The SAF-Holland IAA Transportation stand spoke for itself, presenting a clear narrative of growth through partnership. Of the 13 product displays at the show under the SAF-Holland Group umbrella, seven of them were not there at the last expo, two years ago.
“I find that quite an interesting number,” SAF-Holland EMEA President, Christoph Günter said, pointing out new brands like Haldex, Assali Stefen and Tecma.
It has been a busy few years for SAF-Holland Group, as Günter suggests, bringing on no fewer than five new product brands in the last five years.”
Important to the company, however, has been ensuring those companies come into the fold, maintaining the characteristics that sets SAF-Holland apart.
“I think one of the things that differentiates us from other industry players apart from product innovation, is our close customer relationships,” said Günter, who studied industrial engineering and was appointed EMEA President and CTO of the company in 2019.
“We are bringing that to all of our new acquisitions, to ensure that when they come on board, they are offering the customer service as anyone within the SAF-Holland Group.”
Arguably, braking systems are the most safety-critical part of any vehicle. SAF-Holland Group’s purchase of Swedish company, Haldex, in 2023 really helped solidify their brake offering. With full mechatronic brake & chassis control systems on the one hand and high quality and proven air disc brakes on the other hand, SAF-Holland and Haldex are one of the leading suppliers for braking technology in the commercial vehicle industry.
According to SAF-Holland Vice President of R&D in EMEA, Sebastian Quick, the base for that success can be broken down into three main parts – design, manufacturing and maintenance.
“We create the right product by design from requirements, the right prerequisites for manufacture and the right product in use,” he said. “And making sure to maintain the function of the product throughout their lifetime with a widespread service network.”
Haldex is making the design and installation of electromechanical braking systems for trailers (TEBS) simpler for trailer manufacturers with its new, modular EB+ 4.0 platform. The EB+ 4.0 incorporates several modules which allow for the use of different types of ABS and EBS in both 12- and 24-volt systems. The platform is described as “future-proof,” and ready to fulfill the newest regulations with their Software Update Management platform presented at the IAA in Hanover and the extensive work that has been done to comply with Cyber Security regulations in the past months.
The Haldex air disc brake ModulT, which was initially developed for trailers in 2011 and has seen unprecedented success in the market, is being extended to the truck market and was presented in Hanover. A major milestone for SAF-Holland and Haldex is the SOP at the first customer in the road truck sector from Q3 2024 onwards on medium and light duty trucks. To fulfill the higher torques and duty cycle requirements compared to the Trailer brakes design changes have been made to the highly reliable field proven technology. Due to the modular design, several components have been reused in order to increase reliability and ensure a timely go to market.
Meanwhile at the beginning of this year, SAF-Holland announced the acquisition of the Italian company Tecma Srl and later Assali Stefen. Both companies have specialized for many years in the development and production of customer-specific axles and suspension systems, such as steering axles or swivel and pendelum axles.
The companies work closely with vehicle manufacturers to develop more customized solutions for special-purpose vehicles and heavy-duty applications. Its products are tailored to the specific requirements of their customers, such as axles with a high load capacity for handling loads of 80 tons and more.
This expansion of the product portfolio, in the field of special-purpose axles, enables SAF-Holland to act as a one-stop-shop supplier for suspension-related applications and to further strengthen its market position and expertise in the commercial vehicles industry.
Much of the future for SAF-Holland, according to Günter, will be to continue combining the newly acquired companies, but also ensuring the individual products are melded in, which has some exciting potential.
“This is really one of the things we will focus on for the next years,” he said. “We will look at things such as what we can do with combining trailer EBS with excellent axle & suspension and telematics, and additional customer value add that we can create.”
Reiterating his earlier comments about what makes SAF-Holland standout in the industry, Günter goes back to his point about the customer.
“We have a really close relationship with our trailer builders,” he said. “Whether it’s a small special vehicle trailer builder, or bigger and more standardized vehicle manufacturer, we know them well.”
Being so inclined isn’t as hard as it might seem, considering the nature of the industry and its unique character, he said.
“The trailer industry is very personably in that it is many times made up of family-owned businesses with longevity,” he said. “I think SAF Holland is living the truck and trailer industry perfectly.