Mr Zemanek, what role does sustainability play in the automotive industry?
Growing environmental awareness and social responsibility among companies and consumers require a more sustainable approach. On the one hand, automotive companies are responding to the growing demand for environmentally friendly products. At the same time, they are faced with more stringent environmental regulations, legislation and emission standards. There is therefore no way around developing more sustainable mobility solutions in the automotive industry.
How do you support your customers on the path to greater climate neutrality?
"We work with almost all the major car manufacturers, which gives us a deep insight into their issues. This enables us to intervene at an early stage and apply our expertise in the best possible way to the customer's solution. It also enables us to identify challenges at an early stage and to respond with innovative solutions. Certain successes are then multiplied and, where appropriate, transferred to other ranges from the manufacturer. The key to this is of course our extensive know-how and development expertise. But also the constant drive to explore new avenues and to constantly challenge ourselves. We have to be more pragmatic and not look for a 100% solution right from the start. It makes perfect sense to develop an idea if it is not fully developed. In the development process, we are always learning and evolving with the challenges - this is what makes things exciting and ultimately innovative, as you are forced to react resiliently to circumstances.”
What exactly do you mean by that?
"The keyword is weight reduction. This is an issue for all vehicles. Lighter vehicles require less energy to move. So the lighter an electric vehicle, the greater its range. And the lighter a combustion engine vehicle is, the less fuel it consumes. Overall, lighter vehicles are more economical and better for the environment. Just a few years ago, metal was indispensable in vehicle construction. But we have already proven many times that it is worth switching to high-quality plastic alternatives.”
Do you have a specific example of how you have successfully replaced metal with plastic?
"I could mention many successful projects. Off the top of my head I can think of a request from a well-known premium sports car manufacturer. We were asked to develop a charging socket holder that was 50% lighter than the previous one, while still meeting all the functional, geometric and strength requirements. We decided to replace the existing metal component with plastic. A material with a high glass fibre content was chosen to ensure mechanical robustness. Without going into too much detail: Our intelligent, iterative and interdisciplinary way of working helped us to evaluate different design alternatives quickly and efficiently. The component we developed was ultimately 60% lighter than its predecessor and continues to meet our customer's stringent quality standards. But as I said, the charging socket holder is just one example of many. Our solutions are used in almost every area of the vehicle.”
Are there other benefits to replacing metal with plastic?
"There are several. For example, unlike metal, plastic does not corrode - a very important issue. I'm also thinking of the benefits of integrating various functions due to the flexible geometry design compared to sheet steel. Examples include all fastening elements, plugs and sockets, edge protection, damping elements and visible surfaces (in various colours) or labelling options (lettering or symbols). In addition, electrical and thermal insulation is often required, which seamlessly integrates with the NVH (noise, vibration and harshness) function. Acoustic decoupling can also be achieved through the use of two-component injection moulding, e.g. for media-carrying lines in fluid routing management or in other areas of the vehicle.”
How do you plan to support your customers on their way to climate neutrality?
"We are already well on the way to carbon neutrality. There is a wide range of plastics available, such as bio-based, compostable or 100% recyclable; there is a lot going on at the moment and we are testing a wide range of options. We are also in the process of calculating our carbon footprint at product level - and reducing it wherever we can. The big challenge is to do this without compromising on quality. However, thanks to our development expertise, we are well positioned to offer our customers the best solutions.”
Apart from the choice of raw materials, does the production process play a role?
"Absolutely. Among other things, we have largely switched our production to energy-efficient injection moulding machines and are constantly increasing the proportion of recycled materials in our products. HellermannTyton even won the Sustainability Award at the LEONI Digital Global Supplier Summit. This confirms that we are on the right track and that we will continue to optimise our raw materials and production processes with a view to a sustainable future. We look forward to shaping this together with our automotive customers and are already excited about the solutions of tomorrow that we are developing together today.”
Thank you for the interview and all the best for the future.
