NEWS Auto suppliers appoint new CEOs


Wolf-Henning Scheider became the new CEO of ZF Group, the automotive Tier One supplier, in February, having served as Mahle Group’s CEO since July 2015. At the same time, Mahle Group appointed management board member Jörg Stratmann as its new CEO as Scheider departed. Scheider’s appointment


at ZF came after the previous CEO Stefan Sommer stepped down, due to disagreement over the company’s direction with its owner ZF Founda- tion, run by the city of Friedrichshafen in Germany. Under Sommer, ZF had expanded rapidly to become one of the world’s largest suppliers of automo- tive components, including injection moulded parts. In 2015, ZF paid $12.4bn to acquire US-based TRW Automotive.


for more than 45% of group sales. “Dr. Stratmann brings a


Jörg Stratmann Scheider spent a large


part of his early career at another German automotive supplier Robert Bosch. Heading ZF Group, he will continue to pursue its Strategy ZF 2025 pro- gramme. “As Mahle’s CEO,


Wolf-Henning Scheider demonstrated outstanding competence in regards to a game changing transforma- tion process,” said ZF’s Chairman of the Supervisory Board Franz-Josef Paefgen. “I would also like to thank Mahle GmbH which


Wolf-Henning Scheider


enabled the quick and straightforward move of Wolf-Henning Scheider. The fact that the product portfolios do not have any overlaps has helped significantly in this process.” Jörg Stratmann joined


Mahle after leaving Conti- nental in 2008 and has held various senior positions. Until his appointment as CEO, he headed the Mahle Behr Group, which is now the Mahle Thermal Manage- ment business unit, and comprises a number of operational units accounting


wealth of automotive experience — from both a technical and a business perspective. He is the ideal person to head the Mahle Group,” said Chairman of the Mahle Supervisory Board, Dr. Heinz K. Junker. n Mahle Group is selling its shares in the joint venture Hella Behr Plastic Omnium (HBPO) to fellow sharehold- er Plastic Omnium. HBPO was formed in 2004 as an equal joint venture between the three automotive suppliers Hella, Plastic Omnium, and Behr. After its acquisition of the Behr Group, Mahle held 33.33% of the shares in the JV which it is now planning to sell to Plastic Omnium.


HBPO is a specialist in


front-end modules. � www.zf.com � www.mahle.com


LiteFit fastener chosen for Typhoon jet


UK-based threaded insert maker Fitsco Industries has developed a new weight-saving polymeric fastener – Lite- Fit – that offers part weight savings of up to 80% over standard brass types. The company says the new fastener has been selected for use in an


“in-cockpit” application on the Eu- rofighter Typhoon aircraft, where it saves weight but also, due to its non-metallic electrically insulating properties, helps minimise the radar signature. Fitsco CEO Philip Schofield said the


LiteFit insert is produced using a novel technique that the company is cur- rently patenting. As a consequence, he declined to reveal details of the materi- als or method except to say that it is not injection moulded and that the polymers are tailored to the customer’s application. “There is no tooling involved so we do not need high volumes,” he said. The insert is not restricted only to low volume applications, however. Schofield said a US-based automotive manufacturer is currently evaluating the LiteFit fastener for a lightweighting project that will replace a metal assembly with a plastic alternative. � www.fitsco.co.uk


10 INJECTION WORLD | March 2018 www.injectionworld.com


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