Schmitz Cargobull, the world leader in trailer sales and technologies, has invested more than €30 million in its main plant in Altenberge, Germany, in the last business year alone to establish a completely new I-beam production line. “The beam is cold formed from a blank without a welding seam”, explains the Chairman of the Board, Ulrich Schümer.
Series production has already started in Altenberge in July and, parallel to this, the plant in Wuhan, China, will shortly commence series production. The product developed using the new technology had its global premiere at IAA, where the company also displayed a series of innovative products and solutions, much to the excitement of its customers who thronged its pavilion.
The new production technology for the I-beam in the chassis module largely replaces the normal welding process and creates significant advantages, both for the customer and within the production process. Material stress which comes about as a result of the heat generated by welding can be prevented. “The single-piece l-beams increase both quality and precision,” points out the Board member for Research, Roland Klement. Using bolted technology which has proven itself over the course of many years, adjustments can be made to suit customer requirements relatively late in the production process.
20 types of beam instead of 280
As part of the introduction of the new process the development team has also further reduced the complete range of variants. “Approximately 20 l-beams manufactured using the rolling process replace approximately 280 welded variants used previously,” explains Mr. Klement. Both the old and the new production lines will initially run parallel to each other, but by the end of 2014 the plan is to manufacture up to 75 per cent of the l-beams using the new cold forming process.
Entering the Chinese market
Schmitz Cargobull has invested around €10 million in the independent development of the new technology. Once this technological advantage had been achieved it was clear that these modern production processes would also be put to use at the new Wuhan plant in China. “The equipment required is unprecedented on this scale. It was developed and manufactured to identical designs,” says Board Member, Andreas Schmitz, who has lived in China since August 2013 and is co-ordinating setting up the production facilities along with the supplier and sales network in country.
Since the foundation for the new plant was laid in the Chinese city of Wuhan in the autumn of 2013, preparatory work has been running at top speed. The factory building has been in place since the end of June 2014, and the series production has just started. At the same time, suppliers and production workers are being trained.
The aim is to deliver the first 500 trailers to customers from the Chinese production facility in this year – only two years after signing of the joint venture agreement with the Dongfeng Motor Group in November 2012. The detailed preparatory work has paid off, given the complexity of the undertaking. “We want to take advantage of the lead that we have gained over other competitors in Europe and America so that we may quickly take on a leading role in the rapidly-developing Chinese trailer market,” reports Schmitz.
Growth to continue
The market leader continued its strong growth during the business year 2013/2014. The number of trailers and rigid bodies delivered rose to 45,300 units while its turnover also rose by 7.5% to €1.625 billion. After the increase in sales during the previous year, the Chairman of the Board, Ulrich Schümer, expects further growth. “In the current business year we are aiming for a turnover of around €1.8 billion and a production volume of around 48,900 units. Our clear goal is to use the recovery of the markets in Southern and Western Europe to strengthen and further expand our leadership in terms of the market and technology,” adds Schümer.
The new generation S.CS GENIOS curtain-sider semi-trailerSchmitz Cargobull presented the new curtain-sider semi-trailer generation: the S.CS GENIOS, with more modularity, more flexibility and more safety. The model is distinguished by a redesigned body with a variety of new features along with the advanced chassis generation manufactured using the revolutionary cold rolling process. The high-tech production facilities were installed in a new production hall for this new generation. The approximately 12,000 m² production facility have commenced manufacturing the new components in July 2014. The facility takes into account both ecological and economic concerns. With this new technology Schmitz Cargobull has once again created a milestone which highlights the company’s competence as the market leader in the trailer industry. The production method for the new GENIOS generation utilises a ‘rolled’ frame profile rather than the former welded l-beam. The new, state-of-the-art production facilities at the expanded plant in Altenberge are capable of manufacturing the l-beams using a cold forming process. The advantages at a glance: The chassis’ structural stability has been significantly improved and the durability increased while retaining the same weight as the material’s structure remains unchanged by welding processes. Furthermore, this enables perfect dimensional precision and also provides a high level of production precision for the subsequent industrial manufacturing process. This, in turn, serves to significantly increase the trailer’s overall quality. In addition, the enhanced bolting technology makes the vehicles even easier to repair and maintain. Thanks to the permanent and sustainable surface protection provided by the galvanisation process, Schmitz Cargobull grants a 10-year warranty against rust-through. The new production process increases the plant’s energy and transport efficiency while also making an important contribution to reducing its carbon footprint. The new design enables the l-beams to be loaded onto trucks in a modular manner, saving a significant amount of space. This greatly reduces the number of journeys required for the surface treatment, simultaneously decreasing emissions. “The l-beams are key components of the new “S.CS GENIOS” generation and are manufactured in Altenberge and delivered to the plants in Spain, Lithuania and Russia as modular elements. These plants assemble the individual modules to produce a complete trailer”, explains Ulrich Schümer, Chairman of the board of Schmitz Cargobull AG. |