oechsler AG, which is headquartered in Ansbach and furnishes ZF with advanced actuators for electronic parking brakes.

In the non-production materials category, two companies that are active in in all ZF divisions merited special commendations and these were: ZITEC Industrietechnik GmbH located near Munich, as well as the US based FedEx Corporation, a logistics partner that provides a high level of performance at competitive pricing.

New networked vehicle platform

Recently ZF presented its new Networked Vehicle Platform for the Rinspeed ‘Oasis’, a visionary electric concept vehicle that will feature a number of ground-breaking technologies from ZF. This platform provides the opportunity for ZF to debut its unique ‘Intelligent Rolling

Chassis’ (IRC) which combines an axle-integrated electric drive with an extremely agile chassis and a flat vehicle floor.

The new IRC is designed for urban passenger and transport vehicles and features zero emissions thanks to its all-electric drive, based upon the ZF electric twist-beam rear axle. The aluminium electric motors at the rear axle are integrated with a single transmission that enables the Oasis to accelerate to 100km/h in approximately nine seconds and reach up to 150km/h.

The Oasis is incredibly agile with a turning radius of up to 75 degrees versus a typical turning radius of 50 degrees, making it ideal for use in crowded cities where parking is at a premium. ZF technology enables this highly responsive vehicle control by networking the chassis actuation systems using a powerful electronic unit housed within the IRC system. This unit can receive signals from multiple vehicle control systems, thus providing advanced manoeuvrability for piloted or automated driving.

Increasing occupant safety

Recently ZF responded to a new crash-scenario test for the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). As a result, the new ZF Airbag Concept helps to significantly raise the bar in passenger car occupant safety. To help mitigate injuries in the event of a collision, ZF is set to launch several new and innovative passenger airbag concepts, including a passenger curtain airbag system with either V or U-shaped design features. This all-new airbag system is designed to better protect front seat occupants from serious injuries even when the vehicle is struck head-on and from the left at 90km/h.

The unique airbag geometry enhances safety further by having an additional function that helps to prevent the occupants in the front from their heads hitting the dashboard or A-pillar. To achieve this, ZF enhanced the curtain airbags installed in the roof-liners with a special bag-shape design. When the airbags deploy, the additional safety cushion inflates next to the driver’s head. n

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