autoregion international ... Greater Region Mobility Innovation

33 procurement or pricing measures. Strategi- cally, new business with a promising future in the field of electromobility is the decisive factor combined with the right location strat- egy. In order to optimize our competitive- ness in the value-adding network, in 2018, it was decided to massively expand the plant in Poland to a total production area of over 16,000 m². Together with our financing partners, we created a financial foundation which allows us to make large investments in future projects. You are investing hugely in future busi- ness. Can you give us an insight into your order book? What challenges does the new business entail? Besides our existing business, our order book is full of large projects which are ei- ther in the industrialisation phase or are already being ramped up. Par ticularly noteworthy here are, for instance, a motor housing and corresponding compressor head for an electric coolant compressor, two housings and corresponding lids for e-axles with integrated transmission for all-electric vehicles and battery housings with integrated power electronics. We were able to acquire the battery project punctu- ally for the lockdown in April 2020 while the order volume is more than EUR 170 million. The project covers several variants for dif- ferent OEMs and is to be industrialised at various locations. The high degree of vertical integration with numerous process steps (c.f. Figure 1 – Process Flow) and the technical demands of the casting, in particular, are what make the project so complex. All process steps except for the cathodic dip coating are implemented in-house in order to reduce the complexity of the interface manage- ment and to ensure compliance with qual- ity specifications all under one roof. The projects mentioned are connected to huge development efforts, change management and a very tight timeframe. The design of the new product is tangibly optimized right up to the SOP. Depending on the project, several hundred changes are carried out between the awarding of the contract and SOP. The project management is incredi- bly labour-intensive. Resources have to be available in all specialist departments round the clock during this phase of the project and they have to act fast. Finally, I would like to mention that, in addition to aluminium die casting, we are currently industrializing future business in deforma- tion technology for e-mobility on our large presses (up to 12 steps / up to 1,900t press- ing force) and that these are not less sig- nificant regarding the development effort, complexity and tolerance requirements. Is the VOIT Group therefore already fully in the process of transformation? Our technology roadmap is designed for electrified drive systems, electrified auxilia- ry units, power electronic applications and autonomous driving applications. In addi- tion, we are following the development of the fuel cell and its applications. We have already been following this roadmap for several years. Our location in France co-de- veloped and industrialized the first e-axle for the Renault ZOE in 2010. In St. Ingbert, we have been producing components for plug- in hybrids for ten years. The automotive sector is characterized by disruptive technologies, the transformation process in the VOIT Group is already fully underway, our product portfolio is largely electrified. I expect that this process will last until beyond the year 2030. As soon as autonomous driving has asserted itself, this will also change the whole automotive market, new business models will make the industry more interesting. What are the success factors that distin- guish VOIT in the fierce competition when new projects are being awarded? Success factors in acquiring and implement- ing the projects besides the price (total proj- ect value) are our innovative capacity, agility and process expertise. Furthermore, our or- ganisation is able to drive the development and industrialization of such large projects forward and to implement them success- fully, even parallel at several locations. With regard to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), we work together proactively with our clients. What is your assessment of the shifts that will take place till 2030 between the differ- ent types of drives for vehicles with com- bustion engines, hybrids and all-electric drives? Consumer behaviour varies from one region to another. In large cities, electromobility will assert itself faster and the proportion of all-electric vehicles or plug-in hybrids with a range of up to 100 km will be very high. A tangible shift away from the purely com- bustion engine will take place when there is an offer for attractive electrified vehicles on Fig 1: Process flow for the cell housing project at VOIT Automotive GmbH Graphic: © VOIT