ZF POSITIONS ITSELF AS THE WORLD’S LARGEST SYSTEM AND COMPONENT SUPPLIER FOR COMMERCIAL VEHICLES
ZF has launched a new commercial vehicle solutions (CVS) division with effect from 1 January 2022, positioning itself as the world’s largest supplier of systems and components for the commercial vehicle industry. The new division unites ZF’S former commercial vehicle technology and commercial vehicle control systems divisions, the latter of which was formed from ZF’S May 2020 acquisition of WABCO. The CVS division is supported by around 25,000 employees based across 61 locations in 28 countries.
Wilhelm Rehm, member of the ZF board of management and head of the CVS division, said: “Our broad technological positioning and global market presence enables us to support the ambitions of truck, bus, coach and trailer OEMS, as well as fleets worldwide.
With well-defined strategies to mobilize commercial vehicle intelligence, the CVS division will be structured to maintain close proximity to customers in every region. We believe this approach, combined with the breadth and depth of capability we can bring to innovate, supply and integrate on-board systems and technology, will offer new levels of benefit and value-enhancing synergies for customers.
“Bringing together ZF’S expertise and capabilities, the CVS division will further build on our combined technology successes. This includes the recent launch of Onguardmax, ZF'S first complete ‘in-house’ system integrating camera, radar, ECU and actuation for commercial vehicles. In line with ZF’S ‘Next Generation Mobility’ strategy, the division will also help ZF leapfrog towards market leadership in e-mobility, vehicle operating systems, autonomous driving and digitalization,” added Rehm.
ROAD SAFETY
Onguardmax is ZF’S most advanced autonomous emergency braking system for commercial vehicles. The integrated solution comprises ZF’S sensor technology, software and actuators that interact seamlessly with each other. Information from the radar sensor and high-resolution dual lens camera is analysed by an image processing module. This is controlled by ZF software which can also activate the Zf-supplied brake system autonomously. In everyday logistics, this autonomous emergency braking system provides an enormous boost towards road
safety. It can precisely detect and classify moving and stationary trucks, passenger cars, motorcycles and bicycles, warning the driver of an impending collision. If the driver does not take appropriate corrective action, Onguardmax autonomously initiates emergency braking from speeds of up to 80 km/h and can bring the vehicle to a complete stop to help prevent a collision.
The autonomous emergency braking system also identifies pedestrians, for example, when the vehicle is driven through city centres. Onguardmax is also able to stop the vehicle from speeds of 20 km/h to help prevent such collisions with pedestrians. Additionally, the braking system offers further safety functions including lane departure warning (LDW) and adaptive cruise control (ACC).
In April 2021, ZF announced that it was preparing for volume production of the Onguardmax in China starting with installation in new truck models by two leading Chinese manufacturers.
FLEET MANAGEMENT
ZF has secured multiple long-term agreements with several large fleet and transportation providers in the EMEA region to equip 150,000 trucks and 50,000 trailers with its fleet management solutions (FMS).
Under the agreements, ZF will equip fleet customers with a combination of advanced Transics-branded FMS truck and trailer connectivity solutions with cloudbased, advanced digital service portals.
This includes its leading Tx-sky on-board computers and Tx-trailerpulse trailer telematics, in combination with Tx-connect, which improves overall fleet efficiency and enhances customer service capabilities, in addition to Tx-trailerfit which provides advanced trailer monitoring, remote diagnostics and maintenance optimization.
Peter Bal, business leader, digital customer services–emea, ZF, said:
“The growing adoption of ZF’S advanced Transics-branded FMS is helping propel the digitalization journey of the EMEA logistics and transportation industry to the next level of efficiency and safety by providing better information for smarter operational decisions and automation. These digitalization partnerships are at the very heart of our growing fleet customer base as we develop forward-looking digitalized solutions that automate key activities to drive leaner, greener and safer fleets through efficiencies and cost savings that are simply not possible with traditional solutions.”
ZF has also entered into a long-term agreement with Goodyear to bring together ZF’S advanced Transics-branded FMS and Goodyear’s high performing tyre portfolio and mobility solutions. Under the agreement, ZF and Goodyear are offering European commercial vehicle fleets an integrated suite of fleet and tyre management applications supporting mixed and multi-brand fleets.
For bus fleet operators, ZF is offering a new fleet management tool named Bus Connect. The digital solution covers three areas: the on-board unit in the vehicle, the cloud, and the web-based portal for data analytics. ZF Bus Connect is developed for city buses and coaches with both electric and combustion engines or hybrid systems also in a mixed fleet. The user can check every aspect of the vehicle, including live view of vehicle locations in real-time, observe current energy or fuel consumption, check the status of battery charge or maintain status of the vehicles parts, brake wear and other system messages. Fleet operators have the possibility to purchase this all-in-one solution from ZF as a package or to connect to the cloud solution with their own compatible on-board unit and access the information via the portal as a third-party solution.