Recognising supplier excellence ZF Group

RECoGNISING SuPPLIER ExCELLENCE

The ZF Group is the global leader in the design and manufacture of driveline and chassis technology for cars and commercial vehicles. The company continues to pioneer automotive drive-chain technology and autonomous driving, setting new standards for the industry. Unrivalled innovation is achieved in collaboration with its key suppliers. Each year the suppliers that go the extra mile are recognised by 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.

Recognising the best of the best

Supplier innovations and a global presence are strategically important to the ZF Group and in 2017 seven companies were honoured to receive the coveted ZF Global Supplier Award. For the first time a prize has been awarded for partner companies in the digitalisation sector. At the Global Supplier Summit, seven of ZF’s suppliers received prizes spread over four different categories for their outstanding performance.

Wilhelm Rehm, a member of the ZF board of management and responsible for materials management among other areas, said: “Innovation and financially sound suppliers with a global name are the backbone of our company’s success. In the midst of the global megatrend for advancing digitalisation and increasing electro mobility, ZF is pursuing Vision Zero (the reduction of road accidents and emissions) with passion. ZF needs a supplier base with an international production structure for the new products and commodities that result from Vision Zero. Reliability and quality are the most important aspects here.”

In 2017 around 300 ZF specialists and executive managers, along with representatives from the company’s most important key suppliers, met at the Global Supplier Summit at the ZF Forum in Fredrichschafen, Germany, the corporate headquarters of the group. The event was an opportunity to share knowledge and discuss strategies on purchasing and logistics. The ZF management team also used the event to honour its most outstanding suppliers.

The high-tech company gave a supplier award in the digitalisation category for the first time. The winner was Gefasoft GmbH: an IT company from Munich that leads in online data exchange. The company won over the jury with its transparent presentation of information, which boosts the efficiency of processes. Together with ZF, Gefasoft developed a platform to digitally visualise and optimise work processes within production. This increases responsiveness in production and improves capacity utilisation for data systems.

Going the extra mile

Three companies won an award in the Production Materials category this year. The Hella Group, which supplies ZF with sensors and other elements and entered into a strategic partnership with ZF

in the summer, scored points because of its technological leadership and the amazing support it provides for engineering. The family firm, from Lipstadt, Germany, is listed on the stock exchange and represented in 125 locations across 35 countries worldwide.

Another winner that went the extra mile in this category was Ningbo Sunny Automotive Opotech. The company belongs to the Chinese Sunny Optical Technology Group. Sunny is the world’s biggest camera lens manufacturer and a strategic partner for the manufacture of many ZF automotive components, including those in the LIDAR technology sector.

Yet another prize-winner was the French company Lisa Automotive, which supplies ZF with anchorage systems and forming technology. It is also a strategic development partner for ZF and is the prize-winner in the Production Materials sector.

The Polish special-purpose machine manufacturer Pemes Sp. won an award for Non-Production Material. This company is headquartered in Warsaw and has a global network of cooperation partners. It supported the Active and Passive Safety Technology division of ZF in establishing an innovative and cost-effective airbag production process. The second award winner in this category was the Kempten-based logistics company Dachser. This company is a global leader in system logistics and has a tight global network.

The award in the Innovation category went to the Spanish Instituto Technologico de Aragon. This technology centre from Zaragoza advises ZF on matters related to innovative engineering and made a considerable contribution in revamping the technological processes within the group, in particular for the virtual development of a new brake system.

expanding autonomous driving horizons

Today ZF is expanding its development competences in the autonomous driving field. On 1 December 2017, 20 developers from an automotive engineering company in Kosching, in upper Bavaria, became part of the ZF Group and now work for ZF’s subsidiary, Zukunft Ventures, under the name ‘Zukunft Mobility’.

The new automotive engineering company specialises in the development of functions for driver assistance, integrated vehicle safety and autonomous driving. Its employees include computer scientists, physicists and software developers, who have many years of experience in the automotive industry. They will be working on developing these functions for the future, particularly in the sensor and software development sectors.

“The expansion of our capabilities and skills in software and algorithm development is extremely important to ZF, as it enables us to offer our

customers intelligent mechanical systems,” said ZF’s CEO Dr Stephan Sommer. “With these developers, we have an experienced and competent team, and together we can work on the future of the automobile industry. In terms of our ‘See-Think-Act’ claim we are strengthening the ‘Think’ element by making the intelligent connection between what is happening in the vehicle and subsequently how it should act.”

For ZF, the development of functions, systems and algorithms for autonomous and automated driving will be at the forefront of its future activities. This could include, for example, environmental detection of vehicles or objects for automated parking scenarios.

First HD electric park brake

Recently ZF launched the world’s first heavy-duty electric park brake for the Ford Motor Company’s F-150. This marks the first launch of a heavy-duty electric park brake system in North America for larger light trucks. In Atlanta, Georgia, the Ford Motor company has bought the fuel economy, enhanced packaging and diverse functions of electric park brake (EPB) technology, with this first-to-market introduction of heavy duty EPB on the 2018 Ford F-150.

“The electric brake is a remarkably versatile technology that is ideal for larger light vehicles,” said Manfred Meyer, senior vice-president for global braking. “For example, it can result in weight savings of up to 20 pounds or more for commercial vans, larger trucks and SUVs when compared to conventional drum-in-hat park brakes. This can lead to enhanced fuel economy and reduced CO2 emissions; and by eliminating the park brake lever or pedal, it also frees up space in the interior cabin and activates at the touch of a button.” n

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