Ranking among the leader family-owned companies in the world, for over 70 years Schaeffler has developed inventions and innovations in the motion field for transmissions with low CO2 emissions, in addition to the sector of electric mobility, Industry 4.0, digitalization and renewable energies.
Its production includes high-precision components and systems for drivetrains and chassis applications, as well as rolling and sliding bearing solutions for a broad range of industrial applications. Its numbers are planetary: 83,700 collaborators, a turnover of about 14.4 billion Euros in 2019, year when it counted about 2,400 patent applications.
Coming back to our days, what are the hottest news by the brand? Certainly, the mass-production of electric motors.
The Business division course
The decision of setting up a specific vertical segment for the electric mobility dates back to the beginning of 2018. The company has progressively strengthned its competences in the electric mobility issue through a series of targeted takeovers. In 2016 it took over Compact Dynamics, a specialist in the development of innovative concepts of electric transmissions, in the same period when the joint venture Schaeffler-Paravan Technologie was developing the steer-by-wire Space Drive system, a key technology for the autonomous driving.
Another key operation was implemented with the purchase of Elmotec-Statomat, at the end of 2018, when Schaeffler added new expertise in the winding technology, so achieving comprehensive coverage of all aspects of electric motor industrialization.
«We are making excellent progresses – said Dr. Jochen Schröder, President of the E-Mobility Business Division. – Our modular product portfolio enables us to offer customized volume-production solutions to meet any customer requirements. These successes in the E-Mobility Business Division reflect the company’s high standing as an automotive and industrial supplier in general. Schaeffler is a component, system and service supplier, as its comprehensive product portfolio illustrates».
Electric mobility solutions
Today Schaeffler is reaping the rewards of its decision and has started the mass-production for multiple products across all electrification levels for the electric mobility, so
establishing itself as a technological partner able to offer notable component and system know-how.
«We have successfully transformed ourselves – stated Matthias Zink, CEO Automotive Technologies at Schaefler AG – into a drive system supplier for sustainable electric mobility solutions. We have been engaged with electric mobility for more than 20 years and we understand the drive-train requirements. Our innovation capacity as a global automotive and industrial supplier plus our strong industrial skills make us a preferred partner for our customers».
This year will see the start of the mass production of hybrid modules, hybrid drive units and all-electric axle transmissions.
In Audi e tron, for instance, Schaeffler electric axle transmissions, with different structural designs, are used on both axles for all-wheel drive capability. Besides, Porsche Taycan is fitted with a high-efficiency Schaeffler coaxial electric axle transmission to provide the required transmission ratio on the front axle.
Last year, the coaxial electric axle transmission earned Schaeffler the prestigious PACE Award, regarded by industry worldwide as the hallmark for successful automotive projects.
Moreover, another plus that highlights the brand’s excellence in the solution: Schaeffler can also boast the proposal of its complete “ 3in1 electric axles”, which combine the electric motor, drive unit and power electronics in a single system. These are high-performance electric axles with advanced power density.
The technological platform of which Schaeffler avails itself for the production of electric motors is modular and highly integrated. What is brewing, concerning this? Along with a series of mass-production orders for electric motors in the passenger car sector, Schaeffler has recently reached another milestone by entering the segment of heavy-duty applications for commercial vehicles: the mass production of electric motors featuring the “wave wind- ing” technology, which provides high power density as well as advantages during assembly, is just around the corner.
Concerning this, shortly after its release, Schaeffler OPTIME condition monitoring system won the Industry 4.0 Innovation Award, prize given to products and innovations that bring
a precious or substantial contribution to the Industry 4.0 matter.
The solution focuses on the monitoring of electric motors, pumps, units and fans, that is to say drives and units that are used in very big numbers and whose conditions have been hardly or only manually monitored until now, owing to the lack of technical and economic solutions.
“Development teams and partners of Schaeffler have demonstrated a high levelof commitment to orienting OPTIME concept towards our customers’ requirements and specific work environment. We are very proud – stated Rauli Hantikainen, Head of the Industry 4.0 strategic business field – of receiving the Industry 4.0 Innovation Award for OPTIME. This prize is an acknowledgement and a motivation to go on developing solutions with pioneering spirit and innovation boost for our customers”.
