Robust Lightweight Cardan Shaft

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Josef Hohn GmbH has longstanding experience as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) for commercial vehicles including construction machines and agricultural machines and provides innovative and high-quality products to satisfy customers’ needs. Particularly cardan shafts which are part of the power train of automobiles are in the core of Hohn’s expertise. Environmental regulations controlling the vehicles’ emission of CO2 and air pollutants as well as the need to increase the vehicle’s payload have forced commercial vehicle manufacturers to explore new technologies, in particular lightweight construction. However, previous lightweight cardan shafts technologies for commercial vehicle were not ready for market due to either high costs or safety problems. RLICS, the innovation described in this proposal, is a radically new approach to constructing cardan shafts. Due to the innovative design as well as a result of simplifying the fabrication, the new product is approx. 30 % lighter than conventional cardan shafts, has an increased life time even under higher loads and can be produced at a cost of approximately 20 % below conventional fabrication costs. With RLICS, Hohn envisages to create a unique selling proposition for significantly increasing its market share in the segment of construction vehicles and agricultural machines and, for the first time, for entering the market segment of small trucks and buses (<7.5 tons). To unlock the exceptional market potential, activities to prepare commercialisation of RLICS are to assess suitable markets, increase customer involvement, validate the technological viability and finally to contrive a detailed business plan. Granted successful commercialisation, we expect a cumulative turnover of 45 million € related to RLICS and an increase of staff headcount of 75 by 2024.