Hungarian automotive industry: week 19 2017 edition

Mach-Tech Industry Day

In every odd year, the Mach-Tech Industry Days Exhibition is held at Hungexpo. The event was open to visitors from 9th to 12th of May.

István Lepsényi (pictured below), state secretary of the Ministry of National Economy responsible for economy development and management, said at the opening of the conference on Industry 4.0 that supplier development will play a crucial role in the new Irinyi Plan – a programme with a focus on reindustrialisation – to which the government will allocate a total budget of HUF 14 bln (€45.2m) in various projects.

Mihály Varga, Minister of National Economy, said at the exhibition’s opening ceremony that the government’s support programme for large businesses (NBT) will continue this year with an additional allocation of HUF 15bln (€48.4m).

Varga reminded that the programme had been initially launched in 2015, when investments by 14 large companies were subsidised, while last year 35 large businesses received support.

Suppliers

After Budapest, Győr and Jászfényszaru, Thyssenkrupp will now build a new plant in Debrecen with a headcount of 250. The new unit will manufacture more than 6 million cylindrical springs and stabilizer bars annually.

Looking to launch production next year, the company is already recruiting workers, who will be trained at existing Hungarian and German manufacturing units. Thyssenkrupp currently have over 1,000 employees in Hungary.

Salgglas are preparing to introduce a new, “glass-in-glass” technology into their sideline product line. An advantage of the new technology is a reduction in drag coefficient, better noise cancellation and insulation and increasing production efficiency. A supplier of OEMs such as Audi, BMW and Mercedes, the Salgglas plant in Salgótarján manufactures 4 million glass products every year.

“Workforce shortage is imposing more and more restrictions to local developments, sometimes hindering us in undertaking new orders. In spite of this, however, we are renting a new production area in Bóly, where we will expand our injection moulding activities.

“With this step we will create the group’s European injection moulding centre in Baranya county,” Joachim Eckerle (pictured below), the owner of Eckerle Group, said in an interview last week.

“The first machines have begun production at the new site in three shifts. The remaining machinery will be installed by the end of the year; a total of 60 injection moulding machines will be installed as part of the investment.”

TechTogether

The 10th International Aventics Pneumobil Race was held on May 5–6, where 46 teams from seven countries competed with their compressed-air driven vehicles. For the first time in the history of the competition, a foreign team finished first.

We interviewed Krisztián Veszelszki, one of the team captains, about how the experiences they gain during preparation can be utilised in a working environment. Not many would think that the costs of building a compressed-air driven “pneumobil” can easily exceed €3,000.

On May 4, the Formula Student team from Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) unveiled their latest vehicle to their sponsors and tutors.

“Our new car weighs 225kg, and has a power-to-weight ratio of 2.1kg/bhp according to the rulebook. Its top speed is 110km/h, while the car’s system voltage is 600V. It accelerates from 0 to 100km/h in just 2.9 seconds. The battery is a 6.2kWh energy storage unit weighing 55kg.

“The electric motors and motor controllers are water-cooled, while the battery is air-cooled. The wheels are connected with the carbon-composite monocoque chassis, featuring a steel roll bar, with a double-wishbone suspension both at the front and the rear,” BME FRT team captain Gábor Sipos said, sharing details about the new car’s specifications.