Tag: Adient

Categories
Parts

Adient to set up Joint Venture in India for Manufacture of Seat Fabrics

Adient has announced that the company will be shortly setting up a joint venture in India with the well known textile manufacturer, Arvind Group, for making and selling automotive fabrics in the Indian market. Called Adient Arvind Automotive fabrics, the new company will deal with the production of high-performance fabrics. The company will have a manufacturing facility in Ahmedabad that will cater to the need of domestic and overseas markets. Adient have a 50.5 percent share in the new joint venture company and the board of directors will have representatives from both Arvind and Adient.

The JV will benefit from the expertise of both parties in their respective fields and will collaborate closely with its customers on long-term product road maps. The goal is to provide Indian and global vehicle manufacturers with innovative solutions in fabrics high quality products, that will set new standards when it comes to design, comfort and aesthetic variety in India.

Commenting on the partnership, Jef Vercammen, vice president, Global Fabrics at Adient said that Adient is committed to use continuing advancements to expand its portfolio of fabric products and deliver new value to its customers. The partnership with Arvind Limited will give Adient a foothold in the Indian market which is growing at a rapid pace. Adient has immense technological resources and expertise in global fabrics while Arvind brings to the partnership its extensive manufacturing capabilities.

Punit Lalbhai, executive director, Arvind Group, said that the company’s goal is to transform its business through technologies and partnerships. Arvind has plans to explore other aspects of the textile business like human protection, construction and transport. Consumers will get access to superior and high-quality automotive seating solutions as an outcome of the winning combination of Adient’s market presence and automotive expertise as well as Arvind’s textile manufacturing capabilities.

Murali Rajagopalan, director and country manager, Adient India, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Arvind, a well-respected leader in the textiles industry with a long history of manufacturing excellence, from yarn production through to innovative textile products. Through this collaboration Adient will gain a strong position from which to serve our Indian and global customers and ultimately offer more value to consumers in India.”

Categories
Parts

Ingo Fleischer Appointed as New Vice-President (Seating) for EMEA for Adient

Adient has appointed Ingo Fleischer as the new head of operational business in the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East, Africa). Adient has a strong presence in the region with 50 production plants and about 21,000 employees.

As part of his new role, Fleischer will oversee the business and production processes for
complete seats, foam and trim in a key market for Adient. 48-year-old Fleischer is a graduate in industrial engineering graduate and is expected to further expand Adient’s successful operational business. His focus will be on increasing efficiency and productivity of the production network in the region and on building strong customer relationships with leading automotive manufacturers. He will also continue to manage the commercial vehicle business line.

Fleischer is a long-time Adient employee and has been with the company from 1997. During his stint, he has held several technical and managerial positions ranging from quality assurance and production to coordination of global product launches. He has also demonstrated considerable expertise in the management of key customer and business areas.

As the vice-president – Global Specialty Seating, Ingo Fleischer recently successfully managed the company’s development of seating solutions for commercial aircraft and commercial vehicles. He also played a key role in setting up Adient Aerospace, a joint venture with Boeing. He had also recently handled the Adient Recaro Automotive Seating premium brand.

Fleischer will take over as the Vice-president of seating from Brian Grady, who had earlier handled Adient’s operational EMEA business. Grady will now take on the role of Adient’s Vice President Commercial and will manage the company’s global business, marketing and development processes.

Categories
Parts

Adient Develops Lightweight Seating Solutions

Adient Showcases Lightweight Seating Solutions
(PRNewsfoto/Adient)

Lightweighting is a key focus area for automotive manufacturers and OEMs in light of the importance given to fuel efficiency. As part of this drive, Adient which is one of the leading automotive seating suppliers has developed several innovative lightweight seating solutions which do not affect passenger safety or comfort using alternative materials and composites.

Over the past 10 years, Adient has reduced the weight of the seats it supplies to leading car manufacturers by 20 to 30 percent. The company’s goal is to reduce the weight of standard seat structures by 22 pounds by 2020. In order to achieve this goal, Adient has taken up a multi-material approach, and is investigating the viability of materials like glass, magnesium, high-strength steel, carbon fiber-reinforced plastics and aluminum for this purpose.

Dr. Detlef Juerss, vice president engineering and CTO at Adient said that in future, car seats will increasingly become multi-function supports having a wide range of electronic adjustments and technical equipment. The Adient team is working on combining these technical innovations with making seats that are lighter, safe and of the highest quality.

Magnesium for strong, lightweight seat structures
At the recent NAIAS show in Detroit, Adient showcased a multi-material lightweight seat that was fashioned from die-cast magnesium.

Juerss said that magnesium is the lightest when it comes to structural materials. It is 75 percent lighter than steel and 33 percent lighter than aluminum while offering excellent strength-to-weight ratio, good dimensional stability and flexible construction

Front seats with composite elements
Adient also used the show to exhibit a glass fiber–reinforced plastic front seat backrest concept which helped to reduce weight by up to 30 percent with its slim and modular design that is suitable for all seat platforms. It also offers a high level of passenger protection and offers more room for passengers.

Lightweight rear seats with great user-friendly flexibility
Other innovative ideas include flexible seats for the second row which incorporate integrated safety belts and rails recessed into the floor. When compared to conventional rear seats, this seat used aluminum and high tensile steel to reduce weight by seven kilograms.

Adient has a premium brand called Recaro Automotive Seating, which draws on the company’s expertise in motorsports.

The all-new Recaro Performance Seat Platform (RPSP) has two applications which attest to Recaro’s lightweight approach. The first is “reduced to the max” version while the second is a demonstrator having advanced features and design innovations like a visible, carbon fiber-braided backrest structure, which is meant for the top luxury segment.

Such designs will allow more space for vehicle interiors, thanks to the body-shaped composite seat structure and thin IntelliTech foam. Te foam which is light, rigid and flexible can easily integrate attachments for the complete seat application including spacers, optional ventilation, etc. Thus, it can reduce weight up to 40 percent and is 50 percent thinner (8mm) compared to standard polyurethane foam.

The new limited-edition aftermarket shell seat Recaro Pole Position SL (SL for street-legal) is a slim, one-piece shell seat made of glass fiber-reinforced plastic (GRP) that provides perfect lateral and shoulder support at highest comfort levels. The shell weighs approximately 7 kilograms (without side mount and base frame), and its carbon derivative is only 4.5 kilograms, which makes it the lightest street legal shell seat globally.

Categories
Parts

Adient to Invest USD 30 Million in Automotive Seating facility in India

Adient to Invest USD 30 Million in Automotive Seating facility in India

Adient, which is one of the largest manufacturers of automotive seating systems in the world has announced plans to invest USD 30 million in what it says will be the largest automotive seating prototyping and testing facility in India. Adient recently broke ground for the new facility, which will cover 20,000 square meters. The facility which will be located in Pune is slated to become operational by late 2018, according to Adient’s vice-president for engineering and chief technical officer Detlef Juersus.

The construction of the new facility will be considered as a major expansion of the company’s existing technical center in Pune. The new facility will not only provide physical testing but will also have centers for computer-aided engineering (CAE), computer-aided design (CAD) automation and finite element analysis (FEA) simulation expertise. Its Pune facility already has Adient’s largest workforce when compared to the other tech centers that are part of Adient’s global network.

According to Juersus, Adient’s current facility in Pune employees about 850 engineers and this does not include about 150 engineers who have been deployed to other locations across the globe for assignments. The center makes a major contribution to the company’s global industrial design operations.
Juersus said, “This investment of USD 30 million is an important milestone for us as we optimise our engineering footprint around the world to deliver global products and innovation capabilities wherever our customers are.

By setting up this new facility, Adient will now be able to fully cover all aspects of product development ranging from design and product validation to testing, for global and local launch markets in Pune. The center will have state-of-the-art infrastructure that will be highly useful to the domestic automotive industry.
Adient sells one in three automotive seats in the world and has partnerships with all major automotive manufacturers.

Categories
Parts

Adient to Take Over Seating Supplier Futuris Group in USD 360 Million Deal

Adient to Take Over Seating Supplier Futuris Group in USD 360 Million Deal

Adient is a leading seating solution company which specializes in the design, manufacture and sales of a wide range of seating systems and components for all kinds of vehicles. These include passenger cars, pickups, light trucks and SUVs. The company has announced that it will be acquiring US seating supplier, Futuris Group as the outcome of a USD 360 million.

The Futuris Group designs and manufactures fully integrated automotive seating and interior systems and currently has 15 manufacturing facilities spread across North America and Asia. The company has a diverse product range including seat bolsters, armrests, full seating systems, seat trim, seat frames and headrests.

The company’s main customers in the North American market include General Motors, Ford and Tesla while the major customers in the Asian market include Chery, Brilliance and Geely.

Adient will take on the liabilities of Futuris including approximate net debt of $18 million. Adient expects to increase its revenue by USD 500 million as an outcome of the deal.

Commenting on the acquisition, Bruce McDonald, chairman and CEO, Adient said that Futuris has a rapidly growing client base that will strengthen Adient’s position in the US market, improve its utilization rates in North America and expand its business in Southeast Asia. He said that Futuris’ concentration on local brands in China will complement Adient’s existing business in the region.

Adient expects substantial synergies from the acquisition of Futuris through vertical integration, improvements in purchasing and logistics and through application of best business practices and process optimization of the Adient Manufacturing System for optimization of operational efficiencies. The deal between the two companies is expected to be finalized by September 30, 2017, pending regulatory and anti-trust approvals.

Categories
Parts

Adient to Preview New Interiors for Autonomous Driving at Frankfurt Motor Show

Adient to Preview New Interiors for Autonomous Driving at Frankfurt Motor Show

The concept of mobility has changed drastically in the past few years with the advent of autonomous driving, shared vehicles and electromobility. Adient, one of the top suppliers of automotive seating will use the 2017 edition of the International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt am Main to showcase the AI18 demonstrator, its new interior concept for autonomous driving, which will address these three new trends, especially when it comes to the vehicle seating system.
Richard Chung, Vice President Innovation at Adient, explained that consumers will opt for optimal vehicle architecture which can be easily adapted to suit the requirements of a wide range of users who have different requirements and preferences in almost every situation. This need for adaptation will play a key role in the design of vehicle interiors and seating systems.

Adient plans to use five scenarios to demonstrate in the AI18 the degree to which level-3 and level-4 autonomous vehicles could be flexible in the future. Chung said that in addition to a Lounge mode, the AI18 seating system offers Communication, Cargo, Baby Plus and Family modes. Depending on the situation, these modes would provide users with optimum seating arrangements and space and provide them with various usage options and technical aids so that their journey is as comfortable, safe and efficient as possible.

One example is that even in the case of a compact vehicle, in the Lounge mode, passengers benefit from a high degree of comfort and relaxation. The front seats come with an anthropometric pivot and can provide much more support than conventional seats even when reclined far back. Other components that add to the comfort factor include integrated armrests, head restraint, and a separate leg rest which are synchronized to move with the body. There is even an optional massage function.

When it comes to the weight of the vehicle, there are as many as 20 innovations in the AI18 demonstrator in relation to new component geometries, alternative materials and composites to minimize the weight of the vehicle.

Chung said, “Slimmer, lighter seating systems not only play their part in reducing fuel consumption or increasing the range of electric vehicles. They also allow automakers to make best use of the vehicle’s compact dimensions and therefore also increase efficiency in automotive construction at many levels.”

Categories
Parts

Seating Supplier Adient Launches Seat Covers for Shared Vehicles

Seating Supplier Adient Launches Seat Covers for Shared Vehicles

Leading seating supplier, Adient has come up with several innovations to keep seating clean in vehicles that are used for ridesharing. With the growing popularity of ride-sharing companies like Lyft and Uber, hygine becomes a central issue when it comes to shared vehicles.

To address this concern, Adient has introduced seat covers that are removable and washable for vehicles that are used by multiple drivers and passengers. According to a company news release, these are ideal for an age when more people are renting cars and resort to carpooling and car-sharing to improve mobility and cut costs.

Nick Petouhoff, executive director-engineering for Adient said that many more people are joining ride sharing organizations due to their reliability, convenience and cost. Keeping vehicles clean would enhance the riding experience and this is why Adient designed the removable seat covers.

The seat covers come with an integrated zipper and are washable in 86˚ F (30˚C) water. There will be no damage to the foam inside when the cover is removed as there will be a protective lining that eliminates the need for the foam to be restored or replaced.

The covers will get additional protection from the company’s FreshPer4mance coating, which can be added to the textile seat cover to make it liquid-repellent, stain-resistant, antistatic and antimicrobial. Dirt and grime can be removed easily with just one wipe, and there will be no marks on the fabric.

Adient has in-house digital ink-jet printing capabilities that will make it possible to customize the seat covers to some degree by adding a variety of designs and colors.

Adient has a workforce of 75,000 people engaged in producing seating for all major OEMs at 230 manufacturing/assembly plants spread across 33 countries.

Categories
Parts

Adient JV to Open New plant in China

Adient JV to Open New plant in China

Adient, which is the largest manufacturer of automotive seating systems in the world has announced that it would be opening a new 90,000-square-meter factory for production of automotive seating mechanisms in Changshu. The plant would be set up through one of the company’s joint ventures in China, Adient Yanfeng Seating Mechanism Co. Ltd. (AYM).

AYM is a joint venture company which was established in December 2013, and in which Adient and Yanfeng Automotive Trim Systems Co. Ltd have a 50:50 stake. Currently the company operates from a 71,000-square-meter facility based in Kangqiao Industry Zone, Shanghai.

In order to operate the new factory after it becomes operational, AYM will hire new employees and transfer current employees from the Shanghai location. The factory will have a total workforce of 2000 employees and will have dedicated areas for special engineering, testing, prototyping and manufacturing lines for seating mechanisms, like tracks, adjusters, latches and related parts. The seating systems produced at the plant will be supplied to leading automotive manufacturers based in China and overseas including BMW, GM, Ford, Volkswagen, Daimler, SAIC, Mazda, Honda, Great Wall and Chang’an.

Commenting on the new plant, Darlene Knight, vice president of Adient China said that the company is dedicated to reinforcing vertical integration in core seating mechanisms technologies and providing clients with state-of-the-art products that are made locally in China. The opening of the new plant in Changshu would allow Adient to further expand its footprint and capacities in China.”

Based on the current timeline, AYM plans to begin recruiting employees and have the plant operational in the fourth quarter of 2018. AYM will also add additional facilities for stamping, electrophoretic painting, welding, fine-blanking, heat treatment and assembly by the end of 2018.

“This strategic move and expansion will enable us to generate sustainable growth in seating mechanisms businesses and to strengthen our market leadership in China,” said Knight.

Categories
Parts

Adient Showcases Luxury Seating Concept at Innovative Seating Conference in Düsseldorf, Germany

It is only a matter of time before we have self-driving on the road. They have already become a reality on test tracks. Some semi-autonomous features have already been incorporated in high-end vehicles. As drivers increasingly give control of the vehicle to technology, they will have more time to relax behind the wheel and do other things in the car. This will translate into a lot of changes in the seating structure in cars.

Speaking about this trend at the Innovative Seating Conference in Düsseldorf, Andreas Maashoff, director Industrial Design and Craftsmanship Europe with Adient said that the quality of life is set to change dramatically when self-driving vehicles hit the roads. Just like the passengers, the drivers will also become riders and they will be able to get time during their commute to perform other tasks. Adient’s advanced seating technology will be able to increase the safety and reduce the stress of commuting.

Car design is set to undergo a sea change and the interior concepts will have to be modified to accommodate the needs of the driver, who will now have more time on his hands and will not need to focus on the road always. Adient’s seating technology has been modified to move with the times. In an autonomous car, when the vehicle door is opened, the seat would greet the driver and adapt itself to his requirements. As many as 15 innovations have been integrated into the current Adient luxury seating concept for autonomous driving systems.

Even before autonomous vehicles became all the rage, Adient, which is a spinoff from the multinational conglomerate Johnson Controls and is one of the global leaders in the field of automotive seating, has been exploring new design options when it came to the seating and the interiors.

At the conference, Adient used its AI17 seating demonstrator to showcase its concept within a realistic vehicle interior. The AI17 was first revealed to the public for the first time in January at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit. The concept serves to show the effect the advent of autonomous driving will have on the driver and passenger experience in a premium vehicle.