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MOTORINDIA
l August 2012
123
WABCO is known for its efforts
in research and new product devel-
opment. The company’s R&D head-
quarters is located in Hannover, with
two additional centres, one each in
Chennai and Poland. It is planning
to set up two more R&D centres,
one each in China and the US. It has
a strong R&D set-up in India with
around 150 R&D engineers work-
ing in its mother plant, apart from
another 150 engineers who operate
from the company’s software devel-
opment centre, also located in Chen-
nai. The Indian R&D centre is be-
ing further strengthened to function
as an extended arm of the German
R&D department and will cater to
the company’s global plans as well.
World-class test track
WABCO INDIA’s focus is on
safety, for which the company has
setup a 200-acre test track in Chen-
nai. The facility was established with
a vision of bringing ABS into the
country and it has certainly played a
big role in instituting the technology
in the Indian market. The test track
is the only such facility in the coun-
try and is used by testing agencies
such as ARAI and CIRT for certifi-
cation and homologation of vehicles
for safety.
Says Mr. Kaniappan: “The test
track can simulate roads of different
friction levels based on the require-
ment during product development.
At WABCO INDIA, we design the
brake system indigenously, develop,
produce and validate it and finally
demonstrate it to our customers.”
The test track includes a 1.5 km
straight track with different surfaces
of varying friction, simulating dif-
ferent road conditions for testing.
The dry asphalt surface has a fric-
tion of 0.8 u while the wet asphalt
surface has a friction of 0.5 to 0.6 u.
There is a blue basalt surface which
has a friction of less than or equal
to 0.3 u, to simulate oil patches
and slurry on roads and also a wet
ceramic surface with 0.1 u friction
component zone
“We have around 40 engineers, with
over 10 years’ experience in the field
of ABS, who have been involved in the
development of the product and also
the test track. Without the test track,
certification for vehicle safety would
not have been possible in the country.”
– Mr. Kaniappan