Gear Production
Issue link: http://gear.epubxp.com/i/262216
24—GEAR Production Supplement F E A T U R E G erman manufacturer ZF Friedrichshafen AG makes a lot of gears. For manual transmissions. For automatic transmissions. For dual-clutch transmissions. It makes axle drives, including bevel gear sets. It manufactures products the world over, including a facility it opened last year in Gray Court, S.C. In total, the company produces approximately 2.5 million transmissions per year. The demand for ZF products (which include other products, such as driveline and chassis components) is growing signifcantly. According to Dr. Stefan Sommer, CEO of ZF, company sales in North America were $4.2 billion. Speaking to why the sales were so robust, Sommer says, "The primary reason for this is the demand for energy effcient automatic passenger car transmissions." ZF introduced eight-speed automatic passenger car transmissions in 2009. ZF produces this transmission for front-longitudinal applications in Gray Court; Chrysler produces it under license. The transmission is proving to be a big hit in vehicles ranging from the stylish Chrysler 300 sedan to the durable Ram 1500 light-duty pickup. An interesting aspect of ZF's approach is that it keeps trumping itself. It introduced a six-speed automatic transmission in 2006, and then a brief three years later, there was the eight. The driver: It provides a 6-percent improvement in fuel effciency compared with its own six-speed. (Note that ZF engineers are confdent enough to make comparisons with a product that they themselves developed. This is an indicator of profcient product development at work.) And now, the company, along with Chrysler, is producing a nine-speed automatic for front-traverse applications. Dr. Sommer says that in order to accommodate the production of the eight- and nine- speeds, Gray Court, which was opened in July 2013, is being expanded from its current 968,752 square feet to 1.4 million by 2016. Employment will go from 1,200 to 1,650 people. Here's the thing about the nine- speed. While six-speed automatics are still comparatively contemporary in front-wheel- drive applications, the nine provides signifcant fuel economy improvements. At a constant speed of 74.56 mph, the ZF Goes to Nine Speeds To help global automakers achieve greater fuel effciency, ZF is developing transmissions that are deploying an increasing number of gears. The ZF nine-speed transmission features more gears in a compact confguration. 0314_MMS_Gear_GaryFeature2.indd 24 2/13/2014 2:46:45 PM