...... edag....newsletter....No.3...2006.....

Issues: » Editorial » EDAG Employees’ Opinion Poll 2006 » EDAG is the World’s largest Provider of Engineering Services » Massive Spectacle for gigantic Sculpture at the » Project Management Course in India » People: · and New Delhi under new Management · Dual Leadership in India · New Chairman of the Supervisory Board » Innovation for Maximum Safety EDAG Ingolstadt develops low-cost Process for Production of armoured Vehicles » Apprentices at EDAG Eisenach demonstrate their Abilities » EDAG at the Testing Expo 2006 and Automatica

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Dear employees,

In the May edition of the newapaper “Automobil- A customer in Malaysia has placed an order for a woche”, the EDAG Group was ranked for the first 4-door limousine, whilst in Australia, the EDAG time ever as the world’s largest provider of engi- team from Down Under will be taking on the deve- neering services. lopment of the complete interior and all add-on parts for three derivatives. In the area of manufac- To hold the pole position in this fiercely contested turing, we have just been given the job of reloca- market is at one and the same time a distinction ting the production of a particular product, with and a spur to us. This is the reason we have been EDAG and FFT taking over the management of the working so persistently on the matter of our com- project, as well as carrying out any re-building and petitiveness. Slim structures in management and new constructions needed in the BIW and assem- the technical divisions are visible signs of the suc- bly installations for a German OEM. In the com- cess of the efforts we have undertaken together mercial vehicles branch, we have accepted prelimi- these past 18 months. nary development orders for a new generation of driver’s cabs. And last but not least, EDAG is invol- With the newly defined Product Development, ved in close negotiations with two German OEMs, Manufacturing, Production and Aerospace Divi- with regard to placing orders for complete deve- sions, we have created a transparent breakdown of lopment projects for a derivative. our comprehensive service portfolio for our custo- mers, and will continue to work on building up These examples show that EDAG is on the right EDAG to become the leading partner to the mobi- track if it is to continue to play a leading role and lity industry. defend its hold on the pole position as the largest independent engineering partner in the branch in In spite of the difficulties on and surrounding the the future. market, EDAG has managed to assert itself this current business year. For instance, we have just been awarded the contract to develop the comple- te dashboard of a luxury-class vehicle for one of the German OEMs. Dr. Klaus Blickle President and CEO

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EDAG Employees’ Opinion Poll 2006

From 1st – 23rd June 2006, the second major opinion The action has the support of both the manage- poll in EDAG’s history will be carried out among ment and the works committee. “The opinions company employees. The motto of the poll is “It’s and ideas of our staff members are an important in your hands”. All employees located in foundation on which we can continue the success- will have the opportunity to express – anonymous- ful development of EDAG and maintain the com- ly – their opinions and outlook on communication, pany’s attraction as an employer,” stressed EDAG’s information, opportunities for vocational training, CEO, Klaus Blickle. their attitude towards the company, etc.

EDAG is the World’s largest Provider of Engineering Services

For the first time ever in the history of the compa- ny, the EDAG Group in May took first place in the list ranking engineering service providers who are active on a worldwide scale; the list appears in the branch newspaper “Automobilwoche”, and is published once a year. This means that EDAG ranks as the largest provider of engineering services in the world, elbowing aside MSX, who had previously headed the list for several years.

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Massive Spectacle for gigantic Sculpture at the Brandenburg Gate

When boss Dr. Martin Winterkorn issues invi- tations to football stars such as Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and Bastian Schweinsteiger to a premiere, then great things are to be expected, and – as in this case – there is certainly something great behind it.

A silver-gold object in front of the Brandenburg Gate: 10.2 metres long, 3.25 metres high, 4.5 metres wide. The unveiling of the third sculpture on the “Walk of Fame” on 6th April 2006 was not just the uncovering of the sculpture “The Automobile”, but also the occasion on which the Audi TT was presented to the world for the very car was, of course, a particular honour and chal- first time. As one of the official partners in the lenge; after all, an engineering company is not “Germany – Land of Ideas” campaign, Audi, with often given the chance to present its abilities to the the gigantic sculpture of its brand new model of public in such an immediate and effective manner. the Audi TT, contributes a modern symbol of Audi, too, is attaching great significance to this Germany’s inventive talent and innovative power. prestige project. Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg, Audi’s The event drew over 500 guests from the worlds of development boss, for instance, insisted on getting show business, sport politics and economics to the his own impression of the quality of the XL version capital, to witness the premiere of the new design of the Audi TT before the sculpture was transpor- icon from Ingolstadt. ted. When he visited EDAG in Fulda-West on 28th March, Dr. Hackenberg proved to be impressed not For EDAG, as the technical partner responsible for just by the size of the sculpture, but also by the the implementation of the XL sculptures, the deve- quality of the surfaces – which was better than he lopment and construction of a super-dimensional would have thought possible.

Special praise goes to the EDAG team, who produ- ced the big brother to the new Audi TT in just two months – a bold target, as Uwe Schäfer of EDAG’s model making shop confirmed: “We had to find ways of making sure that we could assemble, paint, produce and handle the sculpture, and all of that within a very tight schedule. Also, the functio- nal joints of the serial model had to be in exactly the same positions on the sculpture.” The method used for the football boots was also used to pro- duce the automobile. Neopore foam segments

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were shaped, laminated, pasted, fine milled, able to pass on the praise of Dr. Winterkorn, Audi manually finished, and then assembled on a speci- CEO, to the EDAG employees who had likewise ally designed steel construction. travelled to . “Dr. Winterkorn was clearly impressed by the quality of your work, and expres- When it came to the finish, several members of sed his thanks for the success of the project,” said EDAG’s model making team were working on a Dr. Blickle. “I, too, would like to thank you and segment at one and the same time. This stage cal- everyone else who has contributed to the success- led for patience and extreme care. “The grinding ful completion of this highly prestigious project.” machine can only be used on flat surfaces; but most of the surfaces on this sculpture are rounded, The super-dimensional sculpture of the car stan- and this means manual work,” says Bernd Schäfer. ding against the backdrop of the Brandenburg What – another Schäfer? “Yes, the fourth in the Gate is now on show to an international public, crew,” smiles Bernd Schäfer. “Some people alrea- who, as the football World Cup is being played out dy call us the ‘Schäfer Department’, but it’s pure in the next few weeks, will be focussing on coincidence, really, we’re none of us related, not Germany and its capital. even by marriage.” By the end of May, the XL sculptures “Modern Finally, the 16 segments were put together in Book Printing”, “Theory of Relativity” and EDAG’s 10,000 m2 shop in Fulda-West, where “Masterpieces of Music” will have been uncover- complete production facilities are otherwise crea- ed, and the Walk of Ideas in Berlin will be comple- ted. Once it had been fully assembled, the 10 ton te. All of the sculptures made by EDAG will be on sculpture was painted, and then a heavy transport show in Berlin until the end of September. operation undertaken, to move it to Berlin.

Dr. Lutz Helmig, EDAG’s sole shareholder, and EDAG CEO Dr. Klaus Blickle, went to Berlin speci- ally, to be present at the premiere. Dr. Blickle was

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Project Management Course in India

Apart from technical competence, a project management system defined for use throughout Background: the entire company is the decisive factor for effi- In 2001, all of EDAG’s technical divisions cient and transparent processes in the develop- worked together to develop a specific ment of vehicles and production facilities. These EDAG project management manual. Since clearly defined processes are particularly helpful 2002, this manual has been the basis of the when it comes to co-operation between various training courses which the department for international EDAG offices, because, in a situation human resources development and the where everybody has the same understanding of Michel Institute in Bamberg have worked the procedures to be followed, other difficulties, out and held for EDAG in Germany. So far, e.g. language or cultural differences can be over- over 400 staff members in Germany have come more easily. attended courses; the course in India was the first project management course to be This is the reason why EDAG India suggested car- held abroad. rying out a project management course for the EDAG employees at the New Delhi office at the end of last year. Markus Noll, who has been giving basic courses in project management for EDAG “For the Indian sales people in particular, it was employees in Germany since 2004, developed a very important to get to grips with the organisatio- course specially tailored to the needs of our collea- nal and management project processes, since this gues in India. will enable them to carry out negotiations with customers in a more purposeful and concrete man- Early in January 2006, Axel Tschasche (of the ner, right from the acquisition stage,” explained Michel Institute) und co-trainer Markus Noll Markus Noll. All in all, the three-day course was (EDAG) held the course for 15 colleagues working deemed a great success, especially as all the parti- in product development, manufacturing, aerospa- cipants had an open, unbiased attitude to the ce and sales in New Delhi. material being taught.”

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...... People.....

Josef Neuhäusler, 44 years old Tristan Pfurr (left) married, 3 children and Sitangshu Goswami

Munich and New Delhi under new Management

Since March 2006, Mr. Josef (or “Sepp”) Neu- these. We will bring about this growth with specia- häusler has been in charge of the BMW business lists who have experience of EDAG, to whom we division. The previous manager of the division, Karl can offer long-term prospects in Munich, and with Dokter, will be putting his many years of experi- new staff.” ence to good use in the South Pacific region, where he will be organising the establishment and development of new markets for our company. Dual Leadership in India

In Sepp Neuhäusler, EDAG has acquired an experi- Since 1st May, EDAG India has a dual leadership, in enced man with extensive knowledge of the the form of Tristan Pfurr and Sitangshu Goswami. branch for this important key position in sales. The previous manager, Ralph Ruthner, will be leav- Before coming to EDAG, the 44-year-old vehicle ing the company. and welding engineer was Head of Technology and Sales for IVM, one of our competitors in Tristan Pfurr looks back on several years’ project Munich. Between 2001 and 2005, he built up his and management experience, dealing with inter- team, originally 60-strong, until it comprised 300 national projects. Until this change, Tristan Pfurr employees in total. was employed at EDAG’s head office in Fulda, where he reported directly to the executive board. As a project manager, Sepp Neuhäusler gained T. Pfurr has the support of a second director, comprehensive experience in project work invol- Sitangshu Goswami, who has held an executive ving the development of vehicles and engines, position in product development at the Indian both at IMV and Daewoo Motor Engineering branch office, and who also has excellent GmbH. A postgraduate MBA course provided qua- knowledge of the Indian automotive industry. lifications in the field of marketing and sales management. The father of three has known and With T. Pfurr and S. Goswami, EDAG will continue esteemed EDAG for years, and is looking forward to expand its role as a partner to the Indian auto- to his task in Munich. “I can see very good growth mobile manufacturers, and intensify the co-opera- opportunities for our business with BMW; with our tion in international projects within the EDAG strong team in Munich, we will make the most of Group.

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...... Personen.....

New Chairman of the Supervisory Board

Following the change of ownership of EDAG HAEMA AG), raw materials and elements, and Engineering + Design AG, Dr. Theodor Seitz and education. Also, until its sale to the FRESENIUS Mr. Roland Vollmer have withdrawn from their Group in the autumn of 2005, Dr. Helmig was one posts on the supervisory board. Dr. Lutz Helmig of the shareholders of the HELIOS group of clinics. and Dr. Manfred Ottow (Ing.) have both been newly appointed to the supervisory board, with Dr. Manfred Ottow is involved in the company FEW effect from 24th March, 2006. Confirmation of Blankenburg GmbH, Blankenburg (Harz), where he their mandates will follow at the General Meeting is the managing partner. FEW Blankenburg of EDAG Engineering + Design AG on 30th June, (www.few-blankenburg.de) is a company speciali- 2006. sing in products and services for the railway indu- stry; these include coupling, cleaning and transport Dr. Helmig is the managing partner of ATON technology for trains. Dr. Ottow is also a member GmbH, Fulda, sole shareholder of EDAG. ATON is of the supervisory board of the HELIOS group of a holding company with investments focussed on clinics. the fields of technology (EDAG AG, REFORM Adolf Rabenseifner, dba), medicine (Ziehm Imaging,

Innovation for Maximum Safety – purpose vehicles are needed in South America, but EDAG Ingolstadt develops low-cost Process high import duties and extremely expensive mate- for Production of armoured Vehicles rial production costs mean that these vehicles are only within the reach of a hand-picked circle of The market for armoured cars is growing constant- customers. Huge sales potential is left more or less ly as a result of the world’s ever-increasing crime completely untouched. rate; this can be seen from the enquiries received by automobile manufacturers and producers of EDAG’s Model-building, Prototyping and Special- vehicles for special purposes over the past few Purpose Vehicles Team have developed a process years. In Brazil alone, a total of 8,500 armoured now ready for SOP, which enables high-strength cars are built every year. More protective special- steel types to be produced in the conventional

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Moulded part sample Moulded part sample C5 electric folding table system B4 armouring class B6 armouring class

deep drawing process. This makes it possible to the manufacturer to safeguard it for this purpose produce conversion kits for armoured vehicles at only. This steel type and the correct tool configura- considerably lower prices than was previously the tion for the production of moulded parts made it case, while nevertheless satisfying the stringent possible to shape even hard or bullet-proof steel requirements of the various armouring classes. At types with a degree of hardness up to 55 HRC as the moment, armoured cars are categorised accor- required. Test firing has already confirmed the fact ding to class: B1 (light armouring) to B7 (must be that these components retain their performance able to withstand the gunfire of large-calibre after they have been shaped. In the higher armou- weapons). ring classes (B5/B6 and B7), too, it has already pro- ved possible to produce complexly formed compo- A huge range of materials are used in the separa- nents for special-purpose vehicles. te armouring classes. These include aramide/kevlar and high-performance PE fibres, but also high- The new procedure has already aroused the interest strength steel – with steel prices starting at around of numerous OEMs and manufacturers of special- 70 euros per kilo – and ceramic compound armou- purpose vehicles. Also, by offering construction kits ring, which costs over 3,000 euros per square for subsequent installation into vehicles, it is pos- metre. As the shape of the vehicles and existing sible to save on import duties in South America, safety features, such as head and side-impact air- thus enabling easier access to this interesting market. bags, becomes more and more complex, some vehicles can now only be equipped with extremely As well as dealing with the armoured vehicle sec- expensive parts moulded from the above-mentioned tor, the EDAG team in Ingolstadt also offer a wide fibre material (for the lower armouring classes, up to range of services from the development and con- B4), or with welded components using the expen- struction of special-purpose vehicles through to sive types of steel for the higher armouring classes. the low-volume production of special equipment and modules. As part of a project for Audi, the EDAG team in Ingolstadt accepted the challenge to develop a special-purpose vehicle with fully functioning head Contact: airbag, which can by and large be constructed [email protected] Tel: 0841-9680-285 using a production line series process. Fax: 0841-9680-299

Why not apply to this project the knowledge we [email protected] already had of standard sheet metal processing to Tel: 0841-9680-387 Fax: 0841-9680-379 these special steel types? Basic tests were carried out to find a suitable steel, and steps taken with

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Apprentices at EDAG Eisenach demonstrate their Abilities

In August 2004, EDAG Eisenach received an unusual enquiry from a supplier, namely to restore the bodywork of a 1965 C20 Chevrolet pick up.

As the prototype centre for the EDAG Group in Germany, Eisenach does not generally get to handle vehicle restoration; nevertheless, this technically exacting task appealed to our colleagues there. It also gave the body manufacturing apprentices a From left to right: Thomas Schäfer (EDAG Eisenach), chance to learn something new before doing their Jörg Ruffert (Manager of Eisenach branch), final examinations. For this reason, a quotation Ralf Schüler (master body manufacturer, EDAG Eisenach) was submitted, and the owner of the vintage American pick up decided to go for the skill, expe- rience and improvisational talent of EDAG’s proto- type makers in Eisenach.

Tobias Bergemann and Thomas Schäfer, who were both still apprentices at the time, were given charge Technical data: of the job. Ralf Schüler was their supervisor throughout the project. Chevrolet C20 (GMC) Year of manufacture: 1965 With huge commitment and attention to detail, Power: 145 KW they completely overhauled the outer skin and body Engine capacity: 5327cm2 structure. When he came to collect his vintage car, Max. speed: approx. 150 km/h the owner was delighted at the results. After this Fuel consumption: approx.19l/100km fine performance, it is hardly surprising to learn that the two apprentices have in the meantime passed their exams with flying colours. Both are now employed as body manufactures at EDAG Eisenach.

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< Testing Expo Automatica >

EDAG at the Testing Expo 2006 and Automatica

Once again, at two exhibitions held in May – the functions are performed by fully electric modules. Testing Expo in Stuttgart and the Automatica in Compared to conventionally run cells, this means Munich – EDAG has demonstrated its competence that installation and planning are far less bother. in the fields of vehicle development and production As they save so much in the way of cables and engineering to a broad public. leads, the production cells are ready for use more quickly, can be used more flexibly, and moved At the Testing Expo, a technical show for testing more easily. engineering, we presented the entire service range of the test and validation division, along with the The FFT engineers have also installed a wireless services of the Polymeric Service, our accredited proximity switch in the transportable production testing laboratory. cell, and in this way cut out yet more wiring. The cell, which was shown in Munich for the first time Using as our model the Mercedes B Class complete ever, brings together a whole array of individual development project which EDAG completed for innovative products of various manufacturers, to DaimlerChrysler, we provided examples of all tests form a new entity. carried out in association with the development. This meant that the presentation focussed on com- Well over 100 visitors to the Automatica specifical- ponent, material, stiffness/stability, function and ly asked for information about this innovation. A acoustic/vibration testing, but also environmental pneumatic-free production cell is soon to be used simulation, aerodynamics and vehicle safety. – in a test run to begin with – in the series produc- tion of a German automobile manufacturer. The Automatica is targeted at specialists from the field of production. As a highlight, EDAG presen- Other major dates in the EDAG exhibitions calen- ted an innovative robot cell. What was special dar in May were the Automobilforum in Stuttgart, about it was the fact that this production cell, the ILA (international aerospace exhibition) in developed by EDAG FFT, dispenses completely with Berlin and the “Digital Factory” congress in pneumatic power, thus eliminating a frequent Ludwigsburg. source of errors in the production process. The

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