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...........edag....newsletter....No.2...2007.....

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.........edag....newsletter....No.2...2007.....

We are consciously backing the advance-ment of in-company training at EDAG, andare this year providing twice as many trai-ning places as we did last year.

We view this as a part of our sociopoliticalresponsibility, but also as a necessaryinstrument, if we are to be able to meetthe constant growth in requirements wehave for qualified junior staff.

I hope that you, and particularly our youn-ger members of staff, will be successfuland find great enjoyment in your futuredevelopment at EDAG.

Dr. Klaus BlicklePresident and CEO

Dear Colleagues,

With the first half of the 2007 businessyear now behind us, it is possible to seea revival on the market for engineeringservices. The enquiries received frommanufacturers and the supplier industryare evidence of an increase in demand forexternal capacity. When awarding workpackages, our customers are payinggreater attention than ever before to therequirement that their partners shouldhave specific know-how and internationalcapacities, so as to be able to meet requi-rements as precisely as possible.

This trend supports us in our strategy ofcontinually re-thinking and adapting ourrange of services and international pre-sence. Permanent change is a part of ournew self-image, and also a requirement forour survival in the consolidation processunder way in our branch.

The new structures within the EDAGGroup are starting to have an effect.Thanks to our competence in plant deve-lopment and aerospace, for example,Airbus have awarded us the order for thefirst Airbus works to be built outside ofEurope, namely in China. Working withDürr AG, we will be developing and con-structing a complete assembly line for theA 320, to be completed by mid-2009.

Our aim is to join forces with you, to usethe opportunities the market offers. Withefficiency, know-how and a willingness tomake changes, we will continue undeterredon our way to becoming the leading part-ner to the mobility industry.

I am particularly pleased that, at the startof this new school year, 83 young peoplewill be joining us, and beginning theirapprenticeships or professional trainingwith the EDAG Group.

Contents

4 Design Solutions for new Target Groups

5 EDAG 2007 Training Offensive · Product Development Expertise

6 New Offices for the EDAG Subsidiary in Munich

7 First IT Contract in Aerospace Business · EDAG’s New Exhibition Strategy

8 Consultancy with ”Feynsinn”

9 EDAG Support for ”Dettmar Cramer Event” in Japan

10 Assembly Line for Chinese Airbus Plant

11 Balancing Equipment for Generator Rotors and Turbines

12 EDAG’s first Classic Tour

13 EDAG is First Class

14 Module-Based Engineering in Manufacturing Division

15 Personnel

16 EDAG at Explosive Event in Schrobenhausen

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It is still a well known fact that the designers from Fulda have stood for inno-vative, conceptual automobile design foryears, not least due to the EDAG conceptcars. The team headed by JohannesBarckmann has also been active in thefields of product and transportation designsince the department was founded in1989. Just recently, the team have success-fully completed projects for the design of aC-arm X-ray unit for the Nuremberg com-pany ziehm imaging, and for re-designingthe galleys for Airbus.

Facelift for X-Ray Unitsziehm imaging belongs to Aton GmbH,and is the leading producer of mobile X-ray equipment. These so-called C-armsare used in the treatment of very seriouslyinjured patients, for instance, or duringoperations. Apart from image quality, the

decisive factor with the X-ray and imagegenerating unit is a maximum degree ofmobility of the C-arm.

To improve the image quality, ziehm ima-ging are currently concentrating onemploying flat panels as image generatingunits, and replacing the tubes previouslyused with these.

In the first stage, the EDAG designers crea-ted and developed a new housing unit forthis plat panel, and supplied the first pro-totype case. Apart from the aesthetic qua-lities of the design, the concept also madean excellent impression due tot he factthat the travel of the C-arm was extended.By integrating the arm into the case, it waspossible to increase its degree of mobilityby a good 20 per cent. A real benefit toboth doctor and patient.

To do their work, product developers needcreativity, technical know-how and a feelingfor what is feasible. Our technical productdesign apprentices in Sindelfingen havedemonstrated the fact that they possessjust these qualities.

As part of a practical work placement, theywere given the task of designing and pro-ducing a show case. The idea was to displaymodel vehicles representing our projects inthis case. The very first show case from the”pilot lot” proved to be of an excellentdegree of maturity, and have an attractivedesign, as the picture clearly shows.

The ”ziehm Vision R FD 3030” had itsworld premiere at the European Congressof Radiology (ECR) 2007 in Vienna, whereit met with a very positive response fromthe radiology world.

Aesthetics and Function above the CloudsWorking with the EDAG subsidiaryMühlenberg in Hamburg, the design teamhave been addressing the matter of aircraftgalleys. Mühlenberg develop and produceaircraft interiors (galleys, lockers, light-weight aircraft components, etc.)

With its wealth of stimulating, innovativeideas and design concepts, the DESIGNSTUDIO was able to provide first-rate sup-port during the joint definition phase forthe Airbus project.

Design Solutions for new Target GroupsSuccess of EDAG DESIGN STUDIO in Medical Technology and Aviation

EDAG 2007 Training Offensive


This has made it perfectly clear thateven classic work areas, such as galleysin aircraft, can, from an aesthetic pointof view, be brought up to the qualitylevels maintained throughout the restof the cabin.

When presented to the customer, theconcepts produced by the EDAG desi-gners and Mühlenberg engineers forthe new Airbus A350 galleys met witha pleasingly positive response. In thisway, our Aerospace Division has beenable to demonstrate the diversificationof its portfolio, to include the design,development and production of air-craft interiors for its customer, Airbus.

At the beginning of this new school year,EDAG is sending out a clear signal regar-ding the importance of training within theGroup.

In the late summer, 83 young people atEDAG will be beginning their apprentice-ships, training, or part-time degree cour-ses. This means that EDAG has more thandoubled the number of training placesavailable, compared to last year (whenthere were 31 places). The range of coursesbeing pursued this year covers generallytechnically-based degree courses at univer-sities of co-operative education, technicalapprenticeships, such as product design,and also commercial and IT apprenticeships.

”Due to EDAG’s growing need for speciali-sed staff, it is essential that we train ourown future personnel ourselves,” pointsout Alexandra Dantmann, Head of CentralHR Consulting at EDAG. ”Having our owntraining scheme is one of the majoraspects of personal recruiting, particularlybearing in mind the fact that it is impossi-ble or very difficult indeed to find peoplewith certain qualifications on today's freelabour market.”

Product DevelopmentExpertise

from left to right:

Nico Seitter,Sonja Maier,

Sina Herbstritt

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Proximity to our customers means a lot tous. Both literally and figuratively speaking.One visible sign of this is the fact that ourMunich subsidiary has moved to the Max-Diamand-Straße – in the direct vicinity ofBMW’s centre for research and innovation.With such short distances to cover, theEDAG team in Munich can now provide aneven more flexible and uncomplicated cus-tomer service, whilst at the same time cre-ating sufficient space for further growth.

More than 400 guests, among them Dr.Klaus Blickle, CEO of EDAG, and Dr. LutzHelmig, owner of the EDAG Group, accep-ted the invitation to the official openingceremony of the 3,300 sqm. offices on 11th

May, 2007.

In Product Development, apart from thetraditional field of interior development,the areas which have been particularlyenhanced are ”body in white” (design,simulation, calculation and functional inte-gration), and ”electrics/electronics”. Aseparate team has been set up for theManufacturing Equipment division (deve-lopment and construction of productionplants), so as to be able to offer customersthe EDAG concept of production-optimi-sed engineering, with personal contacts.

In the course of the opening ceremony,Sepp Neuhäusler announced the premiereof EDAG’s new consulting service.”Operating under the name of Feynsinn,our people in Munich can offer concepts

Genuine Proximity to the CustomerNew Offices for the EDAG Subsidiary in Munich


In his speech, Sepp Neuhäusler, VicePresident of the Business Unit BMW, wentinto the matter of the extended range ofservices of the EDAG team in Munich insome detail: ”We can now offer our custo-mers here the full range of services – fromproduct development, production plantdevelopment and construction, and pro-duction (e.g. low-volume production oflight armoured vehicles, or the constructi-on of bodies in white for hydrogen-fuelledvehicles), through to consultancy services,”emphasised Neuhäusler. ”The truest indi-cation of the extent of our service offensi-ve is the way in which the workforce herein Munich is expanding. In the last 12months, our team has grown from 120 to250 members of staff.”

and solutions for process optimisation,knowledge-based development andvisual communication throughoutGermany,” in the words of Neu-häusler.

As well as the many customers whowere there, including Dr. Billinger,Head of Technical Purchasing forBMW, and Dr. Heitmann, Head ofComplete Vehicle Procurement, thefounders of the Munich subsidiary,Harald Linder and Egon Schnell weredetermined not to miss the chance ofseeing for themselves the ”new” sub-sidiary in the Bavarian state capital.

First IT Contract inAerospace Business

EDAG Engineering + Design AG will beproviding DCA GmbH with all-round sup-port in the organisation and hosting of ITsolutions. EDAG's IT department will beresponsible for the implementation of theSAP business software, and for the provisi-on of a long-term support service for thesupplier of individual flights with businessjets. The transfer of the SAP accounting tothe IFRS accounting standards, trainingand support will be completed with theassistance of EDAG’s IT specialists. For thehosting of the software, too, DCA GmbHwill be using EDAG’s global data proces-sing centre.

EDAG is today one of the few companiesofficially certified by SAP, and permitted, as”Customer Competence Centres”, to pro-vide a support service for external users ofthe business software.

Sepp Neuhäusler, Vice President Business Unit BMW

”Following GHU GmbH (tyre wholesalers)and REFORM Maschinenfabrik GmbH &Co. KG, DCA GmbH is now the third com-pany to rely on IT support provided byEDAG,” says a delighted Thomas Heu-müller, EDAG’s IT Sales Manager. EDAGhas been offering external companies theservices of its internationally networkeddata processing centre and home-basedteam for software development and SAPsupport since the end of last year.

EDAG, worldwide provider of engineeringservices, is to focus more keenly its interna-tional marketing and exhibition activities.The target is to place EDAG on an equalfooting at the target market’s exhibitions,particularly in Western and EasternEurope, North America and Asia.

„In the future, we will be concentrating onone main exhibition for each of these mar-kets,” said Christoph Horvath, press spo-kesman. For the European Economic Area,EDAG has reached a clear decision infavour of continuing to exhibit at theGeneva Motor Show, and not at the IAA inFrankfurt, from 2007 onwards. ”As anengineering service provider, we feel that

the Geneva Show offers a more suitableplatform for positioning EDAG as a proac-tive developer of ideas for the automotiveindustry,” explains Horvath.Within the branch, this event held annual-ly at Lake Geneva is considered to be theleading exhibition for vehicle concepts anddesign trends. Since 1999, the Fulda com-pany has exhibited its own concept ideasand derivatives there, including the recentand highly regarded concept car, theEDAG LUV

Besides focusing on trade shows and in-house exhibitions, EDAG will be exhibitingat motor shows on the American, Asianand European continents.

EDAG’s New Exhibition StrategySharper Focusing of Presence at International Fairs and Exhibitions

ImprintEditing: Christoph HorvathManager PR-CommunicationTel.:++49 (0) 6 61-60 00-5 70E-mail: [email protected]/Layout: Peter GröschMarketing DepartmentTel.:++49 (0) 6 61-60 00-2 64E-mail: [email protected]

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AS: A quite simple example from a smallproject: Manufacturing Assessment –Throughout development process, expertsoften check items which have been desi-gned, to decide, either on the basis ofexperience, or with the help of calculationtools whether they are producible. Untilnow, before optimisation, the first stepwas for staff to assemble and assesse theparts of the body in white in question inCATIA. The next step was to take a screen-shot of the assembly, import this intoPowerpoint, and then label this on a form.Finally, this form was printed, and placedon the designer's desk.

We have implemented a far more efficientprocess with our customer:The manufacturing expert calls up a pre-defined assembly, known as a CATProduct,in CATIA V5. In this model, he can thenmove to a view which already contains hisform. With the help pf standard functions,he can then label it, select symbols (e.g.indicating DIN stoppers) and enter anycomments he might wish to make straightin the CA model. This can now be saved,released, and sent on. In addition, we havedeveloped two macros: one of these provi-des an html file of the 3D view and theform at the press of a button – this canthen be e-mailed, released as a document,or of course be printed out. The secondmacro can, if required, read out from theassemblies, or even the entire body in

white, all the symbols used, and deter-mine the number of elements assignedand used (e.g. various types of DINstopper) within a very short time, andshow these in an Excel table.

The first result was a significant savingof time. However, the decisive factorwas the fact that the error quota in the”manufacturing assessment” sub-pro-cess was reduced to a minimum, as cur-rent information can now be administe-red in one system which can be acces-sed at any time by anyone working onthe project.

edag newsletter: What target have you set ”Feynsinn”?

With EDAG as our parent organisation,and working the niche between classicsoftware houses and consulting com-panies, such as Porsche Consult, weaim to make Feynsinn into one of theleading consulting companies for ourcore themes.

edag newsletter: Thank you very much for this interview!

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At the beginning of the year, a new, 45-strong team took up its work at the EDAGoffices in Munich, Ingolstadt, Sindelfingenand Fulda. Its target: process-orientatedconsultancy services. Its name: ”Feynsinn,die Wissenswerker” (knowledge workers).edag newsletter spoke to Andre Stöwing,head of Feynsinn.

edag newsletter: Many companies and employees associate the term”consultancy services” with all sorts ofdifferent things. Consultants are oftenconfronted with the prejudice thatthey act too theoretically, withoutpaying sufficient attention the practicability of their ideas. What's different about Feynsinn?

Andre Stöwing (AS): First and foremost:We are practitioners. Most of my staff notonly have years of consulting experience,

but also have genuine practical knowledgeof the automotive industry. We have expe-rienced designers, IT specialists and triedand tested project managers in our team,and no out-and-out theorists who don'thave any sense of feasibility. We knowwhat we are talking about, but, as consul-tants, are detached enough to be able toquestion things which have become esta-blished. Far from working in pin stripesuits, we tend to roll up our shirt sleevesand get on with things: literally and figura-tively speaking.

edag newsletter: That sounds refreshingly pragmatic. The name”Feynsinn, die Wissenswerker”, is rather unusual. What's behind it?

AS: We made a conscious decision to usea German name. We believe in ”Ger-many” as a brand, and in its potential as a

technological and engineering location.For this reason – and this is not typical forthe branch – we decided not to make anyuse of Anglicisms. By adding the word”Werker” (= workers), our intention wasto stress our practice-orientated, hands-onapproach to work.

edag newsletter: Precisely what services do you offer?

Our attention is focussed mainly on pro-cess optimisation. This is where ourexperi-ence of processes in automobile construc-tion really comet o bear. We intend tomanage the interfaces between prelimina-ry development, styling, process planningthrough to manufacture and quality assu-rance. By making better use of the soft-ware tools the customer already has, weare able to generate real customer bene-fits.

edag newsletter: Have you got a concrete example that will help to explain this?

Consultancy with “Feynsinn”EDAG offers practice-orientated Consultancy Services


Andre Stöwing began his career in 1995, as a designer for plastic components at IVM Automotive,an engineering service provider. Following this, hetook on tasks as a project leader, then as head ofthe exterior and motor cycle department. In 2001, Stöwing set up a new division, which provided Catia V5 consulting, process optimisationand method development for customers from theautomotive industry. The central idea was to operateas an external consulting service, marketing theexperience of a leading engineering service providerwith high end knowledge of the CA environmentacross the various industrial branches.Early in 2005, he was also appointed to themanagement team of IVM Automotive as Head ofBody and Interior.

EDAG Support for”Dettmar CramerEvent” in JapanDettmar Cramer – a name which will meansomething to any football fan in Germanyor elsewhere – counts as one of thegreatest coaching personalities of the lastfew decades, alongside Hennes Weisweileror Franz Beckenbauer. Back in the 1960s,Cramer introduced modern football toJapan, and coached the Japanese nationalteam for the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokio.Pierre Littbarski, who is at the momentcoaching the second division team ”AvispaFukuoka”, is currently heading a revival ofthe transfer of knowledge betweenDettmar Cramer and Japanese football.For this reason, the Dettmar Cramer Eventwas held in Fukuoka in May this year, theaim being to promote German footballphilosophy and also the transfer marketfor players in Japan. EDAG Japan sponso-red this three-day event, which createdhuge media response throughout Japan.

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EDAG and Dürr have pooled their capaci-ties to carry out a joint project for Airbus,and will be developing and constructingthe assembly line for the new Airbus plantin Tianjin, China.

PCC (Prime Contractor Consortium), theconsortium founded by the two compa-nies, has signed a basic agreement withAirbus and its Chinese joint venture partner.This agreement governs the co-operationbetween Airbus, the Chinese joint venturepartner, EDAG and Dürr. Step by step,Airbus and the Chinese partner will beawarding the supply contracts for the indivi-dual stages of the assembly line. The totalvolume of the project is expected to cometo over EURO 80M, with about 60 % of thevolume going to EDAG and 40 % to Dürr.

Assembly Line for Chinese Airbus PlantEDAG and Dürr have signed basic Agreement with Airbus


The assembly line in Tianjin, close to theChinese capital of Beijing, is scheduled forcompletion by mid-2009. In the first Airbusplant to be constructed outside of Europe,aircraft of the type A 320 are to be assem-bled for the Chinese market.

When it comes to supplying the finalassembly line for the aircraft modules pro-duced in Europe, EDAG and Dürr will beco-operating in China with European andlocal companies. Apart from their ack-nowledged expertise in the developmentand construction of complete productionplants, the years of experience both com-panies have acquired of the Chinese mar-ket proved to be an important argument infavour of the selection of the consortium.EDAG and Dürr, with their subsidiaries in

BalancingEquipment forGenerator Rotorsand TurbinesEDAG test system (Recklinghausen)concludes major project

Shanghai and Beijing respectively, alsohave on-site capacity to provide local sup-port for the project.

”PCC is the perfect way of pooling thetechnical expertise in plant developmentand construction, and in international pro-ject management,” is the unanimous opi-nion of Dr. Klaus Blickle, CEO of EDAGEngineering + Design AG, and Ralf Dieter,CEO of Dürr AG. ”Independently of oneanother, Dürr and EDAG have successfullyhandled numerous projects for Airbus overthe last few years. As partners, our perfor-mance will be even better.” The twoGerman companies are positioned as keyplayers on the global market.

Signing of the contract to found thePCC consortiumfrom left to right (seated) Ralf Dieter, CEO of Dürr AG and Dr. Klaus Blickle, CEO of EDAGfrom left to right (standing) UdoBurggraf, Member of the EDAGExecutive Board for Aerospace andGerhard Mogck, Managing Director of Dürr Systems GmbH

Short Portrait of Dürr AGThe Dürr Group is one of the world’sleading suppliers of products, systemsand services for automobile production.Their range covers essential stages inthe production of a motor vehicle: asa system provider, Dürr plans and con-structs paint shops and final assemblyplants. The company has steadilyexpanded the business of providingassembly plants for the aerospace in-dustry throughout the past few years.Within this segment, Airbus is Dürr’slargest customer. In 2006, Dürr AGhad a turnover of EURO 1,361M, andemployed more than 5,600 people at21 sites around the world.

It is a generally well known fact that moto-rists need to balance their wheels on aregular basis. However, the owners ofpower stations and gas pipelines are alsorequired by law to have the turbines theyuse checked and re-balanced at regularintervals. It is not just the gigantic dimensi-ons of the turbines, up to 9 metres longand weighing in at up to 50 tonnes, thatmake such huge demands of the technicaltesting equipment, but also the require-ment that the audit should be carried outunder realistic conditions.

Michael Scheiermann’s team applied itselfto the task, and in July 2007 supplied theircustomer Siemens Power Generation witha new vacuum chamber. ”Until then, ourcustomer had testing equipment that wasoperated in a standard atmospherical envi-ronment, to balance generator rotors wit-hin a speed range of up to 4,200 rpm,”explained Michael Scheiermann. „Underthese conditions, it is not possible to carryout an audit on the turbines under practi-cal conditions. At a nominal speed of up to16,000 rpm, depending on type, i.e. steamor gas-powered turbines, air friction wouldcause the temperature to rise to a pointwhere the turbines would burn up, parti-cularly bearing in mind that, for testingpurposes, the speed is increased by 20 per-cent. Nor would it be possible to controlthe propeller effect, or the mechanical for-ces connected with it.” For this reason, theRecklinghausen team developed and con-structed a vacuum chamber with a vacuumpump system, which will provide realisticsimulation whilst avoiding the problemsdescribed. The project also involved thedevelopment of the complete control andinstrument technology, the oil system witha supply rate of 1,200 l/min to supply thebearings on the balancing blocks and drivetrain, and a new drive train with gears toincrease the speed. As the general contrac-tor, the EDAG team also took over con-struction management for the assembly ofthe entire plant with the 38-tonne vacuumchamber. The project ran for a total periodof 16 months, and involved a project volu-me of EURO 1.7M.

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EDAG’s first ever tour with vintage carswas held on 9th June, 2007, a brilliantlysunny day.

The marketing team had organised a sti-mulating tour through the Rhön region forthe participants – members of EDAG’sadvisory and management boards, guestsfrom the industry, and decision-makersfrom the Fulda region. The chief charactersin this event were, of course, the vintagecars, 20 and more in number, which wouldset any car lover’s heart racing. At the star-ting point of the tour, highlights fromdecades past were gathered together onthe castle courtyard, in the heart of thebaroque city of Fulda: a BMW Dixi fromthe 1920s, a Mercedes Adenauer cabriolet,there was a Porsche 356 Speedster, andalso a Lamborghini Countach 5000. Theroute this exclusive caravan took led first to

Rasdorf, and Point Alpha. Following a visitto the border museum and memorial tothe old border between the two parts ofGermany, the journey then continued tothe historical market square in Tann. TheEDAG developments also accompanyingthe tour, the ”Keinath GTC”, ”EDAG LUV”and ”Hummer 2”, which created an inter-esting contrast with the cars of yesteryear,likewise engendered huge enthusiasmamong the local population. Following abreak for lunch in Tann, the veteran carsthen had their greatest challenge of theday: The drive up the highest mountain inthe state of Hesse!

The machines and the people in themmastered the 950-metre climb up theWasserkuppe – the cradle of internationalgliding – with neither problems nor break-downs.

Most of the participants took the opportu-nity to change places from the car seat tothe cockpit, and enjoy sightseeing tourswith views across the Hessian Rhoen.

Dinner at the House Kurfürst rounded offthis eventful day. Dr. Blickle and Dr. Helmigthanked the marketing team on behalf ofthe guests for the excellent organisationand a marvellous day which had included agreat deal of motion and emotion.

EDAG is First Class

At a ceremony held in Stuttgart on 22nd

June 2007, EDAG Engineering + DesignAG, Fulda received the coveted awarddeclaring it to be one of the 100 mostinnovative companies in Germany in 2007.In the study carried out by Prof. NikolausFranke (Vienna University of Economics),five central areas of innovation manage-ment were tested and evaluated.

As well as highlighting the technologicalinnovations in vehicle development andproduction technology of the past fewyears, the jury also praised the innovationmanagement of the EDAG Group. Since2005, EDAG has had a centralised positionfor the promotion and support of innovati-ve staff ideas. With an innovative circlecomposed of representatives from vehicledevelopment, production plant develop-ment and construction, manufacturingand aerospace, EDAG has been creating anetwork between its technical divisions, toensure a lively and structured transfer ofknowledge within the Group.

The award, which has been conferred bycompamedia GmbH since 1993, was pre-sented to Markus Wess of EDAG’s CentralInnovation Management, by Lothar Späthin Stuttgart.

Späth, former Premier of the state ofBaden-Wuerttemberg and Chairman ofthe Board of the Merrill Lynch Deutschlandinvestment bank, is a supporter of thisbenchmarking project explicitly aimed atseeking out and promoting middle-sizedcompanies which have distinguishedthemselves on the strength of their innova-tive abilities. For, in the words of the men-tor of the TOP 100, Germany needs tokeep mobile and forward-looking. A high-calibre jury was responsible for rating the293 participating companies from all overGermany. The jurors included manage-ment consultant Prof. Roland Berger, Prof.Hans-Jörg Bullinger, President of theFraunhofer Institute, and Prof. Heinrichvon Pierer, who, was appointed by AngelaMerkel to head Germany’s ”Council forInnovation and Growth”.

creating (e)motion

EDAG’s first Classic Tour


from lefts: MarkusWess, EDAG Innovationmanagement andLothar Späth, Mentorof the InnovationAward „Top 100”

Excerpt from the list of participating cars:Mercedes: 190 SL, 1960 model250 SL Pagode, 1967220 SE Ponton Cabriolet, 1959 model220 SE 111er Cabriolet, 1961 model300 D „Adenauer Limousine”, 1960 model300 D „Adenauer Cabriolet”, 1959 model300 S Roadster, 1953 modelMercedes 600, 1972 model

Alfa Romeo Guiletta Spider, 1959 modelJaguar XK, 1956 modelMaserati Mistral Vignale Spider, 1967 modelPorsche 912, 1966 modelPorsche 356 Speedster, 1957 modelTriumpf TR 3, 1960 modelTriumpf TR 4, 1966 model

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The Mechatronic ApproachGrowing competitive pressure in the auto-motive industry leads to a constant increasein demands for shorter project durations,lower costs and higher quality in the sup-plier industry.

In order to meet these demands, thesearch is on in the manufacturing divisionfor holistic system solutions which will eli-minate previous isolated solutions and linktogether the various technical disciplineson the basis of a mechatronic model. TheSoftware EPLAN Engineering Center (EEC),part of the EPLAN Software & Servicesorganisation, has made an outstandingcontribution to this approach. The mainconcept of this software is based on themodularisation of a system or machine,breaking it down into standard modules

which are functional, mechatronic and re-useable, and which contain all relevantdata on the mechatronic disciplines, forinstance calculation, planning, mechanicsand electrics. If a change is made to themechatronic model in just one of its disci-plines, then the change is automaticallyapplied to all the other disciplines, thusguaranteeing the integrated quality of thedocumentation, and ensuring that error-prone multiple inputs are a thing of thepast.

The mechatronic components are mana-ged in units, and as such can be re-used invarious projects. Individual configurationand parametrisation of the componentsfacilitate the automatic, discipline-spanninggeneration of project documents, thusreducing the duration of a project.

Experience with EEC SoftwareFollowing a successful pilot project, newcomponents were added to the units stepby step. The focus at this stage was onmaking sure that the development shouldremain project-oriented and cost-effective,and this meant that synergy effects becameapparent immediately. As the componentswhich had been developed had high repeatrates in the systems to be planned, theautomatic generation compensated forthe expense that had gone into developingthe units.

Documents have been generated for variouscustomers in a number of projects already.For example, the electric and pneumaticplans of all clamping devices for a comple-te body in white in Russia are being confi-gured and generated by means of the EECsoftware at the moment. As the electricsand pneumatics in this section are basedon practically the same data, unnecessaryrepetition of input can be avoided, engi-neering time spans reduced, and bottle-necks in capacity kept to a minimum.

Future targets are a continuous expansionof the EEC software to include further dis-ciplines, and the integration of EEC in thecompany's processes, so that a mechatro-nic model can be maintained and builtupon throughout the process chain, begin-ning with the preparation of the offer, andending with the initial start up of the pro-duct.

Module-Based Engineering inManufacturing Division


Personnel

Martin BestMartin Best, longstanding Headof the Rüsselsheim subsidiary,has decided to reduce thenumber of hours he works forthe EDAG Group, as of 1st

August, 2008. ”With the con-tract for part-time work, I willbe achieving my own goal oftaking things easier, job-wise,after my 50th birthday, so as tohave time for all the thingswhich I have neglected duringthe past few years,” explainsMartin Best, who has just tur-ned 50. Best, who holds adegree in mechanical enginee-ring, began his career as adesigner at the Ingolstadt sub-sidiary in 1979. Different jobslater took him to the offices inMunich and Fulda. In 1988, hebecame project manager for the”Opel Calibra”, at this timethe largest design contractever handled by the BodyEngineering Division in thehistory of the company. From1995 until 2004, he headedthe EDAG subsidiary in Rüssels-heim, before moving to salesand marketing for GM Europe.We would like to thank MartinBest for his past achievements,and look forward to conti-nuing our work with him.

Dr. BöhmSince 1st July, Dr. Böhm,Member of the ExecutiveBoard, has been in charge ofthe Production and ITDivisions, and will also betaking over the position ofChief Restructuring Officer(CRO). Having completed hisstudies and doctorate inmechanical engineering, Dr. Böhm, who is now 57years old, took up positions of responsibility in productionand IT at MTU MünchenGmbH, and later becamemanaging director of theHamburg company CTSFahrzeug-Dachsysteme GmbH.From 2002 onwards, he mana-ged the Hamburg plant of theDaimlerChrysler AG, at whichvehicle components are developed and produced.

Akram DamisiA new employee to the EDAGGroup, Akram Damasi, hasbeen in charge of the BusinessUnit VW/Skoda at our subsi-diary in Wolfsburg since thebeginning of 2007.The 40-year old, who has adegree in engineering, and can look back on years ofexperience with the VWGroup, will be managing andcoordinating the sales andmarketing activities of theEDAG business units for ourcustomer VW/Skoda.

Ewald QuellSince 1st July, 2007, EwaldQuell has been responsible for the newly created positionof Head of IT and ProcessManagement, set up to promote the interlinking of the two fields.The skilled mechanical engi-neer looks back on 27 years'experience with eckard designand EDAG. At the beginningof his career in the company,he established the PlanningDepartment, then later onManufacturing Simulation.There then followed additionalfunctions in the fields of innovation and patents, before, in August 2006, hewas given the task of imple-menting change managementat EDAG. His extensive experience is the basis for the success of future changesand improvements within thecompany.

Complexity throughinterdisciplinary relations

Projecting andGeneration

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The ”High Security” team from theIngolstadt subsidiary hosted a spectacularevent to give a demonstration of their abi-lities in the field of light armouring andspecial-purpose vehicle construction.Together with AGP Europe, the Europeanbranch of American Glass Products, whichis the world’s market leader for bullet-proof glass, and UnionStahl GmbH, a mar-keting subsidiary of ThyssenKrupp(Panzerstähle = armour steels), theIngolstadt team organised their third”Explosives Day”, which took place inSchrobenhausen on 3rd May this year. Theysucceeded in engaging Prof. ManfredHeld, one of the world's leading experts onexplosives technology to act as their scien-tific adviser and speaker for the day. Theevent was held in the grounds, and withthe friendly support of MBDA Deutsch-land, the German subsidiary of a Europeandefence technology group.

More than 60 visitors from the industrywere there; to give them an impressivedemonstration of what protective materialscan do, technical lectures were held, andgenuine firing, hand grenade and blastingtests carried out.

The programme included hand grenadetests with 120 grams of explosive, andtests where handguns were fired atarmoured steels and glass. The explosiondemonstrations were of particular interestto the specialists there, as this form ofthreat has become increasingly widespreadin crisis areas such as Iraq or Afghanistanover the last few years. These involvedexploding a tank-crushing Milan-typecharge first up against standard constructi-on steel, then against armoured steel, afterwhich the impact depths of the two werecompared – as expected, these measured910 mm in the construction steel and 650

mm in the armoured steel. To conclude thetests, a blast attack involving 15 kg ofexplosive was launched against the side ofan unprotected car: the onlookers wereable to see for themselves just how totallydestructive a charge of this type can be –and how well armoured high-security vehi-cles need to be, if they are to satisfy therequirements of the Federal Office ofCriminal Investigation.

Heinz Gerlach, who works in sales andmarketing of the EDAG high-security vehi-cles, came to the positive conclusion:”With our events in November 2006,March 2007 and May 2007, we havemanaged to make contact with over 180experts in military circles, vehicle manufac-turing and industry.”

The Ingolstadt subsidiary has been workingin the field of high security vehicles since2003, and can offer development services,moulded ballistic parts and vehicle armou-ring kits (for anything from passenger carsto military vehicles).

EDAG at Explosive Event in Schrobenhausen


the unprotected production series vehiclebefore the test ...

Proof of ballistic resistance, here by firing at armoured glass.

... following thedischarge of 15 kg

of Geosit against its side from a

distance of 2 metres.