Automotive Engineering - June 2022 - 16

Making the torque-transfer
TRANSITION
Means Industries' Dynamic
Controllable Clutch (DCC) delivers multi-mode
functionality and actuation to the EV driveline.
It is shown here in planar configuration.
Amsted Automotive Group saw the EV
revolution coming and has 'the means' to
deliver greater driveline efficiency. AAG's
top engineers talk next-gen technology.
by Lindsay Brooke
A
reckoning has arrived at suppliers whose product portfolios,
engineering resources and R&D activities are not aligned with
the EV horizon. The challenge of pivoting their focus to electrification,
while sustaining the incumbent business, has been
particularly vexing for many Tier 2s and Tier 3s rooted in " legacy "
powertrain supply, as S&P Global analyst Michael Robinet has noted
in his Supplier Eye column in this publication.
But for Means Industries, whose clutch-technology IP is inside
most automatic transmissions made worldwide, balancing today's
business with tomorrow's propulsion opportunities has been part of
the company's strategic roadmap for years.
" The OEMs have shifted their spend from ICE into EVs, which are inevitable, "
said Jeremy Holt, the veteran engineering executive and president
of Means Industries' parent company, Amsted Automotive Group
(AAG). " But if the shift takes longer than is forecasted, we have a business
plan that's agnostic to that. We can survive with a rapid transition
to EVs, and we can also do well in an extended-ICE scenario. "
Founded in early 2021, employee-owned AAG consolidates the
synergies of Means (mechatronic clutches, driveline disconnects, emotor
housings), powder-metal pioneer Burgess-Norton, and SWM
Manufacturing, a leader in advanced cold-forming and precision machining
processes. The company's 16 engineering and manufacturing
facilities in North America, Asia and Europe are engaged in EV programs
with both legacy and start-up OEMs looking to expand their
new vehicles' torque-transfer capabilities and overall efficiency.
A solid book of business in " the surviving engines and transmissions "
chunk of the industry, as Holt calls it, is expected to sustain revenues
16 June 2022
and ongoing product development for at least the
next decade until EVs reach mainstream volume.
Needing a 25,000-rpm clutch
For the past six years, Means Industries has aimed its
evolving R&D program to " address the unvoiced needs of
EV propulsion - the greater efficiencies that the OEMs
have not yet realized, " Holt explained. The Saginaw,
Michigan-based company leverages the proprietary materials
and metal-forming expertise of the sister AAG units,
along with Means' expanding muscle in mechatronic engineering,
control software and electromagnetic actuation.
Anticipating the steep curve in research and testing
required for electric drivelines meant the company had
to replace and reconfigure laboratory equipment " for
going from ICE engine speeds to electric-motor
speeds, " observed Carl Beiser, director of advanced
engineering. " We've been listening to the customer
about their needs for things like a 25,000-rpm clutch.
We're putting those learnings into our advanced R&D
portfolio work so we can generate unique IP that can
then be applied. " AAG's investments in virtual design
and simulation toolsets is paying off in " exponential
progress " in actuation development, Beiser said. NVH
analysis is another vital focus. And the company is
even doing its own coil winding, he added.
AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING
ALL IMAGES: AAG
Automotive Engineering - June 2022

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