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Recently, it was widely reported that ZF Friedrichshafen AG had initiated an acquisition of TRW Automotive Holdings Corp. Suddenly hearing this news, Xiao Bian was directly shocked. Both companies are famous in the industry. If this is “together”, it’s also a “giant”. The mainland group is facing it. Have to give up the position of second child. Bosch, China, and ZF after the acquisition of TRW, the German tank let us see its strength in the automotive components, but also let us see its ambition.

Layout driverless

Recalling that at the end of 2007, the financial crisis began to spread and the global economy was in recession. Continental Group acquired Siemens VDO Automotive Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Siemens, for 11.4 billion euros. This is the largest merger and acquisition case ever made by the auto parts industry. It ranks among the top five auto parts suppliers in the world and lays a solid foundation for its subsequent development.

Back to now, in 2014, the global auto market gradually recovered. At this time, ZF’s merger and acquisition of Tianhe undoubtedly made preparations for its next development. If the successful acquisition of TRW, ZF's product share of driveline and chassis specialists will expand to airbags, crash sensors and other electronic products that may be used in autopilot related equipment, and various technologies for autopilot are currently booming. . The increase in safety requirements and the increase in demand for driver assistance systems such as adaptive cruise control have increased the proportion of electronic products in automobiles. According to the forecast of the German industry think tank Automotive Management Center (CAM), the market size of the global driver assistance system will increase by nearly five times by the end of this decade (2011 to 2020).

Some analysts believe that it is too early to discuss whether ZF's deal with SkyTeam can be reached, but the two companies do have complementary product lines. Given that electronic assistive technologies for driving systems and self-driving cars are gradually heating up, the combination of technical expertise may create a strong automotive supplier.

Opening the new wave of M&A

According to the analysis of the automotive investment bank staff, due to the huge scale of the acquisition of TRW, the price paid by the company is too expensive. The mainland, Bosch, Delphi and Magna are not very likely to participate in bidding. However, according to an anonymous source, if ZF and SkyTeam implement a merger, the antitrust agency may prompt the two companies to divested assets of the system business. The eyes of these giants are likely to focus on being stripped businesses.

In addition, this acquisition will certainly have an inestimable impact on the entire industry of auto parts and components. Companies in the same industry must cooperate with one another in order to survive or benefit. After all, from ancient times to the present, vertical and horizontal connections have become effective means of fighting against powerful opponents.

Gravity Casting Parts

"Gravity Die Casting. A permanent mould casting process, where the molten metal is poured from a vessle of ladle into the mould, and cavity fills with no force other than gravity, in a similar manner to the production of sand castings, although filling cn be controlled by tilting the die."

Gravity Die Casting

Sometimes referred to as Permanent Mould, GDC is a repeatable casting process used for non-ferrous alloy parts, typically aluminium, Zinc and Copper Base alloys.

The process differs from HPDC in that Gravity- rather than high pressure- is used to fill the mould with the liquid alloy.

GDC is suited to medium to high volumes products and typically parts are of a heavier sections than HPDC, but thinner sections than sand casting.

There are three key stages in the process.

  1. The heated mould [Die or Tool] is coated with a die release agent. The release agent spray also has a secondary function in that it aids cooling of the mould face after the previous part has been removed from the die.
  2. Molten metal is poured into channels in the tool to allow the material to fill all the extremities of the mould cavity. The metal is either hand poured using steel ladles or dosed using mechanical methods. Typically, there is a mould [down sprue" that allows the alloy to enter the mould cavity from the lower part of the die, reducing the formation of turbulence and subsequent porosity and inclusions in the finished part.
  3. Once the part has cooled sufficiently, the die is opened, either manually or utilising mechanical methods.

Advantages

  • Good dimensional accuracy
  • Smoother cast surface finish than sand casting
  • Improved mechanical properties compared to sand casting
  • Thinner walls can be cast compared to sand casting
  • Reverse draft internal pockets and forms can be cast in using preformed sand core inserts
  • Steel pins and inserts can be cast in to the part
  • Faster production times compared to other processes.
  • Once the tolling is proven, the product quality is very repeatable.
  • Outsourced Tooling setup costs can be lower than sand casting.

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