Schfflers LuK brand celebrates its 50 anniversary

2015-06-25 | 000-005-927 DE-EN

SCHAEFFLER AG , B HL

Schaeffler Celebrates 50 Years of LuK at B hl Location - Company History of Schaefflers LuK Brand Comes to Life in an Exhibition

Schaefflers LuK brand celebrates its 50th anniversary

Schaeffler celebrated the 50th birthday of its LuK brand at its location in B hl. The exhibition The LuK Story. 50 years. Quality. Technology. Innovation was opened during a special ceremony on June 20, 2015 with around 100 invited guests, including the state of Baden-W rttembergs Chief Minister Winfried Kretschmann. Schaeffler shareholder Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler-Thumann remem-bered the entrepreneurial achievements of Georg Schaeffler. She said: The Schaeffler brothers recognized the opportunities presented at the beginning of the 1960s by the then new diaphragm spring clutch and took on this great entrepreneurial venture and overcame the associated challenges with a highly motivated team. In April 1965, production started for the first time at todays LuK headquarters in B hl. LuK is now an integral part of the Schaeffler Group. Klaus Rosenfeld, CEO of Schaeffler AG, said: Two years ago, we analyzed the megatrends and developed the Mobility for tomorrow strategy concept. We could not credibly implement the Schaeffler Groups strategy concept without LuKs outstanding expertise in transmission technology. Norbert Indlekofer, CEO Automotive of Schaeffler AG, started his career 25 years ago at LuK in B hl. During the ceremony, he said: We are very proud of our employees worldwide, who have made a decisive contribution to this success story, and we would like to thank the Schaeffler shareholders for their trust and the opportunity to work on long-term projects. This long-term approach, which is particularly characteristic of family-owned companies like Schaeffler, is one of the essential prerequisites for being innovative and successful, adds Indlekofer.

Making company history come to life

The exhibition The LuK Story. 50 years. Quality. Technology. Innovation makes the company history of Schaefflers LuK brand come to life. In five topic areas, the company provides its employees, customers and technophiles a historic, exciting and technically well-founded look at the innovations, which at the time of their development played a decisive role in the further development of mobility.

The companys story of success started with the corporate decision taken by the brothers Dr. Georg and Dr. Wilhelm Schaeffler to make a significant investment in the company Lamellen- und Kupplungsbau August H ussermann and to subse-quently found LuK. The first manufacturing plant was built within only six months and LuK was already supplying diaphragm spring clutches to VW in mid-1965 - 25,000 units per month of a technology, which was relatively new in Europe. As the worlds largest needle roller bearing manufacturer at that time, the Industriewerke Schaeffler was entrusted by Volkswagen to quickly develop high-volume produc-tion. Schaeffler ensured it had the expertise required for the production of the ET 12, this was the designation of the component, by investing in LuK H ussermann. This investment laid the foundation for success.

Success driven by innovations

The Gallery of Innovations is the heart of the exhibition, which marks the 50th anniversary celebrations. The exhibition explores six key innovations from the companys history, which include the diaphragm spring clutch, the dual mass flywheel, the self-adjusting clutch, the CVT components, the double clutch transmission, and the integrated torque converter. In the mid-1960s, the diaphragm spring clutch replaced the coil spring clutch, and in the mid-1980s, the dual mass flywheel (DMF) made driving with a turbo-diesel engine more enjoyable in terms of acoustics. From the mid-nineties, the self-adjusting clutch reduced the amount of pedal force in vehicles with increasing torque, and from 2000 onwards, the CVT enabled more relaxed driving with automatic transmissions. The wobbling Elvis doll designed for an advertising campaign is still somewhat of a legend to this day. The fact that there arent enough vibrations to cause the hips of the dancing Elvis doll to shake is evidence of the enthusiasm for the Multitronic transmission, which Audi brought to the market at this time. The LuK variator and the multi-link chain provide driving comfort that, until now, customers would never have thought possible. Even during the introductory phase, the automobile manufacturers in Ingolstadt were delivering almost every second A6 2.8 with a CVT transmission.

At the beginning of 2008, the volume production of the dry double clutch set new standards with regard to driving comfort and reductions in fuel consumption, and this year, a completely revised, lighter generation of converters with lower vibration levels will be introduced with the newly-developed integrated torque converter. A central feature of the newly-developed torque converter system is a lockup clutch integrated in the torque converter turbine. With the integration of the lockup clutch, the system is not only lighter, it also creates space for more efficient torsion dampers, such as the centrifugal pendulum-type absorber also developed by LuK. This can again significantly improve vibration isolation.

Matthias Zink, President Transmission Systems Business Division at Schaeffler is convinced that the Gallery of Innovations will also continue in the future, and had this to say: Our pursuit of innovations is ongoing. At Schaeffler, we have an unconditional desire to continue to develop our technological progress. Development engineers are currently working on solutions for mobility for tomorrow. Two years ago, a new development department was opened in B hl. This is where the development of hybrid drives takes place.

LINK:	http://www.ina.de/content.ina.de/en/press/press-releases/press-details...
	See more stories from ina

Most recent headlines