Hungarian automotive industry: week 8 2017 edition
F. Segura expands Szolnok plant with €16.7m, Audi Hungaria enhances human-robot cooperation, Kravtex-Kühne completes major bus delivery, parliament to discuss potential ban on combustion engines. Let’s recap what the eighth week this year brought in Hungary’s automotive industry.
Manufacturers
Audi Hungaria have paved their way to smart production technologies: the six robots assembling four-cylinder petrol units, the most popular product line manufactured at the Győr plant, have now been joined by a new robot colleague.
In the name of human-robot cooperation, twin-spindle nutrunner robots are deployed to work hand-in-hand with humans, without the need for safety barriers.
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Rába reported on decreasing revenues and EBITDA in 2016. The Rába Group said 2016 was a milestone for the company: an extremely low level of net borrowing supported the group’s financial basis and helped launch investments of strategic importance.
The Kravtex-Kühne Group delivered the 100 new Credo buses ordered by Hungarian public transport (Volán) companies in December 2016 through a public procurement project. The vehicles were delivered to four public transport centres in four regions.
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Suppliers
“Suppliers should develop their own Industry 4.0 vision. If their vision and our vision are compatible, there should be no obstacle to launching mutual projects. We prefer working with companies who are one step ahead and inspire us,” Róbert Keszte, plant director at Continental Automotive Hungary Kft., told autopro.hu in an interview last week.
The Eckerle Group, a company present in Hungary for 25 years, are planning to further increase their productivity with developments in digitalisation, automation and ergonomics. Boasting four locations in Hungary, Eckerle are expecting a 15 percent increase in their turnover for 2017.
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Until the completion of the vehicle body and engine components manufacturing plant’s expansion project, Spain-based Segura Group will invest HUF 5.2bln (€16.7m) in their Szolnok plant and create 100 jobs at their Hungarian subsidiary. Thanks to the investment, the plant’s floor area will increase to 25,000sqm, which represents a 2.5-fold increase in production area from the 2007 launch.
Knorr-Bremse will develop innovative railway brake systems with a €2m investment. The group’s largest brake systems manufacturing plant and development centre has announced to develop unique, small-size and lightweight brake systems in the next two years, using innovative technologies.
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The Hungarian government has announced to launch a supplier development programme. The two-year supplier programme will use a total allocation of HUF 14bln (€45.1m) in 2017–2018, economy minister Mihály Varga said last week.
BorgWarner will add 600 workers at three Hungarian plants within 2 years. The Oroszlány-based automotive supplier is currently implementing a €50 mln government-subsidized capacity-expansion investment. The company also reported on yet another 1 mln accident-free working hours.
Services industry
The Hungarian parliament will discuss the ban on the sales of internal combustion engines. A new proposal puts forward a ban on petrol and diesel engines from 2025 and the withdrawal of internal combustion engines with the highest pollution levels.
“Our aim is to facilitate the integration of Hungarian SMEs into Tier-1 and Tier-2 suppliers and OEMs. It is crucial for these companies to become increasingly global,” Csaba Kilián, the secretary-general of the Association of the Hungarian Automotive Industry (AHAI), told autopro.hu in an interview last week.
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| Csaba Kilián, secretary-general of the Association of the Hungarian Automotive Industry (AHAI) |
Education
By the end of winter exam period, 530 engineering students had successfully completed the requirements of graduating from Széchenyi István University of Győr. The fresh graduates were welcomed by Dr. Barna Hanula, the head of the Audi Hungaria Faculty of Vehicle Engineering.
We need to increase R&D capacities at local higher educational institutions before the end of the current European Union development cycle in order to ensure that development continues in 2020 and universities are capable of cooperating with business, László Palkovics, the state secretary of education, said last week in Győr.
Trend
Újbuda is preparing for the future: the capital needs to install a fleet of 3,000 electric vehicles, which would be controlled by a logistics centre managing each autonomous vehicle in terms of location, time, traffic and capacity, sending them to locations where the highest hire rate is to be expected.
