MBS air suspension is a realignment-free nine tonne non-welded solution that has been developed completely in-house in accordance with VDL Weweler’s philosophy of creating products that are multi-purpose, light weight; and use minimal components and minimal maintenance.

The air suspension is clamped around the axle using three bolts and is held in position by a groove in the axle beam, offering unique modularity in spring track, ride height and offset. This revolutionary groove was co- developed by VDL Weweler and Fuwa. VDL Weweler has been renowned for its expertise in the development and production of parabolic springs, air suspension systems, axle lift systems and special axles for over 80 years.

In 2001, the company was incorporated into the VDL Groep. The VDL Groep is an international industrial company focused on the development, production and sale of semi-finished products, buses and coaches and other finished products. It is a conglomerate of flexible, independent companies, each with its own specialty. The strength of the VDL Groep lies in the mutual co-operation between these companies. Since its founding in 1953, the VDL Group has grown to include 79 operating companies, spread over 16 countries, with more than 7400 employees.

VDL Weweler also has over 20 years of experience in Australia, thus resulting in an exclusive distributorship with Fuwa K-Hitch in 2009. “Fuwa is a strategic partner worldwide and therefore Fuwa K-Hitch was a logical next step. Fuwa K-Hitch does a superb job and has increased the market share of VDL Weweler enormously. This strong relationship has resulted in a unique suspension and axle combination,” says Martin van Willigen of VDL Weweler in the Netherlands.

VDL Weweler prides itself on developing systems that are robust and deliver reliability and cost-effective operation for on- highway applications as well as in the most demanding operating environments, such as those found in Australia – and the MBS air suspension is no exception. The company’s ISO-certified manufacturing facilities in Apeldoorn (The Netherlands) and Poperinge (Belgium) are highly automated, with robotics playing an important role in cost-effective and reliable production.

Using just one type of shock absorber, hanger bracket, forged spring steel trailing arm, two completely interchangeable airbags and two different tail ends, MBS accommodates a comprehensive range of ride heights ranging from 210mm to 410mm, and offsets for almost any trailer application. By simply releasing a single bolt, both tail ends can be given offsets of 0, 25, 50, 65, and 90mm in either direction, eliminating the need for a left and right version.

The unique forged spring steel trailing arm that eliminates the need for U-bolts and U-bolt plates, is a first in spring steel trailing arm design. The tapered trailing arm profile with its wider clamping area and small diameter maintenance-free bushing provides unequalled roll stiffness while putting less stress on the axle, in turn maximising the service life. As in all VDL Weweler’s air suspension systems, the shock absorber uses high- temperature resistant Viton® seals and acts as the stroke limiter, eliminating the need for check straps. With a system weight of just 128kg, the MBS air suspension is one of the lightest spring steel trailing arm suspensions on the market today.

“To be honest, I wasn’t pleased with the material I’d been using before, so I decided to give Fuwa K-Hitch a go,” says managing director Mick Stern. “I like the way they work, and I love the comprehensive after sales service, backing up the product 100 percent. That’s what I need.”

Located in the Central Highlands district of Queensland, Stern’s Plant Hire operates out of local gravel pits, providing sand, soil and gravel; and offers earth moving services. In March, the company purchased an Azmeb Door Side Tipper to complement the growing fleet.

The new AB triple is equipped with Fuwa K-Hitch’s unique one-piece forged axle and VDL Weweler’s heavy-duty 11-tonne suspension. “We’ve recommended the FKH/ VDL heavy-duty combination because it’s a tried and tested product,” says Azmeb’s Richard Ostermeyer. “It’s all about the stability on road, and the FKH combination has proven itself in the field.” In addition, the unitised disc brake axles incorporate VDL Weweler’s compact Bolt-on axle lift system to reduce both fuel consumption and tyre wear and improve brake balance when the vehicle is unladen.

“We use a lot of FKH equipment. Almost 80 percent of all the axle/ suspension material we apply is produced by Fuwa K-Hitch and VDL Weweler, because they deliver a product capable of tolerating the strain of working in a mining environment,” Richard explains. “Working in the mining industry is different to normal bulk haulage, as each load will exploit the maximum load capacity. It’s 100 percent, nonstop.”

Wayne Stern, who is still involved in the aspiring company, established Stern’s Plant Hire (SPH) in 1980. As the local coal mining industry began to flourish, the one-man- one-vehicle business soon matured. Today, SPH employs twelve people – including managing director Mick Stern. “I grew up in the industry, and I have been an active part of the business since 2000,” he says. “Ever since, we’ve operated under the name of Stern’s Plant Hire; maintaining a fleet of two road trains and four AB triple side tipping combinations – including the new one, which was custom designed to cart sand, gravel, soil and coal,” says Mick Stern. “It’s as big as we can go, providing a payload of 64 tonne.”

Whilst SPH’s motor pool operates both Volvo and Kenworth, the trailing equipment department solely relies on one brand – Azmeb. “It’s the fourth Azmeb in three years,” says Mick. “We’ve received the last set two months ago, and we’re expecting another combination in June.” Bundaberg based Azmeb Global Trailers offers tipping equipment both for the domestic and global market, exporting to Africa, China, and Indonesia. The company’s director, Bernd Ostermeyer, began manufacturing heavy road transport and mining equipment in 1975. Believing that Australia’s side tipper technology could be improved, Mr Ostermeyer decided to invest into research and development, creating a range of new products, such as the innovative side tipping combination applied by SPH today.

“I like the style of it and the build quality,“ says Mick Stern. “Azmeb’s Door Side Tippers only use two double acting hydraulic cylinders, allowing a fast tipping cycle. In addition, the bowl shaped body can retain contaminated liquid waste in the bowl base, and the curved door guarantees a clean discharge of the payload. And the rubber-hinged door doesn’t even require greasing. The combination of Azmeb technology and Fuwa K-Hitch gear is unbeatable.”

Therefore, the new AB triple is also fitted with a FKH fifth wheel and FKH landing legs. “I don’t like to mix,” says Mick. “I want to deal with one single person that I can trust. Besides, I like the K-Hitch fifth wheel because it’s not cast, but based on solid steel plate. I have used it for three years and have never had a problem.”

It is no surprise that both Azmeb and Fuwa K-Hitch are part of SPH’s future expansion plan. “As the workload in the area is growing continually, we want to grow as well,” says Mick. “But we will remain a family owned business and keep employing local people, and we will hold onto our existing staff. It’s all about loyalty.” Therefore, Stern’s Plant Hire will stay true to Azmeb’s tried and true product range too – including the rugged FKH/ VDL Weweler pairing. “It’s all I need to service the booming mining industry.”

“Fuwa has nothing to hide,” says Chris Barrett, National Sales Manager of Fuwa K-Hitch, the corporation’s Australian division. “We provide a good, honest product, and we want people to forge an opinion.” Therefore, Fuwa K-Hitch invited a group of Australian industry connoisseurs to Asia, providing a first hand experience of the Chinese production facilities.

In Shunde, a district on the edge of Foshan, with a population of 1.1 million people situated in the Pearl River Delta, 2800 employees produce Fuwa’s patented one-piece axle beam, which has been designed to provide more stability, increased load capacity and less tare weight as opposed to a conventional three-piece welded beam. “It’s a masterpiece,” says Chris, glancing at the iron entrance gate. “The one-piece beam will revolutionise the industry, providing a deformation resistant, anti fatigue product which has a strong ability for mating OEM standard.”

A common axle beam is normally constructed of two axle stubs that are welded to a hollow axle tube. Fuwa, however, has found a way to forge the entire beam out of one piece, mastering the inherent vulnerability of a welded construction by adjusting the wall thickness accurate to the millimetre. The production process and the heavy machinery involved used to achieve such a precise outcome are both part of Fuwa’s corporate secret.

Shunde
Inside the factory, lathes are lined up on a green, linoleum covered floor, and computer-aided hoes work nonstop as the group inspects the factory. The bustling production line traverses the entire building, piecing together Fuwa’s patented one-piece beam axle in a smooth, unceasing motion. “That’s Fuwa’s blood flow,” says Mario Camenzuli, Executive Director of Fuwa K-Hitch. “The company’s DNA.”

Nearby, automated welding machines are sparking, and the golden gleam is reflected in the polished axle stubs that will soon be hidden by a dull, olive wheel end. Countless axles are stored next door, soon to be key components of state-of-the-art trailing equipment somewhere around the globe.

Close by, the R&D department is examining the axles’ deformation resistance in a long-term test set-up. In addition, an armada of research personnel is gauging the product accurate to a millimetre, establishing a database including every axle ever built.

“We are committed to international quality standards,” says Mario. “We know the competition, and therefore we know that we cannot take a shortcut in the manufacturing process if we want to be a serious contender, whatever product we manufacture.” In total, the Shunde factory can produce up to 800,000 trailer axles, 300,000 landing leg sets, 250,000 mechanical suspension sets, 100,000 air suspension sets, 100,000 fifth wheels, 50,000 king pins, 1.8 million brake chambers, 7 million brake linings and 2.5 million slack adjusters per annum.

Overall, the Fuwa Group employs more than 3,800 people, including over 30 foreign senior management experts and PD engineers from Europe and America. “Our talents closely collaborate with Chinese elite teams, which ensure that Fuwa accurately grasps various market demands, so Fuwa products can satisfy different countries’ technical requirements,” Mario explains. “That’s why we are growing at such a rate.”

Taishan
In fact, Fuwa is expanding on a grand scale. In addition to the plant in Shunde, Fuwa made a $1 billion investment in 2007, establishing the FHI Industrial Park in Taishan, hosting heavy-duty truck and semi-trailer part manufacturing and a new, enlarged R&D base. The new factory consists of 12 large-scale manufacturing workshops, occupying a floor area of 1 million m2.

“All production processes meet a world leading level, and all our key parts, such as axle housings, gear sets, brakes and axle shafts, are made in-house to ensure a high quality standard,” Chris explains. “It is hard to believe that the state-of-the-art facility in Shunde has become too small after five years in operation. But we realised that we had to move on, and the result is the Taishan Industrial Park – one of the largest industrial facilities in the world.”

Each covering 800 x 75 metres, the six main buildings host the suspension and landing legs division, Fuwa’s trailer axle production line, a comprehensive component production line, and a new truck axle factory. The truck axle division is equipped with state-of-the-art gear cutting equipment and latest generation carburizing furnaces that meet the stringent CQI 9 requirements. In addition, one building is reserved for a newly established venture between Fuwa and German company Wabco, who will manufacture high quality, single-piston air disc brakes in China – starting with the PAN 22.5 series.

Six additional buildings, measuring 600 x 75 metres, accommodate the stamping division, the in-house friction material production, a hot forging factory and the off-highway axle production line. After acquiring Carlisle’s manufacturing equipment and brake dynamometer, Fuwa now has the largest brake dynamometers in China.

Only an aerial image can capture the true size of the FHI Industrial Park, which includes a staff village, a police station, an organic farm, a company hotel and restaurant, a fishpond, and a gym. A stroll along the trailer axle production line can take about ten minutes – one way – and the personnel uses motorcycles to avoid wasting time on the way to the corporate canteen. Every detail, the vitreous showroom and the representative gardening, the floating restaurant and the staff village, all lead to the throne of the global trailing equipment industry.

The machinery sourced from around the globe has only just been unpacked, but the Fuwa staff is already gearing up for a production at full speed. The concrete floor is immaculate, and the production line, bordered by a vibrant red steel construction, has already begun to move as inexorably as the Shunde equivalent.

Fuwa’s Taishan Industrial Park is an iron anthill, bustling, yet organised, striving for expansion 24/7. After all, the challenge is to redeem a $ 1 billion investment; and Mario Camenzuli cannot see a reason to slow down the pace. “On the quest to become the world’s most influential component manufacturer, the Taishan project will boost Fuwa’s position in the global market,” he says.

In China, the company already occupies a market share of around 75 percent. At the moment, the export is generating 35 percent of the total sales volume. But according to Fuwa, there is still potential to improve, tackling the transport market in North America, South America, Australia, South East Asia and South Africa. To handle the ever-growing export volume, Fuwa has just opened an in-house wharf, handling 180,000 TEU and 1.5 million tons of bulk cargoes per annum. “We have laid the foundation,” says Chris Barrett, overlooking the vast Taishan facility from a gaunt mountain nearby. “Now there’s no turning back. We want to emerge as a worldwide leader and create value for our customers by leveraging our experience, speed, and innovativeness.”

Shunde total capacity pa

800,000 trailer axles
300,000 landing leg sets
250,000 mechanical suspension sets
100,000 air suspension sets
100,000 fifth wheels
50,000 king pins
1.8 million brake chambers
7 million brake linings
2.5 million slack adjusters

Taishan total capacity pa

600,000 trailer axles
200,000 drive axles
200,000 front axles
500,000 landing leg sets
300,000 truck/ bus Mechanical and air suspensions
3 million brake components
200,000 disc brake callipers
9 million brake linings

The FHI Industrial park in Taishan enables Fuwa to produce an unmatched range of truck and trailer equipment in-house, including truck steering axles, drive axles, fifth wheels, air disc brakes, actuators and slacks, drum brakes, suspensions and propeller shafts, and auxiliary axles. The trailer range comprises of axles, drum brakes, disc brakes, slack adjusters, actuators, suspensions, landing gear and king pins.

In February, Trax opened a new 100,000 square foot factory in Louisville, Kentucky – its first North American plant. It is here that all final axle assembly will take place, as well as brake shoe remanufacturing. Although axle components will be manufactured in Fuwa’s new Taishan Business Park, axles will be made to suit all North American standards by a team that is largely American.

Located an hour out of Hong Kong, the Taishan facility is nearing completion. It will be the largest axle manufacturing plant in the world and will help double Fuwa’s current manufacturing capacity. Fuwa has invested Euro 150 million in this new state-of-the-art facility that will feature 12 separate factories stretching for more than 1.5km and will include the most modern gear cutting equipment with lapping and grinding capabilities and the latest generation carburizing furnaces combined with the most up to date manufacturing and audit processes available. Currently, Fuwa manufactures between 500,000- 600,000 axles a year. The Taishan facility will allow the company to manufacture approximately 600,000 more axles per annum. It will be the launching pad to Fuwa’s move into truck systems including front steer axles, drive axles, drive suspensions as well as new semi trailer running gear products for the European and Australian markets.

Fuwa is already a dominant player in traileraxle manufacturing. In China, Fuwa already has a 70 percent market share of the trailer axle market and this recent expansion is set to make this share climb even further. As well as its position in China, Fuwa also has a strong market presence in Australia, South- east Asia, South America and South Africa. Approximately 30 percent of the total sales from Fuwa are currently derived from exports, however Fuwa hopes to increase the share of exports to over 50 percent to help further its position as a global player. Australia’s Fuwa K-Hitch has also been making a splash over the past few months. At this year’s International Truck, Trailer & Equipment Show in March, Fuwa K-Hitch showcased a wide range of new releases including heavy-duty 150mm unitised axles, pusher and tag axle suspension, KT250T suspension, and a new Weweller heavy-duty suspension. Fuwa K-Hitch has indicated that more new releases are set to follow in coming months for trailers and trucks, as well as the aftermarket.