A Passion for Sound ASK Industries

A pAssion for sound

In just over 50 years, Italy’s ASK Industries has grown to be a leading global supplier of acoustic technology to OEM customers throughout the automotive industry.

On June 27th, 2018 the Tunisian facility of ASK, the Italian specialists in high quality car audio systems, was awarded the prize for the ‘Best Plant 2018’ at the PSA factory in Kenitra, Morocco. The distinction had a special resonance since Peugeot, now part of the PSA group, was ASK’s first OEM customer. Now, as with its previous award in 2014, PSA has recognised the commitment and outstanding services of the employees in the ASK Tunisia plant.

Mr. Mohamed Karra, General Manager of ASK Tunisia, and Mr. Oussema Ben Hadj Ali, Quality Manager of ASK Tunisia attended the ceremony and received the important award.

The 2018 Award is just the latest of many awards that ASK has won over the last 50 years, including the Daimler Special Award for Innovation in 2012, the BBAC Excellent Supplier award, to ASK Ningbo, in 2014 and 2015, and the Geely R&D excellence supplier award in 2017.

54 years of growth

ASK is an electronics manufacturer that designs, produces and distributes high quality and innovative car audio systems (loudspeakers, subwoofer boxes and audio-amplifiers) for in-vehicle infotainment, and antenna systems (antennas and cables) for car connectivity.

The company was founded in 1965 in Reggio Emilia, Italy. Today the ASK Group is a multinational operation with facilities in Europe (Italy, Germany, Poland), Asia (China), USA, South America (Brazil) and North Africa (Tunisia), thus covering most areas of the world pertaining to the automotive industry.

ASK’s technology development centres and its customer support offices are also located in all its main global markets: Reggio Emilia, Ancona as well as Niederwinkling for Europe, Ningbo for Asia, Detroit for the USA and Sete Lagoas for South America.

A total of some 3,000 employees work for the ASK Group worldwide and a significant percentage of them are dedicated to Research and Development functions.

ASK’s current annual turnover is approximately 230 million euros and a further high growth rate is expected in the years to come. 98 per cent of ASK’s total turnover results from its automotive business. Its customers include Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Iveco, Jeep, PSA, Renault, Dacia, Nissan, BMW, Daimler, Porsche, Audi, Scania, Seat, Skoda, VW, Mitsubishi and Geely as well as supercar brands such as Ferrari and Maserati.

Completing the global footprint

In 2017 the ASK Group extended its global corporate footprint with the incorporation of ASK USA Inc. of Detroit, Michigan, USA. The new company, added to the other subsidiaries already

present in Brazil, China, Germany, Poland and Tunisia, intended to better serve the US market – which the group sees as vital to its growth ambitions – by providing a valuable technical and commercial support to the customers of this area. In fact, ASK sees this move as a vital part of the consolidation of its identity as a truly global business.

The move was strongly supported by ASK’s parent company, the JVC Kenwood Group, which acquired the Italian company in 2015. JVC Kenwood Corporation is a Japanese multinational electronics company headquartered in Yokohama, Japan. The company was itself formed from the merger of Victor Company of Japan, best known for its JVC brand, and Kenwood Corporation in October 2008.

JVC Kenwood’s Automotive Sector mostly develops car navigation systems, car audio systems, dashcams, and in-vehicle devices. It is divided into the Aftermarket Business, providing products to consumers through volume-sales retailers and distributors, and the OEM Business, of which ASK is a major part, which provides products through automobile manufacturers and dealers.

Covering the market

ASK’s audio systems are designed to generate a specific sound for every kind of customer and vehicle: from base systems for volumecars to branded high-end systems for premium-cars. The quality of its sound system depends not only on its technical features and on the choice of tools, but on the experience and knowledge acquired in the last two decades with learning and practice.

The company’s strength is rooted in teamwork involving sound engineers, loudspeaker designers and audio amplifier experts who work not only on the individual components, but also on the entire system landscape. And, from early stages of planning, ASK engages with automakers to improve its system architecture and performance.

Its antennae and cable systems cover all the frequencies and functions of many product-types: external antennas with mast, external shark-fin antennas, invisible car-integrated antennas etc. At the end of last year the company announced the successful completion of an Industrial Research and Experimental Development process for the design and construction of a new type of antenna for cars that brings together in a single module more features related to infotainment, geolocation and remote control of the car by mobile devices. This project was co-financed by the Emilia-Romagna region in the framework of the business innovation support programs scheduled by the 2014-2020 POR-FESR.

extending loudspeaker technology

Another of the technical innovations employed by ASK is X-AQT –Extended Acoustic Quality Test. This is a technique introduced by Italo Adami and Fabio Liberatore in the 90s based on the original Matt method, developed by Art Noxon a few years earlier.

The X-AQT tool measures and visualises the dynamic frequency response of vehicle acoustics as perceived by human ears. It measures the dynamic interference of various loudspeakers in different places, reflecting the most diverse environmental conditions in a car and enables the control of phase of signals, so as to refine the sound staging and speech intelligibility.

The ASK range of loudspeakers meets all the requirements of a pleasing in-car audio experience, from the simplest systems, composed of just a Woofer and Tweeter, up to the most complex 4-way systems with Subwoofer and Midrange. They therefore cover the entire market of car sound reproduction including Standard, HiFi and Premium systems up to the more sophisticated Top Sound with the most exclusive audio brands.

All the car-integrated loudspeakers are designed to optimise the acoustic performance through the closest collaboration with the most prominent automakers and the most expert sector technicians.

In 2019 ASK is confident that the combinations of its passion for sound and the many years of experience of its sound designers and engineers will continue to offer innovative solutions to its worldwide automotive customers for many years to come. n