Report from the CERATIZIT customer Audi Hungaria. Including interview with customer!


AUDI HUNGARIA MOTOR Kft. in Györ, Hungary, has 5,500 employees. Here the engines for the brands of the Volkswagen group, Audi, VW, Skoda and Seat are manufactured. In Györ the Audi TT Coupé and Roadster is built, and the Audi A3 Cabriolets will be built there in the future. In 2006 more than 23,500 vehicles and close to two million engines left the plant. This makes Audi Hungaria the second biggest exporter in Hungary. For the machining of crankshafts Audi Hungaria counts on the technology and experience of the carbide expert CERATIZIT.

Audi is synonymous with optimum technical performance and the logo with the four rings. In a few words: Audi ranks as one of the top firms in the automotive world. It therefore makes sense to purchase products at CERATIZIT, the technological leader in the field of carbide for wear parts and cutting tools.

Crankshaft machining at Audi
Györ is situated 45 km from the Austrian border, in Hungary, and numbers 130,000 inhabitants. Since 1994 Audi Hungaria Motor Kft has been located at the periphery of the town. Audi selected this site for various reasons: the logistic connection is very good, within a radius of 50 km there are competitive subcontractors, a hall with a surface of 100,000 sq.m. already existed, and a lot of people in this area speak German very well. Furthermore the technical University of Györ ensures that well-trained engineers and experts are available.

Crankshafts are exposed to enormous forces; their production requires maximum precisionZoltán Szathmári is in charge of production planning and tool technology in engine production at Audi Hungaria Motor Kft. He works closely together with the CERATIZIT representatives and development specialists. His most important contact on site is Barnabás Deri, the sales manager of CERATIZIT Hungaria.

Szathmári leads us through the impressive production department: high, luminous halls with three extremely long and up-to-the-minute production devices, which are in addition fully automated. At Audi in Hungary it is very clean and one is immediately aware that the employees are proud to work here.

In crankshaft machining Audi Hungaria relies on seven different types of inserts from CERATIZIT: special solutions CERATIZIT developed together with the machine manufacturer GFM. Maximum precision is required. Zoltán Szathmári explains: “The crankshaft is an essential component of the engine. It converts the linear movement into a rotational movement. The component is exposed to enormous forces. We manufacture six different crankshafts. The crankshafts are supplied in forged condition. Before machining, a crankshaft for the 3.0 TDI engine weighs 26 kg, after machining it still weighs as much as 18 kg.“