Annual Report 2001 - KSPG AG

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Management report on the Kolbenschmidt Pierburg Group Executive Board report Research and development Whereas the consolidation process among the automotive manufacturers has almost come to a standstill, the relationship between manufacturers and their vendors is still undergoing change. Broader platform-based model ranges together with the necessity to Even now, Kolbenschmidt Pierburg with its products “for every aspect of the engine” is a longstanding and successful partner of the international carmakers in the development of Expenses for R&D again raised differentiate among vehicle types, the extension of product ranges but with ever shorter model lifetimes as well as a concentration on core competencies all lead to the outsourcing of tasks previously performed by the assemblers themselves. This trend is also true of development and production functions, the vendors having to functional, economic, low-emission and cost-optimized engine components. In order to maintain this reputation and widen it within the product sectors, where Kolbenschmidt Pierburg is represented with the individual components but still lacks sufficient first-tier systems competence, the internal and external expenses for research and development in fiscal 2001 again rose, to €79.8 million, exceeding the already high previous R&D by divisions 2000 2001 €million €million Air Supply & Pumps 45.3 49.3 Pistons 19.2 19.9 Plain Bearings 2.1 2.4 Aluminum Technology 8.0 5.0 MotorEngineering 4.5 3.2 Group 79.1 79.8 High technical competence in the divisions In fiscal 2001, the Group made quite some progress toward its targets of emission control, performance gains, as well as consumption and weight reduction through the series start-up or ongoing development of a number of innovative products. The basis for this are the successful R&D efforts within the Group's divisions: Air Supply & Pumps’ technical competence was proven with numerous innovative projects, such as electric coolant pumps for the main cooling circuit, regulated oil pumps, motorized exhaust gas recirculating valves for direct-injection gasoline and diesel engines as well as complete predelivery units for diesel applications. All these projects were developed ready for series production by interdisciplinary teams. Furthermore, work started on the gestation of sensors and valves for fuel-cell propulsion systems. The worldwide first steplessly variable intake manifold module from thinwalled magnesium for boosting performance and torque went into series shoulder ever greater responsibilities. A decisive factor in the success or failure of an automotive vendor industry is more than ever before the vendor’s ability to deliver innovative contributions within the value-adding chain culminating in the automobile. year’s level. This is equivalent to 4.4 percent of sales (up from €79.1 million or 4.5 percent). In all, in the Kolbenschmidt Pierburg Group almost 6 percent of the total workforce was entrusted with research and development tasks as of December 31, 2001. production and proved successful. Various electronically controlled throttle bodies (drive-by-wire) and exhaust gas recirculating valves for gasoline and diesel engines on the European and North American market, valueoptimized oil and water pumps (for commercial vehicles, too) likewise came on stream. Value engineering teams are busy finetuning series products for improving the cost/revenue situation. In this way, potentials for current projects and rationalization approaches for succeeding product generations are worked out and implemented. Visual inspection of the piston shaft coating at the Neckarsulm plant 24 25
Coating unit for high-duty plain bearings at the Papenburg plant In the Air Supply & Pumps division, €49.3 million was spent in fiscal 2001 for research & development activities, equivalent to 6.0 percent of sales. In the Pistons division, the share of pistons for passenger car diesel engines again climbed, a trend set to continue over the years ahead. To address this, R&D staff in 2001 developed solutions for high-duty diesel pistons in passenger car engines rated at 55 kW and more per liter displacement. For various European customers, pistons are currently being developed, with ratings partly clearly above today’s. So far, there has not been any breakthrough in the market for direct-injection gasoline engines, despite the very many development projects and some successful series launches in the past year. Kolbenschmidt Pierburg is well prepared for a partial substitution of conventional gasoline engines thanks to its new casting technology matured in the course of last year which enables a less costly production of the necessary complex surface geometry. Further projects in this sector are under development. In recent years, articulated pistons for commercial vehicles have been developed for various customers and are now being or about to be series-produced. We are already working on follow-up models for cylinder pressures of 250 bar or more. Steel pistons, also for diesel engine commercial vehicles, are being advanced according to plan. A similar engineering trend as for commercial vehicle engines is also evident in the case of large-displacement engine pistons. Continuously increasing cylinder pressures require even higherduty pistons and in answer to this, multipart steel pistons are being produced for several customers to take the place of the existing spherical casting/steel variety. Moreover, a onepiece steel piston is being developed for medium-diameter cylinders. The first of both designs were delivered to customers for field tests. The mounting wave of development projects and the growing complexity of the project themselves place high demands on the organization’s capabilities, its processes, process stages and structures. In order to dig deeper into the market and secure technological leadership, the KS OPUS project (Optimized Processes Up to Series production) is being advanced. KS OPUS’s aim of vastly raising innovation potentials and streamlining development processes was impressively achieved. The efficiency and effectiveness of such processes were clearly improved and it is planned to promote the KS OPUS project outside of Europe. In the Pistons division, expenses for research & development activities amounted to €19.9 million, or 3.5 percent of sales. In 2001, the focus of R&D activities in the Plain Bearings division was again materials development against the background of rising demands for environmentally compatible materials and the EU regulation regarding scrapped cars to take effect in 2004. In the case of steel/aluminum materials, development activities headed in two directions, on the one hand, focusing on use in the high-duty direct-injection diesels set for series production in 2002, the aim being to have the division grab a larger share in the growth of this engine breed. On the other hand, connecting-rod bearings are being developed which can be used on both direct-injection gasoline as well as diesel engines. In 2002, the first of these can go into series production. Efforts in the area of steel/plastic composites for the maintenance-free and low-maintenance Permaglide bearings product group are intended at further enhancing temperature resistance through material refinements and, at the same time, dispensing with lead. Apart from compliance with environmental requirements, this is one way to tap further applications. An engineering process for achieving self-sufficiency in the growing market of connecting-rod bearings used in direct-injection engines was a major development project within strategic product planning. The R&D expenses of Plain Bearings totaled €2.4 million in 2001, equivalent to 1.6 percent of sales. 27
Page 1 and 2: Kolbenschmidt Pierburg AG Rheinmeta
Page 3 and 4: Kolbenschmidt Pierburg at a glance
Page 5 and 6: Contents Agenda of the annual stock
Page 7 and 8: 6 Kolbenschmidt Pierburg AG Supervi
Page 9 and 10: 10 Kolbenschmidt Pierburg AG Letter
Page 11 and 12: 14 Management report on the Kolbens
Page 13 and 14: 18 Management report on the Kolbens
Page 15: Tool setting prior to machining the
Page 19 and 20: Production line for car engine bear
Page 21 and 22: Final assembly of the variable inta
Page 23 and 24: Assembly of the steplessly variable
Page 25 and 26: Alfinizing of diesel piston ring mo
Page 27 and 28: 46 Lagebericht und Konzernlageberic
Page 29 and 30: Testing an engine block for leakage
Page 31 and 32: The PLU 401/121 for continuous fuel
Page 33 and 34: Ecotec test rig at the Neckarsulm p
Page 35 and 36: 62 Kolbenschmidt Pierburg AG Balanc
Page 37 and 38: Consolidated financial statements 2
Page 39 and 40: 70 Consolidated financial statement
Page 55 and 56: 102 Consolidated financial statemen
Page 61: 114 Consolidated financial statemen

Annual Report 2001 - KSPG AG

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