Technologies · Systems · Solutions - Dürr

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We test process and product
innovations under real conditions
at our technology centers.
Research and development
In 2004, direct expenditures for research and development (R&D) in continuing operations
amounted to € 26.5 million (previous year: € 27.8 million). The R&D ratio – the
quotient of R&D expense and sales – amounted to 1.4% as in the previous year. However,
the item reported in the income statements contains only the smaller portion
of our actual R&D expenditures. That is because we, as an engineering company,
do the majority of our development work within the framework of customer orders.
Expenditures incurred for such work are booked as project-related costs of sales.
We increased the number of employees in the Group’s development
teams to 217 as of the balance sheet date (previous year: 209).
We also have many employees working on new solutions as part
of customer orders.
Our innovation management aspires to develop solutions that
offer customers added value, whether in the form of greater flexibility,
higher quality, and better environmental compatibility or
greater efficiency in production. Given the intense competitive
pressure in the automotive industry, our primary aim is to help our
customers further reduce unit costs in production by means of
cost-efficient solutions.
To help our customers put new vehicle models into mass production
faster, we have further shortened plant planning and construction
times. The most important contribution was the continued
development of virtual reality programs that we use to plan
and design production systems three-dimensionally on computers.
That speeds up project completion considerably.
A key to increasing performance in automobile manufacturing is the modularization
and standardization strategy that we pursue in product development. This strategy
gives us proven base solutions that can be inexpensively and individually combined
on the modular design principle. The most important advance in this area is FAStplant,
the modular conveyor system concept designed for short-term configuration of a final
assembly’s main line. Another contribution to cost reduction came from information
systems like our EcoEMOS supervisory control systems and our EcoScreen visualization
software. We have developed new Web-based versions of both programs. In
addition to control, they also allow total monitoring of the production process, enabling
rapid detection of production and logistics problems. In balancing technology, we
launched the CAB 900 measuring system, which uses a new software to determine
imbalances quickly and very precisely. We also developed new software applications
in weighing technology, such as remote access that allows users to call up data from
any computer connected to the Internet. More information about new developments
can be found in the reports from the business units beginning on page 18.
In the future, we will use additional 3-D tools to speed up order handling further. A
major goal is to reduce the costly pre-assembly of complete system modules and
replace it with 3-D simulations for testing the performance of modules before shipping
them. In addition to high-end products, we will also step up development of
“baseline” products with simple, basic features that we can offer at a low price. Our
development expenditures in 2005 will be at a level similar to the previous year’s.