Traditional company cooperates with e-mobility specialist at RWTH Aachen University
The increasing spread of electric motors and electric vehicles is causing profound changes and new challenges for the entire automotive industry. With a view to increasing registration figures, Zeller+Gmelin is also preparing for the time after "Big Oil".
The establishment of a new business unit and the development of corresponding new lubricant solutions is already in full swing there. In close cooperation with the engineering partner PEM Motion, all framework conditions for a quick market entry are now to be worked out.
Under the Divinol brand, the traditional Eislingen-based company Zeller+Gmelin has been developing and distributing engine and transmission oils for the automotive sector for decades. The Swabians are, among other things, a proven supplier of two-stroke oils, single-grade and multi-grade oils for commercial vehicles, passenger cars and motorbikes. In a cooperation with PEM Motion, the lubricant experts want to break new ground and actively face the new requirements in the field of e-mobility.
"Completely new requirements arise from the electrification of the powertrain and the drive system, which in turn have an impact on the properties and composition of our lubricants," explains Christian Stapper, Product Manager Lubricants, and Dr Dominik Pursley, R+D Lubricants from Zeller+Gmelin, adds: "We are therefore pleased to have found a suitable partner at eye level in the e-mobility experts from PEM Motion, with whom we can jointly bring these innovations to the market."
PEM Motion stands for Production Engineering of E-Mobility Components and is a spin-off of RWTH Aachen University, originating from the Production Engineering Research Department chaired by Prof. Dr Achim Kampker. The idea behind it is to make e-mobility sustainable and affordable. PEM Motion offers its customers comprehensive consulting and engineering services ranging from agile product design, development, prototyping and testing to the implementation of ambitious and visionary ideas. The current 80 employees worldwide stand for expertise in all e-drive components such as e-motor, battery, power electronics and fuel cell. PEM Motion was awarded Top Consultant in the category "medium-sized companies" in 2019.
Tradition meets future technology
In the course of the joint cooperation, a deeper, technical understanding of the new field of e-mobility is now to be developed. The first step will be a concrete evaluation of the main products of interest to Zeller+Gmelin and the associated processes. This will then be used to develop a new market strategy that includes the OEMs and suppliers relevant to e-mobility and is intended to generate new sales in the long term. "As a manufacturer with many years of experience in an extremely broad range of lubricants, we are predestined to completely fulfil the requirements in the e-mobility segment," Christian Stapper is convinced. "At the same time, it is also a matter of finding suitable partners and customers with whom we can further develop this know-how. In this respect, the cooperation with PEM Motion is already a significant step towards the further transformation and future viability of the traditional company Zeller+Gmelin," says Dr Dominik Pursley.
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