ZF in UK
Future development for ZF in the UK
A merger between the ZF GB sales and service organisation in Nottingham and aftermarket parts supplier ZF Trading UK Ltd in Crick is currently underway and due to complete in 2011. This follows the merger of the sales and service organisation of ZF Friedrichshafen AG with ZF Trading GmbH in January 2008 to form a new business unit, ZF Services. ZF Services combines the renowned SACHS, LEMFÖRDER, BOGE and ZF Parts product brands with the support of the sales and service organisation to provide its customers with an unrivalled level of competence, quality and service. The business unit employs 2,500 people at 56 locations in 34 countries.
About ZF Trading UK Ltd (‘ZF Services’)
ZF Trading UK Ltd (‘ZF Services’) is a leading supplier in the independent aftermarket of powertrain, suspension and steering components for passenger cars and commercial vehicles. The company is owned by ZF Friedrichshafen AG, one of the world’s foremost providers of automotive driveline and chassis technologies. Successful cooperation between the ZF Group and vehicle manufacturers ensures that ZF Trading can rapidly introduce technical innovations to the independent replacement parts market.
ZF Services is an attractive supplier for its trading partners because it offers a large number of product groups from a single source. Through the SACHS, LEMFÖRDER, BOGE and ZF Parts brands, ZF Services is synonymous with competence, quality and service in the UK automotive aftermarket. The organisation prides itself on supplying OE-quality products to its partners, with the ultimate aim of providing the driver with a safe, reliable and comfortable motoring experience.
TopAbout ZF Great Britain Ltd (‘ZF Services Nottingham’)
ZF Great Britain Limited (‘ZF Services Nottingham’) was founded in 1973, as a wholly-owned sales and service subsidiary of parent company ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Friedrichshafen, Germany. ZF Friedrichshafen AG was established in the early 1900s by airship inventor Count Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin, as one of a group of companies manufacturing streamlined propulsion systems for airships. The transmissions for these were produced by the Zahnradfabrik (gear factory) from which ZF takes its modern day name. Today ZF Friedrichshafen AG is one of the largest automotive suppliers in the world.
Market and activities
ZF Services Nottingham deals in transmission, axle and steering products for passenger car, commercial vehicle, defence, marine, rail, industrial and off-highway applications. The company employs around 150 people in Nottingham and is responsible for all ZF product sales and technical support in the UK and Ireland. For the passenger car original equipment (OE) market, ZF Services Nottingham supplies transmissions (automatic, manual and continuously variable) and steering systems (including power steering pumps and drive-by-wire systems) to most vehicle manufacturers including prestige marques such as BMW, Jaguar and Land Rover. ZF Nottingham engineers are stationed at BMW and Jaguar production plants among others to provide production line support.
ZF Services Nottingham also undertakes remanufacturing of ZF five- and six-speed automatic transmissions for BMW, Jaguar, Land Rover and many other vehicle applications. It is estimated that there are 500,000 ZF automatic transmissions that are no longer covered by vehicle manufacturers’ warranties in the UK aftermarket’s passenger car parc; as a consequence, ZF GB has recently commenced the competitively-priced supply of remanufactured automatic transmissions direct to transmission repair specialists and independent workshops to serve this market.
The remanufacturing process
ZF Services Nottingham has recently invested £2.5m in new production, warehouse and test facilities dedicated to remanufacturing automatic transmissions and steering products for passenger cars. A typical independent aftermarket transmission repairer usually replaces only faulty or damaged parts with little concern for the root cause of the malfunction, and warrants only the replaced parts against future failure. By contrast, the ZF Nottingham remanufacturing process consists of factory-trained ZF engineers carrying out a complete strip down and inspection of all transmission components (around 650 items in a five-speed automatic), reworking or replacing any that deviate from the original manufacturing tolerances. The complete unit is then tested and warranted for 12 months or 50,000 miles. ZF Services Nottingham is the only company worldwide to be approved by the ZF factory for the remanufacture of Jaguar and Land Rover six-speed transmissions.
