[ COLLOQUIUM 03/2016 – THE MAGAZINE OF THE THOMAS GROUP ]

LABS PROVIDE CERTAINTY

Thomas products under the microscope

Page 10

MODERN EXHAUST GAS AFTERTREATMENT

Innovative P1300 dosing pump gets off the ground

Page 04

LOGISTICS NOWADAYS

From Herdorf out into the whole world

Page 08

MAIN TOPIC:

EXPLOITING

POTENTIAL

[ LATEST NEWS ]

Dear Readers,

How can we reduce our exhaust gas emissions and keep the air in our towns and cities clean? What’s the best way for us to test whether new products are ready for the market? And how can we get more school-children interested in becoming engineers? These are some of the questions that we and our colleagues wrestle with on a daily basis. It’s a question of exploiting potential – spotting and leveraging opportunities for development and the capacity to perform. In this issue of Colloquium, we’d like to share a few results of this process with you. These include our new exhaust gas aftertreatment pump, our labs, and three Thomas colleagues who are taking time out to support young people as part of the VDI’s “Zukunftspiloten” scheme.

As well as happy reading, we’d also like to wish you a good start to the New Year! On the subject of all things new, you’ll find our 2017 calendar enclosed with this issue.

Yours faithfully,

Dietrich Thomas Markus Krauss

THOMAS TECHNOLOGY

A new all-rounder: Thomas launches series production of its P1300 PAGE 04 Small, fast, and sturdy: the PPCD08 pressure control valve is setting new standards PAGE 06

THOMAS IN THE FUTURE

This is how to promote young talent: VDI “Zukunftspiloten” and Thomas engineers whip up a storm around technology PAGE 07

THOMAS AROUND THE WORLD

State-of-the-art logistics: optimizing material and information flows PAGE 08

THOMAS IN DEVELOPMENT

Whether it’s for analyzing, measuring, or testing: Thomas has labs for everything PAGE 10

THOMAS IN THE FUTURE

Progress report: everything running to plan on the Thomas construction site PAGE 12

Imprint

CONTENTS

EDITORIAL

03

[ THOMAS NEWS ]

IN BRIEF

New module for the Thomas appSocial networks at a glance The Thomas app now brings to-gether all the company’s posts on the social networks XING, kununu, YouTube, and LinkedIn. A special tab lets users filter by individual communities or see everything at a glance.

Of course, all back issues of Col-loquium, the careers portal, and much more information about the company are also available. Simply scan the QR code or take a look here:

And, incidentally, we now have some winners for our compe-tition! Henning Fricke from Speicher and Sascha Hoffmann from Freudenberg shared their thoughts on the Thomas app and are now the lucky winners of a power bank for their smart-phone or tablet. General feed-back was extremely positive. We were also delighted to recei-ve a few good suggestions for improving some of the smaller details. Thank you very much to everyone who took part!

IN BRIEFThomas at the 25th Aachen ColloquiumHigher performance – less CO2

This was the order of the day for Thomas at the 25th Aachen Colloquium, Europe’s biggest vehicle and engine technology conference, which was held from October 10 to 12, 2016. The Tho-mas automotive team created quite a stir with the products showcased at its brand new exhi-bition booth.

“In their illuminated cabinets, our exhibits looked like genuine items of

jewelry and proved really eye-catching,” said Jürgen Heck, Head of the

Engine Management division.“Overall, the colloquium was a complete success for us,” he concluded.

“Some fascinating talks, some stimulating discussions with industry ex-

perts, and a great program of fringe events, as ever.”

IN BRIEFChanging printers and paper at Thomas Out in front in the quest for environmental protection Modern inkjet printers are on the rise. They are quiet, consume less power than compa-rable laser systems, do not cause any pol-lution in the form of ozone or particulates and are now no slower at printing than their laser counterparts either – something that Samuel Lodyga, an IT specialist at Tho-mas, is well aware of: “Our new Epson in-kjet printers have been awarded the ‘Blue Angel’ environmental label and have not taken long at all to prove their worth in

practice. Making the switch has paid off – both for the environment and

for us as a company.” Thomas is pursuing a clear strategy in terms of its

environmental and energy policy. “This is why we’ve also turned to a new

type of printer paper,” Samuel Lodyga explains. “Since September, we’ve

been using the FSC- and PEFC-certified Discovery 70 paper from sustaina-

ble forests.”

The P1300 is part of a new generation of dosing systems ideal for exhaust gas aftertreatment in diesel vehicles. It doses the aqueous urea solution AdBlue® into the exhaust gas system in SCR* catalytic converters. The solution relea-ses ammonia and converts poisonous nitrogen oxides into harmless nitrogen and water vapor.

The inline pump is designed to feed the exact quantity of AdBlue® required from the tank. The P1300’s functions are highly integrated, making it very compact. “Whereas you used to need multiple components such as sensors, shut-off valves, and injectors – all of which took up space – Tho-mas new pump combines several individual functions in a single product,” explains Dr.-Ing. Axel Müller, Director Pro-duct Management for Exhaust Gas, Energy and Thermal Management at Thomas. “You won’t find anything else on the market that integrates its functions like this. The P1300

is also extremely sturdy, durable, and versatile, meaning it can be used in other areas of technology as well.”

Thomas currently supplies the P1300 to several manu-facturers of commercial vehicles all around the world, in some cases together with the V1000, a on-off valve with integrated pressure limitation that was developed at the same time. Both components can be combined in a single customer system and their features can be added to – as in the case of a modular system. “The P1300 is designed as a product family and can therefore be deployed anywhere,” says Dr. Müller. “For instance, it can be used for different fluids such as water, oil, and fuel or for HC-Dosing into the exhaust to support thermal management of the exhaust gas. Alternatively, with a few minor modifications, it can be adapted for customers with other requirements.”

*SCR = selective catalytic reduction

[ THOMAS TECHNOLOGY ]

ALL-ROUNDER GOES INTO SERIES PRODUCTION

NEW PUMP FOR EXHAUST GAS AFTERTREATMENT

• Two harmful waste products, soot

particles and nitrogen oxides, are pro-

duced when engines burn diesel.

• Soot particles get into the lungs and

are believed to cause cancer. Nitrogen

oxides irritate the mucous membranes

and increase the risk of cardiovascular

disease.

• Particulate filters remove around 95%

of the soot particles.

• The system doses the right quantity

of urea solution from the P1300 and

V1000 based on the concentration of

nitrogen oxides in the exhaust gas and

adds it to this gas.

• SCR* causes the ammonia that is

released to react with the nitrogen

oxides and turn them into harmless

nitrogen and water.

The P1300 and V1000 combine to form a

highly integrated dosing unit that opti-

mizes the ratio between AdBlue® on the

one hand and diesel and nitrogen oxide

emissions on the other.

The emissions scandal has had repercussions far and wide. One thing is certain: clean diesel vehicles are absolutely essential. At Thomas, the team of experts led by en-gineers Dr.-Ing. Axel Müller and Dipl.-Ing. Thomas Rolland have designed the new P1300 inline pump and helped to develop it until it was ready for series produc-tion. It combines multiple features in a single piece of equipment and can feed, pump, and precisely dose fluids such as AdBlue® for the SCR* systems used in diesel engines.

MODERN EXHAUST GAS AFTERTREATMENT

05

[ THOMAS TECHNOLOGY ]

P1300 dosing pump

• Inline pump (exhaust gas aftertreat-

ment) that helps systems like SCR* to

dose AdBlue® precisely

• The P1300 product series integrates a

range of features and means no addi-

tional components (sensors, shut-off

valves, etc.) are required

• Designed and completely overmol-

ded to the Thomas Design Standard

(TDS) in line with the requirements of

Industry 4.0

• Extremely robust and durable

• Compatible with different flow rates

and fluids (water, oil, gasoline, diesel,

AdBlue®, etc.)

• Excellent repeat accuracy

V1000 pressure relief valve

• Manufactured on Thomas most

compact manufacturing line, thus saving

resources by making optimum use of

production space

• Unique one-piece flow line concept

optimized for ergonomic operation

• Designed and completely overmolded to

the Thomas Design Standard (TDS) in line

with the requirements of Industry 4.0

• Manufacturing concept based on the

“poka-yoke” principle for avoiding

errors: electronically connected work

processes guarantee a high level of

electronic support for personnel

WORKING AS A TEAM TO ENSURE CLEAN AIR

Dr. Axel Müller (left) and product manager

Thomas Rolland (center) in discussions with

development engineer Thomas Baum (right),

who developed the V1000’s manufacturing

concept

[ THOMAS TECHNOLOGY ]

Even more compact, straightforward, and efficient – these are the objecti-ves that the development experts at Thomas Mobile Hydraulics are current-ly working towards. Working closely with the Thomas Technology Lab in Dresden, the team led by Dr. Jörg Schneider and Thomas Zastrau is creating a pressure control valve that is directly operated. In doing so, we are setting new benchmarks in terms of performance density.

This is the PPCD08, an innovative pressure control valve that performs clutch control tasks in powershift transmissions for tractors, earthmovers, and craw-lers. It is closely related to the pre-operated PPCP09 pressure control valve for high-flow applications, which is already in series production and which currently has a flow capacity of 35 to 40 liters per minute. “We want to deve-lop an even more compact, directly operated pressure control valve that can handle flow rates of up to 18 to 25 liters per minute – the PPCD08,” explains Daniel Ferres, product manager at Thomas Mobile Hydraulics. “We’re plan-ning to fit between six and eight of these valves onto a pressure-cast block. They act as actuators for multi-plate clutches and control the hydraulic enga-ging process, which happens gently yet quickly.”

The Thomas Technology Lab in Dresden is helping the project team to deve-lop the PPCD08. Thomas opened the laboratory not far from TU Dresden in late 2015 to increase its in-house capacity for innovation. Dr. Michael Erhard is development engineer at Thomas Technology Lab and knows how impor-tant good planning and teamwork are when creating a new product: „We are supporting the PPCD08’s development by running tests and simulations. We made some major progress during our last model stage – for instance, there’s nobody else out there that’s building anything so small and compact. We can now see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Thomas Mobile Hydraulics develops the PPCD08

“What‘s the customer‘s benefit?

That’s the question behind every

new product developed at Thomas

– and the PPCD08 is no excepti-

on. To make sure that the perfor-

mance, quality, and cost structure

were all on the money, we’ve

combined many tried-and-tested

carry-over parts into a single, inno-

vative product that the market has

never seen before. However, the

demand is there: our target custo-

mers include JCB, John Deere, ZF,

CAT, and Volvo to name but a few.”

Daniel Ferres, Mobile Hydraulics

Product Manager

A SMALL VALVE SETS NEW BENCHMARKS

SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE PPCD08 (PROPORTIONAL PRESSURE CONTROL DIRECT-OPERATED)• Simple design to minimize costs

• Direct impact on the valve spool

means faster switching times than

the pre-operated PPCP09 (< 45 ms)

• Directly operated pressure control

valve to maximize possible flow

rates (18–25 l/min.)

• Low susceptibility to fluctuations

within the system (in terms of in-

fluencing factors such as low/high

temperatures, oil viscosity, vibra-

tions, pressure fluctuations, etc.)

• Compact design with unique per-

formance density

• robust, durable design with many

carry-over parts that are now in

use in their millions, that have

been approved by many different

customers, and that are already

very popular

[ THOMAS IN THE FUTURE ]

07

One of the people as-king themselves that question is Julia, as she stares at the cir-cuit diagram in front of her. It is for the new vehicle robot that she and a number of other young people are tinkering with in a pilot project run by the Siegen-based VDI “Zukunftspiloten,” or “pilots of the future.” The nationwide scheme by the VDI, the Association of German Engineers, is designed to help child-ren between 13 and 18 be inspired by technology. Promoting young ta-lent is also a key issue at Thomas. Thomas development engineers Jo-hann Scheiermann (thumbnail photo), Christian Britwum, and Fabian Rösner are the joint founders of and the dri-ving force behind the Siegen-based VDI “Zukunftspiloten.” They know how important it is to foster interest in a technical career. “When working with children and young people, it’s mainly a question of teaching them

the links between techno-logical possibilities and so-lutions for everyday prob-lems,” explains club leader Johann Scheiermann. “It’s

nothing more than PR for the engineering profession. I

mean, it’s not as dull as ditchwater like many people think. Quite the op-posite, in fact: instead of just sitting around talking, we try out new things and show how you can really break new ground in this job.”

Even the kick-off event, held at Freu-denberg Technology Museum in July, met with great interest. The participants included 25 thirteen- to fifteen-year-olds from schools in Sie-gen. “The feedback was immense,” Johann Scheiermann explains. “It was impressive to see how keen the young people were to learn and how much they already knew. We held a workshop to see how well the plan-ned “Siegener Zukunftspiloten” pilot project would go down. The talented youngsters were on fire...”

The students have been working on developing and building a mobile ve-hicle robot since October – a process that is opening up a great many fas-cinating avenues. Working in three groups led by Thomas engineers, the participants have been instructed to give their design and programming creativity free reign – just like real en-gineers do every day.

“ISN’T IT POSSIBLE TO DO THAT ANY BETTER?”

HOW THE VDI IS HELPING CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLEFrom nursery school to the

job market!

• VDIni Club: four- to twelve-year-olds

• VDI Zukunftspiloten: thirteen- to

eighteen-year-olds

• The VDI’s students’ and young en-

gineers’ network

• The VDI Zukunftspiloten mentoring

scheme: free, one-to-one support

up until students are ready to begin

their career

Thomas and the VDI “Zukunftspiloten”

[ THOMAS AROUND THE WORLD ]

Finding a sound balance between cost and benefit, preserving resour-ces and the best possible outcome for the customer – this is the task being tackled day in, day out by the 50 or so people who work at Thomas logistics department in Herdorf. They represent a key strategic interface between the production side and customers all over the world as well as between the company’s head of-fice in Herdorf and its other sites in the United States, China, and Italy. In the digital age, this is a challenging undertaking that goes way beyond simply packaging and transporting goods from one place to another.

Thomas trains many of its logistics specialists in house. “Every individual external customer has their own pa-ckaging and shipping requirements,” says Dirk Lamm, Head of Logistics at Thomas. “A seasoned, well-trai-ned team is an absolute must – not least in terms of quality assurance.” This is ensured by expecting every member of staff to look beyond their own individual remit because, after all, logistics is much more than just warehousing and incoming and out-going goods – it also involves supply-ing the various production lines.

“We see ourselves as an internal ser-vice provider for the manufacturing side,” Dirk Lamm explains. “Our de-partment separates the value-adding activities from the logistical ones, optimizes the flow of materials, and thus relieves the burden on the pro-duction team.” The error rate is im-pressively low both internally and externally, something the team is proud of.

Thomas logistics team handle an average of 5,000 pallets per month, around 1,500 of outgoing goods and some 3,500 of incoming goods – a substantial volume for an SME of

this size. “We in Logistics also stand to benefit from Thomas Herdorf headquarters being extended,” Dirk Lamm concludes. “The new building presents us with a great many oppor-tunities to implement new proces-ses and make improvements. We’re raring to go...” You can read more about how the extension at the Her-dorf site is progressing on page 12.

Industry 4.0 and globalizing markets undergoing major change are making their presence felt

in logistics more so than in virtually any other sector. Processes are becoming increasingly

standardized and digitalized. As a company with an international reach, Thomas sees this

as more than just a challenge. The trend is unleashing new momentum for growth and pre-

senting a major opportunity to optimize its internal and external supply chains even further.

Thomas Logistics

FROM HERDORF OUT INTO THE WORLD

THOMAS LOGISTICS1. Incoming goods (including

quality assurance)

2. Warehouse and central storage

facility

3. Supplying the production linesn

4. Shipping

To guarantee a continuous supply,

units 2 and 3 work to the same

timetable as the production team,

i.e., a three-shift pattern.

Logistics experts: Dirk Lamm (left)

and André Kilian (right)

[ THOMAS AROUND THE WORLD ]

COUNTRIES SUPPLIED WORLDWIDE

Europe including EFTA member

states (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Nor-

way, Switzerland)

Australia, Belarus, Brazil, Canada,

China, Hong Kong, India, Japan,

Mexico, New Zealand, Russia, Sou-

th Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey,

Ukraine, and United States

09

ANDRÉ KILIAN TALKS EXPORTS, CUSTOMS DUTIES AND AEO STATUS

Thomas gained “Authorized Econo-

mic Operator” certification in March

2016. What are the benefits of this

new status?

If you’re an AEO, you’re seen as par-

ticularly reliable and trustworthy.

You enjoy special privileges when

clearing customs such as simpli-

fied customs procedures. Your

authorization is also

linked to certain

security

and safety standards that optimize

internal processes and control me-

chanisms. Certification is not obliga-

tory. In fact, it’s quite unusual for an

SME like ours.

You hold AEO-C status. What are the

next steps?

C stands for “customs simplifica-

tions.” There’s also the AEO-S for

security and safety as well as a cer-

tificate that combines C and S. That’s

what we’re aiming for next. The “se-

curity and safety” status in particular

is going to play an increasingly im-

portant role in trade and in safeguar-

ding international supply chains. In

other words, it’s going to become a

kind of seal of quality in future.

What challenges are on the horizon

for logistics teams?

Sticking with the subject of AEO sta-

tus, I believe that there needs to be

global recognition for the guideli-

nes. One of Thomas major aims is to

secure an end-to-end international

supply chain from the manufacturer

right through to the end user.

Another big challenge will be the

digitalization of processes as part of

Industry 4.0, which will enable mo-

dern logistics operations to manage

their supply chains easily, reliably,

and efficiently.

UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

[ THOMAS IN DEVELOPMENT ]

Thomas labs

“A well-organized lab department is the core of any de-velopment partner,” says Arndt Jakob, Lab Team Leader at Thomas. “This means having modern measuring equip-ment and machinery as well as staff skilled in a variety of products and applications. It means a lot of investment, but it pays off.” Arndt Jakob started out at Thomas in 2003 working in testing and helped to develop its lab depart-ment. He heads a team of 18 employees working together with 40 more experts from the individual specialist units, including a large number of electronics specialists. “We have to dig deep in our pockets for some of the things we buy. Investments running into the hundreds of thousands of euros are quite common. We program our own test bench software. The requirements of some products are so specific that an off-the-shelf package couldn’t come close to offering the kind of flexibility we need.”

The analytical lab focuses on issues including technical cleanliness and material analytics. Equipped with several material microscopes, particle counting systems, thin-lay-er analysis devices, and a scanning electron microscope, it is capable of meeting a wide range of customer requi-rements. Its special research microscopes can measure objects as small as 5 μm. “We’re currently expanding our materials technology unit from a central location,” Arndt Jakob explains. “We scrutinize the materials used in our products inside out to see how they can be made even more lightweight, robust, compact, and so on. The flag-ship of our equipment fleet is our scanning electron mi-croscope (SEM), which is fitted with an energy-dispersive

X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) system that lets us take detailed elemental mapping images.”

The team in the measuring lab uses geometrical parame-ters to study both Thomas own components and those of suppliers. Two coordinate measuring machines take 3D measurements, while optical and tactile measuring de-vices are used to check ultra-small dimensions. The form tester, for instance, has a resolution of 0.01 μm (10 nano-metres). The march of digitalization does not stop at the measuring lab door, either: components also undergo ex-ternal tomography to map their internal dimensions. Their surfaces can also be digitized using a structured-light 3D scanner and the model produced either dimensioned or compared with its CAD counterpart.

“Measurements aren’t worth a great deal without running practical tests,” Arndt Jakob explains. “This is why we send all our sample and standard parts to the testing lab – se-veral times during their life cycles, in fact.” To test their functionality and lifespan, Thomas exposes the products to external influences such as heat, cold, moisture, and other forms of stress. This includes testing them at tem-peratures between -40 and +160°C. The developers work closely with the testing lab team so that they can respond quickly to any findings. “Our colleagues in Product Deve-lopment, for instance, can often be found in the acoustics lab, which is part of the testing lab. They’ll be working on designing their products to be as quiet as possible in order to meet the justifiably high demands of our customers.”

Are all the functional components technically correct? Do even the smallest parts have the exact size?

And what happens if it gets extremely hot or cold? To find answers to these questions at Thomas,

you’ll need to ask the in-house labs. Arndt Jakob’s team at the central laboratories tests all Thomas

products from top to bottom for customers before they make it onto the market.

[ THOMAS IN DEVELOPMENT ]

ANALYTICAL LAB

• Residual dirt analysis

• Material analysis

• Component analysis

• Metallography

• Material analytics, calotte grinding, hardness tests, den-sity measurements, etc.

MEASURING LAB

• Tactile geometry measurements

• Optical geometry measurements

• Tomographic geometry measurements

• Surface digitization

TESTING LAB

• Acoustics lab

• Electronics lab

• Functional tests

• Environmental simulations

• Test bench design

11

Arndt Jakob,

Lab Team Leader

der

go

lden

efad

en.d

e

Andreas Kipping, who is managing the project to extend Thomas headquar-ters in Herdorf, explains the current situation. The main focus of the work is currently on the access road, a new connection to the L285 towards Daaden (Westerwald). The site that is to house the new buildings also keeps throwing down unexpected challenges for the project team. Andreas Kipping on how building work is progressing: The site for the new production building is hiding a few surprises. In what way?“Over six million tons of crude ore were dug out of the San Fernando mine in a process that went on more than a hundred years. At its peak, there were nearly 1,000 miners working here. Of course, that left its mark. For instance, we have come across the foundations of several old buildings, which we have had to excavate and remove so that we can develop the land for our own use.”

How much longer will the development work last and what will happen next?“Construction of the new building is set to start in spring 2017, by which point all the groundwork will be complete. It will take about a year to build. Although we’re always going to be a bit dependent on the weather during both phases, we’ve factored that in as far as possible. At 8,100 sq m, the new facility will be about the same size as the one completed in 2013. Part of it has been set aside for the Plastics Technology department and will be a “new home,” so to say, for our injection-molding machinery and our coil winding and welding machine. There’ll also be lots of space for our fully automated TPS lines for gearbox and engine products.”

How far have you got with building the access road?“We’re right on track here too: the earthworks, by which I mean all the neces-sary filling and removal work, are finished. We’re currently laying all the water and gas pipes, the power and fiber-optic cables, and so on. The plan is for the connecting road between the current company premises, the new production building, and the L285, which will be around 1.2 km long overall, to be com-pletely finished by early next year – including the tarmac, crash barriers, curb, and pavement. Although there’s still a lot to do, we’ve got a firm schedule.”

[ THOMAS IN THE FUTURE ]

IMPRINTThomas Magnete GmbH

San Fernando 35

57562 Herdorf, Germany

Phone +49 2744 929-0

www.thomas-magnete.com

Liable in accordance with German

press law:

Katja Teixeira

Corporate Communications and

Marketing

Phone +49 2744 929-285

January 2017, all information sub-

ject to change without notice

HARD AT WORK

The San Fernando mine in its heyday. The site is now being revitalized

Work on building the new facility starts in spring 2017

The bridge crossing the stream for the

new access road