The transformation along the value chain in the powertrain poses major challenges for the automotive and supplier industry in terms of production processes, technologies and cost efficiency.
“As an equipment supplier, we must be in a position to enable the economical production of different variants, quantities and technologies in line with demand. Cost-reducing economies of scale across different product series and technologies must be our goal,” says Gehring CEO Dr. Sebastian Schöning.
This is where the “AgiloDrive” approach comes in. With the help of modular product kits and production-specific technologies, the project is striving for an agile production system in order to be able to economically produce electric motors in variable technology and quantities in Germany in the future. Decisive factors for this are uniform interfaces and scaling concepts as well as modular processing units. This allows manufacturers to respond to customer demand without taking on too much financial risk.
Gehring has been working for years on both the optimization of the combustion engine and the electrification of the powertrain. The global automotive industry relies on the Group’s expertise as a machine builder and system integrator and its experience as a technology partner throughout the entire life cycle of powertrain components. For the production of hairpin stators, Gehring offers all relevant manufacturing technologies, machines, process and system designs. “For us, ‘AgiloDrive’ is a step toward electromobility in everyday life. Together with the project partners, we can research solutions for economical production in Germany, contribute our know-how in the best possible way, and in the end we will make the transformation process to electromobility easier for ourselves as well as for other medium-sized machine and plant manufacturers,” Schöning sums up for the future.
In order to advance the development of electromobility and make it accessible to the German supplier industry, the Institute for Production Technology (wbk) together with the Institutes for Product Development and the Electrotechnical Institute of KIT have launched this joint project, which is funded by the Ministry of Economics, Labor and Housing of Baden-Württemberg. To this end, the researchers, the industrial partners Schaeffler Automotive Buehl GmbH and Gehring Technologies GmbH, and the state agency e-mobil BW GmbH are pooling their expertise for integrated product and process development.
Hairpin stator production includes the key processes of pin assembly, setting and insertion, twisting and welding, and stator impregnation. For these processes, Gehring has developed a technology and machine portfolio that creates integrated solutions for stator production. The machines can be configured for both development processes and series production, like the IMFLEX carrier impregnation system in the picture.
Dr. Sebastian Schöning, CEO Gehring
About the Gehring Group
The Gehring Group offers innovative production solutions for highly efficient conventional and electrified powertrains. In the field of precision machining, the company has been shaping the development of honing technology for over 90 years and provides the automotive industry with answers to the current challenges surrounding the combustion engine with its laser roughening, coating and honing processes. The production technology for e-mobility expands the Group’s portfolio and sets new standards in the flexible series production of electric motors.
Press contact:
Joachim Jäckl
Gehringstraße 28
73760 Ostfildern
