KITZINGEN, Germany—Leoni A.G. has opened an innovation industrialization center (IIC) in the Bavarian town of Kitzingen as part of the move to address future mobility.
The "think tank" will enable researchers, engineers and production specialists at Leoni to be closely linked in an effort to create "the wiring system of the future" for the automotive industry, Leoni said in a Sept. 23 news release.
"Our mobility is transforming towards alternative drive systems and autonomous driving," the German wiring systems supplier said.
"It is a matter of controlling ever more functions and data—in ever less space and with ever less weight," it added.
In response to the challenge, Leoni said its developers are working on smaller scale, but intelligently connected, wiring systems in vehicles instead of the usual one central cable harness.
"We call this approach the zonal architecture," said Walter Glueck, CTO of Leoni's Wiring Systems Division.
The system enables Leoni to connect the growing number of sensors and applications in the car in "a fail-safe manner," while setting up standardized and more productive production processes.
"We will synchronize product and process development in our IIC," Leoni COO Ingo Spengler said.
Developing "zonal wiring system architectures" will involve more efficient production processes compared with conventional wiring systems, helped by automated production processes and collaborative robots, or co-bots.
"This testing facility permits fully automated production of smaller scale cable harnesses," Spengler said, noting that the new unit will enable "sustained savings" through standardized production processes and shortened ramp-up times.
Spanning nearly 32,300 square feet, the ICC will connect research, development and production teams from all Leoni facilities worldwide.
The center also will make it possible to involve suppliers, customers and universities in projects.
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