OEM&Lieferant Ausgabe 1/2019

94 Products and Markets Transmission solenoid TS 28 – Thomas wins out in the end “THE REWARDS OF PERSEVERANCE” By Thomas Magnete GmbH Heiko Binder, Director Sales &Marketing (Transmission Management) at Thomas, is a firm believer in the rewards of perseverance. In 2017, after ten years of preparatory work and despite an extremely demanding set of requirements, various setbacks, and a strong field of competitors, his team finally won the contract for a project marking a new chapter in the company’s history … In terms of revenue, it is the biggest sin- gle project Thomas has ever been awarded. Technologically, it is highly complex and chal- lenging, and requires an exceptional level of expertise. Thomas worked hand in hand with the client on the development of its TS 28 transmission solenoid. Production is due to begin in early 2019. Together with his colleagues Marc Leinweber (Head of Product &Process Development) and Michael Ermert (Project Management), Heiko Binder was closely involved in the project right from the start. The TS 28 will be used in cars with both automatic and double clutch trans- missions – nine solenoids for conventional transmissions and ten for hybrid transmis- sions. “Our client invited bids for the develop- ment of a technically very complex component as part of a wider model upgrade project,” ex- plains Heiko Binder. “Unlike the usual facelift, this was more than just a few visual enhance- ments. The new solenoid would be expected to perform a series of complex tasks within the transmission.” A comprehensive set of specifications laid out the framework condi- tions and objectives and forced Thomas to devise an entirely new concept. One of the key specifications involved optimizing certain hysteresis values. Hysteresis is a complex set of systembehaviors that can have a significant impact on efficiency and performance within the transmission. Images: © Thomas Magnete GmbH From left to right: Heiko Binder with his colleagues Heiner Held and Christian Häberle ‘You’ve earned it,’ said our client when the contract was finally awarded. We were over the moon when we heard that acknowledgement of our work. Once again, the development of the TS 28 shows that no work is ever wasted. All those earlier projects have helped us to build up our expertise and confidence in our ability to innovate. After a long wait, we gained recognition for our way of looking at systems and understanding them and for our own efforts to move the technology forward. Heiko Binder „ “