Taking 16 years to reach the half-a-million milestone, ZF has taken half as long to hit a million
Parts manufacturer ZF is celebrating the production of its 1 millionth ZF-Intarder wear-free brake system for commercial vehicles.
Integrated into a vehicles’ transmission, ZF says the system, once installed, assumes 90 per cent of all braking without involving the service brake, “thereby increasing safety and saving material.”
“The ZF-Intarder fulfills several requirements simultaneously: it increases comfort and safety, lowers maintenance costs and improves environmental compatibility,” ZF commercial vehicle technology division’s head of truck & van driveline technology business Winfried Gründler says.
The system, which has been produced since 1992, has been growing in popularity exponentially, Gründler says.
“Thanks to high demand, ZF has been able to almost double production capacity in the last eight years,” he says.
“After the start of volume production, it took 16 years to reach half a million Intarders in 2008.
“Just eight years later, we have been able to make the jump to one million.”
With 4,000Nm brake torque available within one second, ZF says the system’s success comes from its safety, shown by its capability of decelerating a 38-tonne vehicle with 816 brake horsepower downhill.
However, it says longevity of surrounding parts, drive comfort, and a reduction in brake dust, which the company believes to be close to 60,000 tonnes since 1992, are also factors.