Shaanxi Fast Auto Drive Group Co., Ltd. Business Report FY ended Dec. 2020
Contract
-Shaanxi Fast Auto Drive Group Company (Fast) announced that it has obtained an overseas order for 1,500 sets of bus transmissions and hydraulic retarders. (From a Fast website press release on March 9, 2020)
-On December 13 2019, Shaanxi Fast Auto Drive Group Company (Fast) completed the production of the nine millionth transmission at its plant in Baoji, Shaanxi Province. The nine millionth transmission is a 6DSX180T bus transmission that is compact in structure with ease of handling. The product adopts twin countershafts, an all-aluminum housing and features an all-helical-gear and all-synchronizer design. It also includes an FH400B hydraulic retarder. (From a Fast website press release on December 16, 2019)
New Company
-Fast Eaton (Baoji) Light Transmission Co., Ltd. began production on September 19, 2019. The company was established in 2018 in Baoji, Shaanxi. It is engaged in research and development, production, and sales of transmissions for light-duty commercial vehicles. It also provides after-sales service. (From a release on September 23, 2019)
Recent Development
-On September 9, 2019, Shaanxi Fast Auto Drive Group Company held a ceremony to commemorate the opening of a joint laboratory with Shell. With the establishment of this laboratory, the two companies will foster technological innovation and product development in the area of transmission fluid. They also increase the efficiency and environmental performance of transmission fluid for commercial vehicles. In 2009, Shaanxi Fast Auto Drive and Shell signed a technical tie-up for the first time, conducted a bench test in the laboratory of Shell in Germany, and jointly developed the “Shell-Shaanxi Fast Auto Drive” gear oil brand. In 2013, for the first time, they together launched the “Shell-Shaanxi Fast Auto Drive” special oil that is certified by Shaanxi Fast Auto Drive. In 2015, they also launched the sales of lubricants for long-life reinforced transmissions which exceeded the current domestic standards. (From a release on September 16, 2019)
New Products
-Recently, several high-end tractors equipped with Fast’s integrated AMTs and parallel hydraulic retarders rolled off production lines atvarious OEMs. Fast’s integrated AMT is an all-new, high-end AMT that h as concentric clutch actuators and integrated shifting actuators (integrated TCUs) and uses the latest technologies in the U.S. and Europe as the benchmarks. This integrated AMT receives ADAS map data via the TCU to optimize transmission control strategies and perform economic cruise control. Fuel consumption can be reduced by more than 5%. Its safety system is designed in accordance with ASIL-C (Automotive Safety Integrity Level C) and ISO26262 (automotive functional safety standard). (From a press release on June 15, 2020)
Patents
-Recently, the utility model patent for clutch driven disc assembly drag torque measuring equipment developed by Fast Eaton (Xi'an) Drivetrain Co., Ltd. was granted by China National Intellectual Property Administration. The measuring equipment can be used for production line benchmarking and prototype development and is already put into use. (From a press release on June 15, 2020)
R&D Facilities
-As of Dec. 31, 2020, the Company’s R&D organization consisted of a national enterprise technology center, academician expert workstation, and a national postdoctoral research center. The company has 515 core technology patents. The company has 8 major products lines: hydraulic automatic transmissions, AMTs (automated manual transmissions), S series transmissions, bus transmissions, light-truck transmissions, hydraulic retarders, clutches and reduction gears. It currently has over 580 R&D staff, 73% of which are below 40 years of age. Also, 89% of the R&D staff have a bachelor’s degree or above and 180 R&D staff have been awarded a master’s and account for 32% of the total R&D staff. Three people obtained doctorates.
-Shaanxi Fast Auto Drive Engineering Technology Research Center is located in the Xi'an High-tech Industries Development Zone, and includes a Research Institute Office, Design Research Institute, Processing Research Institute, Test Center, Material Forming Center, Prototype Manufacturing Center.
New Plants
-On July 1, 2020, a ceremony was held in Xi’an marking the start of the construction of Fast’s intelligent plant. The total investment in the plant is CNY 2.5 billion. The plant will have a building area of around 120,000 square meters. The project includes R&D, trial-manufacturing, testing, and production facilities, as well as a sales force. As one of the key projects in Fast’s “14th five-year development plan”, the project will create a modern intelligent plant that is estimated to annually produce a total of 200,000 S series transmissions, AMTs, clutches, new-energy systems, and hybrid-transmission systems. It is scheduled to achieve annual sales of CNY 5 billion and an annual after-tax profit of CNY 500 million. (From a press release on July 6, 2020)
Overseas Investment
-On July 2, 2019, in Belarus, Shaanxi Fast Gear Co., Ltd. and Fast MAZ Co., Ltd. (Fast MAZ) held a ceremony to sign a joint venture agreement and celebrate the start of the construction of a new plant. Fast MAZ is a joint company between Shaanxi Fast Gear Co., Ltd. and Minsk Automobile Plant (MAZ). The ceremony was held in the China-Belarus Industrial Park "Great Stone." For Fast MAZ, the new plant in Belarus will be the second overseas factory, following the one in Thailand. The new joint venture will be a primary supplier of transmissions for MAZ, starting in 2021. MAZ is the largest commercial car manufacturer in Belarus. It produces heavy-duty cargo trucks, buses, trailers, dump trucks, jeeps, and several other specialty vehicles. It has over a 90% share in the Belarus market. The China-Belarus Industrial Park is the largest comprehensive industrial park outside China among the parks established by Chinese companies. It is located in Minsk, an important hub of the Silk Road Economic Belt that stretches from Central Asia to Europe. (From a press release on July 9, 2019)