Schaeffler Group Opens Development Center

Schaeffler Group Opens Development Center The Schaeffler Group has commissioned a new development center for the surface coating of components at its headquarters in Herzogenaurach. The new development capacity offers opportunities for new processes and combinations of different materials and coating technologies that are unique worldwide. The opening of the new center represents a further expansion of the company¡¯s research and development activities at the company group¡¯s central location. In her opening speech, Mrs. Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler, Partner of INA-Holding Schaeffler KG, emphasized the outstanding importance of research and development for the Schaeffler Group particularly with a view to implementing innovations in line with the market. ¡°By opening the new Surface Technology Center, our group of companies is intensifying its commitment to the future, particularly in nanotechnology, and is expanding its expertise in rapidly converting research results into innovative and efficient products.¡± Dr. Peter Gutzmer, President Technical Product Development and acting Executive Vice President of the Automotive division, explained the importance of surface technology as a sub-discipline of nanotechnology ¨C one of the key technologies of the 21st. century. The Schaeffler Group¡¯s Surface Technology Center will contribute significantly to the development of new ideas on a nanotechnology scale that are suitable for production volumes and also make an important contribution to safeguarding locations in Germany and the future of the Schaeffler Group. The Schaeffler Group has been a leader in the area of innovative surface and coating technology for many years. The functionality of surfaces for a range of applications is optimized using special processes. Examples are wear resistance, sliding characteristics, shine or appearance, electrical and thermal conductivity, as well as corrosion protection. Under its brands Corrotect® und Triondur®, Schaeffler offers a successful range of correspondingly coated components. The importance of coating technology will continue to increase due to growing product requirements in industry and vehicle manufacturing. The Surface Technology Center now provides development engineers at Schaeffler with facilities and capacity that open up new possibilities particularly for combining different processes and materials. Tribological coating systems, i.e. coating systems that are optimized for friction and are resistant to wear, can be developed and implemented using the PVD/PACVD development facility. The coating material is either in the form of a solid (PVD ¨C Physical Vapor Deposition) or in the form of a gas (PACVD ¨C Plasma Assisted Chemical Vapor Deposition) and is vaporized in a vacuum. In contrast to conventional coating methods, it is possible to produce unique compositions of different materials and coatings with this environmentally-friendly vacuum process. There is also an electroplating development facility that is used particularly for developing corrosion protection coatings that are ecologically harmless and customer-oriented and future-oriented. For example, part of the focus is on coatings that are hexavalent chromium-free (Cr-VI) and that comply with the stringent requirements of the new EU directive on end-of-life vehicles. Both development facilities also enable cost-oriented and function-oriented combinations of different vapor deposition processes and coating systems. This supports the development of comprehensive expertise in surface technology within the Schaeffler Group. The Surface Technology Center will enable the rapid implementation of customized, nanotechnological solutions in combination with the company¡¯s central research and development facilities that provide comprehensive know-how with their testing, basic research and calculation departments, and employees who provide materials engineering support. In the field of research and product development, the Schaeffler Group employs approximately 5,000 people at 30 development locations worldwide who develop around 1,000 new products per year. Over 400 employees work at Corporate Engineering at the group¡¯s headquarters in Herzogenaurach alone. A further development center will be opened in May, 2007 in Anting, China.