It has been a couple of years since Sulzer Metco India Ltd. started its manufacturing facility in Chennai to cater to the growing Indian automobile market. This facility focuses on bonding Sulzer’s high performance carbon friction material, EF® 5010, onto synchronizer rings in truck and passenger car manual transmissions for improved shift comfort, greater efficiencies and longer life.
The company has international presence with six plants around the world, catering to leading OEM’s that include, but not limited to Volkswagen, BMW, Freightliner, Ford, Fiat, GM, Tata Motors, etc. It is internationally ranked among the leading manufacturers of friction linings, slipping and anti-wear coatings and power transmission components covering passenger cars, LCVs and M & HCVs.
Besides the time-tested molybdenum coatings, the new carbon friction linings ensure a more compact synchromesh architecture with higher performance and substantially improved gear shifting. In automated manual transmissions (AMT), it is already possible today to achieve gear shifting times of less than 60 milliseconds.
Over the years, vehicle users are looking for better comfort like smoother gear shift and longer service duration. The oil crisis equally demands better mileage. Green transformation calls for better emission controls and this is where the carbon technology of Sulzer Metco stands above many alternate friction materials available for next generation transmissions.
