Opel Ford C-Max, BMW 5er, BMW X3, BMW 6er, Audi A3 Avant User Manual

design • engineer • build • drive 0 2| 20 0 3

NEW SLIDING DOOR MECHANISM

Hiding sliding door

IAA 2003

Edscha inside

Fresh ideas forvehicles.

As a supplier of movable systems, we’ve gota feel for what’s essential for vehicles. Togetherwithour ability to design complete vehicles, and with fresh ideas, our pathinto the futureinvariably looks good. And hencesome matching extras can come along too.Like extras that smell nice.But leave that to others tosupply. www.edscha.com

E D I T O R I A L

Open up!

Acentral feature of corporate culture at Edscha is openness. Honest and timely communication is something we

care about deeply, both in-house and towards the general public and of course our customers. That’s one of the reasons why we have edwin, now appearing the second time.

Coincidence or not – many of our products also center on ‘openness’. Hinge and convertible roof systems from Edscha have for decades now been providing dependable access to cars. In that time, the demands made on cars have risen dramatically in every respect. Nowadays, it’s comfort above all that’s the clincher for the buyer. We haven’t shut our eyes to that fact either – instead we set ourselves the task of opening up new prospects in our niches for our customers.

In this edition of edwin we’re presenting a few of our ideas for discussion. For example ideas for more convenient opening systems:

ranging from the next-generation door hinge, the Notch Stop (pages 11 and 22), and an electrically-powered rear lid developed by us (page 14), to the alternative sliding door mechanism that adorns the title page (page 18).

We’ve developed new approaches elsewhere too: specialists from IVM Automotive helped, for example, to develop the existing Junkers opposed-piston engine into an unusually efficient, lightweight, inexpensive and clean two-cylinder design for a wide range of applications (page 16); and they pondered how our customers could exert a favorable effect on the production costs and weight during the development process itself (page 12).

More details of all this can be found in this issue – or can be heard at the Edscha Group’s 4th Symposium in November. Its motto? “OpenMinded”, what else!

On that note, enjoy reading it!

IMPRINT

Publisher:

Edscha AG,

Hohenhagener Str. 26–28,

42855 Remscheid

Coordinator: Christiane Nadol Publishing House: corps Corporate Publishing Services GmbH, Schanzenstraße 56,

40549 Düsseldorf

Editors: Wilfried Lülsdorf,

Michael Drosten

Project Manager: Stefanie Dodt

Art-Direction: Guido Koch, Köln

Cover Photography: John

M. John

Photos: Adam Opel AG, Audi AG, Manfred Bernhard, DaimlerChrysler Nutzfahrzeuge, Dorint AG, Edscha AG, John M. John, Lars Langemeier, M. Dannenmann, Meilenwerk, Smart GmbH, Ssangyong Motor, Volvo Car Corporation Lithography: F+S GmbH Printing: Druckerei Tannhäuser Publication dates: twice a year

edwin 02 | 2003 3

C O N T E N T S

B U S I N E S S

5News

Financial results, new joint venture in China, 4th Edscha Symposium

8 When the Machine came to Man

40 years ago Edscha opened its first branch plant in Bavaria

9Sharper profile

IVM Automotive picks up the pace with a new structure

P R O D U C T S

10 Edscha inside

The Group’s contribution to new vehicles launched at the IAA 2003

12Lightweight doesn’t have to be expensive

IVM Automotive helps to keep costs down on lightweight concepts

14Built-in drive

Edscha’s electric decklid increases drivers’ comforts

P R O J E C T S

16Junkers for Asia

The opposed-piston engine for the 21st century: light, cheap, clean

18 Hiding sliding door

Without guide rail the sliding door becomes presentable

P R O C E S S E S

20 Design from Germany

The IVM Automotive Design Center offers the entire design portfolio

22For the next generation

Edscha invests in the future of hinges with a new metal-cutting line

24Save without roof

From coupé to convertible using technical calculation

B O U L E V A R D

25News

On drive-in movie theaters, elevators and wild animals crossing

26 A journey back in time

A ramble through Germany’s car museums

4

B U S I N E S S P R O D U C T S P R O J E C T S P R O C E S S E S B O U L E V A R D

Tacking against the wind

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2002|2003 Weak markets and other adversities could do little to hold up the Edscha Group this past financial year.

Despite contrary winds in the sales markets and a rough climate in the motor vehicle industry in

general, the Edscha Group attained its sales targets in fiscal 2002|2003 (through 30 June) and extended its market positions. Between July 2002 and June 2003 the Group sales were

€ 948 million; this is an increase of 22 percent over the previous year

(€ 777 million), and almost exactly the level envisaged since the beginning of the year. The new division, Vehicle Design, established by the acquisition of IVM Automotive in July 2002, contributed € 108 million to total sales.

The Hinge Systems business remained stable at € 553 million (previous year € 555 million); the dramatic decline of the Brazilian real prevented reporting higher sales. The launch of pro-

duction of the BMW Z4 and the Smart Roadster tops caused sales of convertible roof systems to shoot up 30 percent to € 189 million (€ 145 million). Thanks to numerous production launches, the Driver Controls division sharply boosted sales by half to €€68 million (€ 45 million). With € 30 million, the smallest division, Sliding Roofs for Trucks, was also the only division reporting a slight dip in sales over the previous year (€ 32 million) – but given a very weak market it still turned in a satisfactory performance.

In the face of these efforts, the Edscha Group with little fanfare simultaneously prepared to meet coming challenges – with a new capital structure (edwin 01|2003 reported), the reorganization of IVM Automotive (page 9), the building of a factory in Mexico and new

A strong wind at the headquarters in Remscheid

doesn’t bother Edscha much

joint ventures in Japan and China (page 6), and many new products (pages 10, 14, 18), orders and ideas. The future can come now – with any weather.

INTERNET

New in the web

Going online in the next few days – the new Internet site of IVM Automotive. Based on the vehicle designer’s new Corporate Design (since the company was acquired by the Edscha Group in the summer of 2002), the pages will have an entirely new appearance, a new navigation and, of course, completely revised or new contents. The purpose of the effort, as of the entire reorganization of IVM Automotive (page 9):

higher quality of service from more efficient structures.

i www.ivm-

automotive.com

DIN ISO EN 9001: 2000 AND VDA 6.2

IVM Automotive certified

Increasingly complex technology, the rising quality awareness of car owners, and sharp competition require that automotive component suppliers and service providers ensure highest quality across all processes. IVM Automotive takes this seriously. After one year of preparations, in spring 2003 all locations and

business fields of the vehicle designer were certified to comply both with the amended version of DIN ISO 9001 from the year 2000 as well as with the standard VDA 6.2 for service providers. IVM Automotive is thus the first company in its area of business to have its processes certified as being entirely in conformity with the new standards.

edwin 02 | 2003 5

NEW JOINT VENTURE IN CHINA

Edscha goes East

Anhui Edscha Automotive Parts Co. Ltd. (AEA) is the Hinge Systems division’s response to the booming Chinese automotive market.

Since mid-June, Edscha AG has been running a second joint production ven-

Chinese employees at AEA familiarize them-

selves with Edscha products

ture (50:50) with AEA in Hefei in Anhui province. Shanghai Edscha Machinery Co. Ltd. (SEM), the first joint venture of the Group in China, has grown so fast since it was founded in 1994 that it will soon reach the limits of its capacity. At present, SEM produces easily six million hinges and door checks annually, thus serving around 30 percent of the Chinese market for passenger car hinge systems. With the new joint venture this market share passes the 50 percent mark.

AEA is located around 450 kilometers west of Shanghai in the vicinity of major automobile plants. Under the name Jiang Nan, the factory previously was one of the principal competitors in the regional market for door hinges and was not privatized until early 2003. The technological strength and worldwide presence of the Edscha Group persuaded the new owners to serve the Chi-

nese market jointly with Edscha in future. AEA currently supplies almost five million hinges and door checks annually, mainly to Volkswagen and General Motors.

Processes and product quality will soon reach Edscha standard, and output and sales will thereafter grow by at least 20 percent annually. AEA will then also supply other Asian markets, including the Japanese joint development and sales venture Edscha-Ohi Co., Ltd., in Yokohama, launched in January 2003. In the medium term, AEA will additionally manufacture pedal boxes and parking brakes for the Driver Controls division.

The Edscha Hinge Systems business division, producer of some 250 million hinges annually, with 19 production facilities in 13 countries, is the world’s leading supplier of hinges to the automobile industry.

MECHATRONICS CENTER	JAPAN
Live wires	Edscha-Ohi growing

Electric drives and electronic controls for mechanical components are the basis of most automotive innovations – including rear lids, parking brakes and convertible roof systems. In Remscheid, Edscha is therefore about to set up a Mechatronics Center in the still-young business year 2003|2004. The Center is to serve as interface between the Hinge Systems, Convertible Roof Systems and Driver Controls divisions, to the electrics and electronics experts at IVM Automotive, and not least to suppliers and customers. Its tasks are to test motors, gears or electronic components and to qualify them for Edscha applications, to integrate them with mechanical components into fully functional units, to initiate and support

cooperation with specialists, and to monitor customer projects. To accomplish these tasks, the Mechatronics Center will have full access to the Edscha Group’s testing stations for entire vehicles, special measuring equipment, and test benches for components.

The joint venture of the Edscha Group established in January 2003 in the Japanese city of Yokohama is developing at a rapid pace. Though initially the joint venture with the local hinge manufacturer Ohi Seisakusho Co., Ltd., only targeted the development and sale of hinge systems, as of 1 July, EdschaOhi Co., Ltd., has appreciably widened its scope of business: now it also looks after the interests of the Convertible Roof Systems and Driver Controls divisions in Japan – this is the first step by these divisions into the world’s third largest car manufacturing country. The workforce of the joint venture is growing to keep pace with the tasks: Edscha-Ohi currently

employs eight people; in the business year

2003|2004 which has just commenced it is planned to take on another three employees in Sales, Design and Quality Assurance.

6

Open for Edscha?

4TH EDSCHA SYMPOSIUM For many years Edscha has been dependably opening vehicle doors, lids, hoods and roofs. In November for the fourth time we invite our customers to open up too – to our latest ideas relating to vehicle bodywork.

November is mostly a dreary month. The world outside is grey, car sales sag, and most

automobile designers and procurement managers retire to the four walls of their offices.

OpenMinded

4th Edscha Symposium

Cologne, 18 – 20 November 2003

But not this year! For the fourth time since 1995, 1998 and 2000, Edscha AG is inviting selected customers from the ranks of car manufacturers and automotive component suppliers to attend a technical symposium, which will be held on November 19, 2003 (conference day), in the Dorint An der Messe (at the trade fair), Cologne.

Franz W. Rother,

editor-in-chief

“Automobil-

woche”

Taking as our motto “OpenMinded”, on this day we intend to make our product and development skills tangible in the field of doors, hoods, lids, roofs and complete vehicles – they have been greatly expanded since the purchase of IVM Automotive in July 2002. We will present our freshest ideas and put them to discussion. In-depth contributions by outside speakers and a panel discussion will complement the program. The symposium will be chaired by Franz W. Rother, editor-in-chief of the leading German automotive industry journal “Automobilwoche”. Following the day program, Edscha invites the participants to attend a joint evening event – but we’re keeping it a surprise!

Personal invitations will be sent out in the course of September. Overnight accommodation has been reserved at Dorint An der Messe (at the trade fair), Cologne for both the evening before, Tuesday, November 18, and for Wednesday, November 19. If you do not receive an invitation and wish to attend, please contact us at [e-mail] or phone [phone]. We’d be happy to see what we can do for you.

E V E N T S

11–21 September 2003 (9/10 press days)

IAA INTERNATIONAL MOTOR SHOW PASSENGER CARS • Frankfurt/Main

9 October 2003 PRESS CONFERENCE ON FINANCIAL YEAR 2002|2003

• Steigenberger Parkhotel, Düsseldorf

16 October 2003

MEET@ FH WIESBADEN • Campus Career Contact Fair, FH Rüsselsheim

23 October 2003

CONNECTA • Campus Career Contact Fair, FH Regensburg

29 October 2003

W & I TAG • 6th Siegen Economics and Engineering Day, Uni Siegen

5 November 2003

HOKO • Campus Career Contact Fair, FH München

17 or 18 November 2003

BONDING KARLSRUHE • Campus Career Contact Fair, Uni Karlsruhe

18–20 November 2003

4TH EDSCHA SYMPOSIUM • DorintHotel An der Messe, Cologne

8 or 9 December 2003

BONDING AACHEN • Campus Career Contact Fair, RWTH Aachen

10–19 January 2004

N.A.I.A.S. • North American International Auto Show (Detroit Motor Show), Detroit, USA

21 or 22 January 2004

BONDING KAISERSLAUTERN • Campus Career Contact Fair, Uni Kaiserslautern

27 or 28 January 2004

BONDING BRAUNSCHWEIG • Campus Career Contact Fair, TU Braunschweig

January 2004

COMPANY AND INDUSTRY CONTACT FAIR • University of Applied Sciences (HAW), Hamburg

February 2004

HALF-YEARLY REPORT 2003|2004

4–14 March 2004 (2/3 press days)

74TH GENEVA MOTOR SHOW • Geneva, Switzerland

26 or 27 April 2004

BONDING BOCHUM • Campus Career Contact Fair, Ruhr-Uni Bochum

Edscha IVM Automotive

edwin 02 | 2003 7

When the Machine came to Man

THEN AND NOW

These days Hengersberg is the headquarters for the Driver Controls and Convertible Roof Systems division. Hinge system production capacity is also significant.

40 YEARS AT HENGERSBERG In June 1963, Edscha opened its first branch plant. For the people of the Bavarian Forest this meant jobs – for the Edscha Group the birth of the Company’s most important out of today’s 24 plants around the globe.

Thank Heaven for forty years of Edscha Hengersberg. Church dignitaries such as the Abbot of the

nearby Niederalteich Monastery and the Bishop of Passau were among the first to give the start-up their blessing on June 7, 1963: “May the plant bear abundant fruit for all who work here.” Fritz Eberle, then mayor of Hengersberg, also rejoiced at the

prospect of a rich harvest on the day “the Machine came to Man”. And the machine has indeed brought wealth to the region.

employs approx. 1,200 people on a factory site of 47,000 m2. During the last business year, plant revenues came to about € 225 million, equivalent to almost a quarter of the Group’s entire sales – and a no less important factory in the region’s economy today than in the sixties. By the time the plant celebrated its silver jubilee in 1988, it was already – according to Franz Josef Strauss, then prime minister of Bavaria – “one of the most successful industrial developments in the Bavarian Forest”.

LONG TIME COMING

It was almost a century before the descendants of company founder Eduard Scharwächter dared open a plant so far from their roots in Bergisch Land. The reasons lay somewhat closer to home: a lack of space and

manpower prevented the Company from expanding in Remscheid, while the border region in the East offered plenty of both. As a result, the fifties had seen many thousands of people migrate to the industrial regions. Even the 25 jobs (later 70) initially offered in hinge production (3,600 m2 of operating area) meant a considerable boost to the region.

Four decades and several expansions later, the plant now

LEAPS AND BOUNDS

Since 1986, the plant owes much of its success to the addition of a new business division: Convertible Roof Systems. At the request of BMW, Edscha – as a specialist in moveable connections – assumed responsibility for the production of the roof linkage for the first Series 3 convertible. These days, Hengersberg produces some 65,000 soft and hard tops a year for four different car models – an impressive figure and yet only half the division’s entire production. Four more plants have since been set up around the world; a fifth is currently being built in Mexico.

At the Hengersberg division headquarters, 85 design engineers provide for the future: a well filled order book means the Hengersberg convertible roof production is booked out for years to come. No doubt many there glance upwards through the open roof in gratitude.

Rafael Zelek

8

Sharper profile

IVM AUTOMOTIVE After the takeover of IVM Automotive by Edscha in the summer of 2002, nine in-house teams worked to raise the profile and structure of the vehicle designer. The results have been implemented since May 2003.

The ability to respond even more quickly and efficiently than before to customer requirements – this was the inten-

tion of the Vehicle Design business division (IVM Automotive) and also the reason for its new organizational structure. Their aim: consistent use of specialized know-how and resources throughout all locations.

Since May 2003, IVM Automotive has been subdivided into five business fields: Complete Vehicle Development, Design, Vehicle Body and Interior, Samples and Prototype Manufacturing, and System Development and Integration, with the latter comprising the segments Calculation and Simulation, Electrics and Electronics, Engine/Drivetrain/ Chassis, and Testing.

MATRIX RELOADED

IVM Automotive will continue to focus in the future too on developing complex modules and complete vehicles including project control and coordination. The new feature: every location will have access to the know-how and services of all the business fields on the spot; the skills available in every single business field will however be concentrated at a central location and coordinated from there.

The business field Complete Vehicle Development for example is located at Bad Friedrichshall; Design and Electrics and Electronics are mainly at the Rhine-Main location; Vehicle Body and Interior, Samples and Prototype Manufacturing, and Engine/Drivetrain/Chassis predominantly in Bad Friedrichshall; and Calculation and Simulation plus Testing in Ingolstadt. Sales and Customer Support operate on the basis of key accounts for all locations. The opportunities for IVM Automotive on the French market are current-

ly being analyzed from Edscha’s French location, at Les Ulis.

“The new matrix organization forges links between locations that have previously worked largely independently of each other. This will create synergies with which IVM Automotive will continue to expand its market position”, says Managing Director Ulrich Mellinghoff, commenting on the reorganization of the 1,000 or so engineers and technicians in Germany. “As an efficient engineering partner, we will also be offering to a greater extent contents to the OEM as opposed to external capacity reserves. That will make the use of our services easier to plan for our customers – both OEM and system manufacturers – from the cost angle”, says the former BMW manager. The positive responses from the customers confirm that the vehicle designers are on the right track with this new setup. Christina Kaulhausen

PRECURSORS

Ulrich Mellinghoff (53, left) has been the spokesman of the management since March 2003 and is in charge of the Sales and Engineering fields. He is assisted by Frank Braun (43), who as managing director has been in charge of the commercial aspects and the locations since April 2003.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

Locations		Business areas		Key accounts
Wolfsburg		■ Complete Vehicle		VW
		Development
Rhein-Main				Ford, Opel
		■ Design
Bad Friedrichshall
Stuttgart		■ Vehicle Body and Interior		DaimlerChrysler, Porsche
Sindelfingen		■ Samples and Prototype
		Manufacturing
Ingolstadt				Audi, BMW
Munich
		■ System Development
		and Integration
Les Ulis (France)				PSA, Renault

edwin 02 | 2003 9