| Corus, the international metals company,
has announced a major new contract to supply ZF Sachs, one of the world's
leading manufacturers of powertrain components, with its latest highcladâ
product - a unique copper-clad steel that will be used to make the company's
latest generation of torque converters.
By using Corus' material, ZF Sachs will be able to eliminate a
costly and time consuming manual manufacturing process. As well as offering
faster production cycles and reduced costs, by removing a manual stage
and moving to a fully automated process, ZF Sachs will also be able to
ensure a more consistent quality in the coated material used for the production
of their latest torque converter assemblies.
The contract will see Corus Special Strip business, based in Trierer supply
the highcladâ material directly to ZF Sachs' production facility.
The torque converters are used by ZF Sachs for automatic transmissions
which are supplied to many leading vehicle manufacturers.
Commenting on the contract win, Guido Wolf, manager strategic marketing,
Corus Special Strip said: "As market leaders in supplying plated
material for the automotive brake line industry and with over 100 years
experience, Corus Special Strip is no stranger to the sheet metal coating
business. By combining this expertise with an innovative process technology
and thanks to a close working relationship with ZF Sachs during the early
development stages, we have been able to provide a unique material solution
offering manufacturing cost and time efficiencies."
Automotive components have been made from steel clad with more expensive
materials such as copper to achieve enhanced levels of performance for
many years. However, Corus Special Strip has developed a unique three
stage manufacturing process, including innovative pre-treatment steps
to the base material coil, which has allowed the company to produce its
new generation of highcladâcoated materials.
"Now that the highcladâ manufacturing process is established
and well tested, we are starting to evaluate the benefits of combining
different materials such as aluminium with titanium," continued Wolf.
The potential benefits for a number of other automotive applications,
including car interiors, are very exciting and we are confident that we
will be able to bring these revolutionary new products to market in the
near future."
Commenting on awarding the contract to Corus, Dietrich Bechmann, senior
manager production, ZF Sachs said: "It was clear to us that Corus
Special Strip had the necessary track record and expertise in coatings
to be able to help us meet our material requirements for our new torque
converters. As a leading global supplier of automotive powertrain components
to many vehicle manufacturers, it was also very important for us to work
with suppliers who meet our exacting requirements. After a thorough audit
lasting over a week, we were confident that Corus also had the relevant
quality management systems operating internally."
Underlining this, Corus Special Strip has acquired accreditation to the
new ISO TS16949 quality approval standard. Aimed primarily at tier-one
suppliers, TS 16949 is a technical specification developed and supported
by vehicle manufacturers in Europe , America and Japan and will help define
quality system requirements for the global automotive supply chain.
"Having to meet third party approval through the new TS 16949 standard,”
said Wolf, “has given ZF Sachs the added confidence that the quality
management systems operating within Corus meet the most stringent requirements
removing the need for them to undertake further second party audits."
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