Chinese facility boosts ZF Marine gear production

ZF Marine’s production capacity has been significantly increased by a new joint venture transmission assembly plant in China which was officially inaugurated in early September. ZF Nanjing Marine Propulsion (ZF-NMP) has been established by the ZF Group and the Nanjing Highspeed and Accurate Gear (Group) Co Ltd (NGC).

ZF has a majority stake in the new Nanjing-based company, which assembles and markets ZF Marine’s range of heavy duty transmissions for application in workboats and deepsea cargo ships served by engines with ratings up to 14MW. Production will include the ZF W23000 and larger gears, all designed and prototype tested by ZF Marine in Germany.

The ZF W17000 series – the first of a new medium-range workboat transmission programme (see below) – is also planned for production in China along with other models in the medium power band. The smallest designs, for workboats, will continue to be produced by ZF Padova in Italy.

“At ZF-NMP we have all the equipment necessary for assembling large gearboxes as well as several testbenches, “ says general manager Joao Tomazeli. “ There is also a large warehouse and a number of technical offices with comprehensive IT systems for production and electronic data exchange, supporting material management and communications with technical centres in Europe.”

Components will be sourced by ZF-NMP from suppliers such as NGC and the transmissions produced will be marketed via ZF Marine’s worldwide sales and service network. The inauguration of the ZF-NMP factory took the number of facilities operated by the ZF Group in China to 21, comprising 20 production companies and an engineering centre.

Founded in 2004, the engineering centre in Shanghai will be significantly expanded in the years ahead. Its role includes central development operations for the Chinese market, including electronics and material
approvals for local suppliers.

The ZF Marine Group is the marine propulsion systems business unit of ZF Friedrichshafen in Germany, whose headquarters are at ZF Padova in Italy. A range of heavy duty transmissions has been developed since 2000 for medium speed engine installations, hitherto assembled at ZF Padova.

Design work for a new range of workboat transmissions, to be headed by the ZF W17000 model, was recently completed to serve input power applications from 600kW to 2,000kW. The new series will enable ZF Marine to offer a range of gearboxes covering the requirements of all types of commercial tonnage and workboats, including tugs, inland waterway and fishing vessels.

These new models are described as state-of-the-art, their development benefiting from advanced 3D tools, stress imaging and non-destructive testing.

“Since taking the strategic decision in 1999 to expand into the commercial vessel sector, we have increased our market share and have a full orderbook for deliveries in 2008, “says ZF Marine Group chief executive officer Roland Heil.