By 2020,
Schaeffler LuK, part of Schaeffler AG, expects to have doubled its worldwide
capacity for continuously variable transmission (CVT) belts.
The company currently makes
some 1.6 million multi-link belts a year and the company recently celebrated
production of its ten millionth CVT belt.
“One argument in favour of the Schaeffler chain is the degree of efficiency
which has an edge over our competitors’ products”, claims Norbert Indlekofer,
chief executive officer Automotive of Schaeffler AG
He adds
that this “triggers high demand” from customers from all over the world:
Construction has already begun for capacity expansion at Schaeffler’s plant in
Puebla, Mexico. Production demand the site will begin in late 2017.
Preparations
for localising production in China, another potentially high demand region, are
also well under way. Start of production (SOP) is set for September 2018.
Schaeffler’s development
and production of the CVT chain has been a continued success story. First used of
the belt took place in the so-called “Multitronic” transmission in Audi’s A6
models in 1999.
Production began with a
mere 50 items a day, whereas today some 6,000 chains roll off the production
line in Bühl every working day. And from a global perspective, all indicators
point to growth.
The company prides itself
on in-house production facilities that are
tailored to the relevant requirements. These facilities are designed and
produced by Schaeffler’s Special Machinery group.
Indeed, it
is thanks to the Special Machinery group that it has been possible to react
extremely flexibly to customer demand and requirements at Schaeffler’s facility
in Bühl.
“It is
crucial to have in-depth command of the production process, and we have proven
this once again”, said Trudbert Kraus, senior vice president operations in the
transmission systems business division.
This excellence has been positively received by customers. This excellence has been recently rewarded when Holger Ubben, vice president of the CVT product line, accepted an award in the Best Performance category in Mexico. The
prize was awarded by Jatco Mexico for Schaeffler’s “spontaneous capacity
expansion” of the CVT8 transmissions in 2015. Jatco is a leading Japanese
transmission maker.
It seems the award was thanks to the Special Machinery group that Schaeffler could react “extremely
flexibly” at its Bühl facility.
“It is
crucial to have in-depth command of the production process, and we have proven
this once again”, said Trudbert Kraus, senior vice president operations in the
Transmission Systems business division at Schaeffler.
With the chain-driven
CVT, gear ratio can be continuously varied with no interruption to the tractive
force, which means that the engine can always be operated in the most favorable
area of the datamap in terms of consumption.
Another
major customer besides Audi and Jatco, is Japanese car maker Subaru which first
started using Schaeffler belts with the premier at the 2009 New York
International Auto show of the Subaru Lineartronic.
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