1 million axle systems for Land Rover
Currently, the ZF axle assembly plant in Solihull, UK, has two very special reasons to celebrate. Since start of production in July 2004, one million axle modules have been produced and supplied for the Land Rover Discovery and Range Rover Sport models. Moreover, the plant has been working with zero defects for 12 months. This success is not something to be taken for granted but it is indeed the result of teamwork and a perfectly organized production process. Multiple quality inspections are required for the overall 36 million purchased parts and the 56 thousand tons of material, respectively. More than 500 different manual and computer-controlled optical and physical quality inspections are carried out when the purchased parts arrive, in assembly, and in the shipment department, ensuring that only absolutely faultless axle modules leave the plant. The four completely assembled corner modules include the entire wheel suspension, i.e. wheel carriers, bearings, steering, dampers, and springs, as well as the brake system.
Development Partner and Systems Supplier
The comprehensive know-how at ZF's divisions and business units ensures that the company is an expert technological partner in the development and production of axle modules. ZF supplies complete axle systems for Land Rover, but also for the M, R, and GL Class by Mercedes-Benz, the BMW X3 and Z4, as well as further models by Ford, Mercury, and Holden. Two development centers in Germany and North America as well as production locations for a total of 12 vehicle types in the US, South Africa, China, Thailand, Austria, England, and Australia underline ZF's expertise in the fields of car chassis technology. They are also the result of new task sharing between vehicle manufacturers and suppliers. It is only since the 90s that systems partners, such as ZF, have taken over the development and production of more complex vehicle systems. The supply of ready-for-assembly axle systems, which are delivered to the customer just in sequence, is closely linked to the setup of the system supplier's own production capacities close to the customer's plants. Here, ZF always also provides the customer with cross-functional know-how in the fields of driveline technology, driving dynamics, noise and vibration damping, steering, as well as the functional networking of individual system components in cooperation with the vehicle manufacturer. From a global point of view, ZF's business with axle systems has made a leap: By 2006, approximately 7 million axle systems were supplied to customers; between 2003 and 2005 alone, annual production doubled from 626,000 to 1.2 million units.
