1 The Magazine of Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG No. 4/881 TOPICAL European Perspective: Target England Computer on the Job: The Future-Now! Helping Customers: Euro-Service: Round the Clock
CONTENTS Steyr takes the offensive. A subsidiary in England aims to push up !ruck sales rapidly. New Markets 1NTERNATIONAL 4 12 PRODUCT Sharp Shooting Austria's security services protect citizens and themselves with the new AUG 9 Para, the super police weapon. In Austria too it will soon be possible to pick up 40 television programmes - with a small "dish" on the roof. Satellite TV FUTURE 8 14 MAGAZINE Golf Clubbers The Fiat Tipo, a neat little car from down south, has caught the imagination of testers and customers alike. Order-books are full for months ahead. 2 COVER PHOTO: The Steyr Middle-weights are a trucking sensation SDP TOPICAL 1 Whenever a Steyr lorry has trouble anywhere in Europe, or needs a spare part, expert aid is on hand within hours. Euro-Service HIGHLIGHT 10 16 APPLICATIONS Love at First Sight A Dutch transport operator tested a Steyr lorry. Now he has an articulated truck from Austria-and also a Steyr workshop.
1 SDP TOPICAL PRODUCT OF THE QUARTER A Middle-Wei ht Boxes Throu h hese medium-weight lorries are the result of decades of experience and the most modern research in truck-construction, a class for themselves. With their well-tried engines-136, 177 or 210 HP-the middle-weights are Steyr's best horse in Great Britain and Belgium; in Switzerland half of the market, and in the Netherlands on the upcomers list. Quite apart from in Austria itself. lt goes without saying that the engines operate on the super-economical and environmentally friendly HPCE method developed by Steyr. The driver's cabin provides a standard of comfort equivalent to that of a private car and ensures fatigue-less driving. This is an additional security factor, alongside electronic They are the most modern medium-weight vehicles in Europe, real "runners" in the 9- 16 ton class: the Steyr Midd le-Weighters. check-control, which gives advance warning of problems and informs the driver constantly about his vehicle. The most amazing feature, though, is the "Noise Packet". This unparalleled optional equipment (at an unbeatable price of only Austrian Schillings 15,000) reduces the driving noise of the middleweighters to 78 dß(A) This means that the noise limitation decreed for lorries in Austria from 1989 (83 dB) will be appreciably undercut. The whispering lorries of Steyr are therefore those which are exempted from the night-time driving prohibition in Salzburg. 3
4 INTERNATIONAL Stormin Great Britain England is ready for Steyr. During this year's Motor Show in Birmingham, the island's biggest motorvehicle event, the company will present its "MiddleWeights". The time has never been better for an offensive of this sort than now. SDP TOPICAL 1
! SDP TOPICAL he lorry specialists in Steyr, who keep a constant eye on the world truck market, naturally spotted the latest developments in the lorry-market on the British lsles. The state-run Bedford company has left the market for lorries. Two giants in the lorry sector-British Leyland and the Dutch DAF company, have merged. lveco and the English Ford subsidiary have done the same. This means that several reputable dealers and workshops have lost their products. Without these favourable circumstances it would have been impossible to break into the market. lt would simply have been too expensive for Steyr. As it was, however, on 1st June this year a British subsidiary, called "Steyr Trucks (UK) Ltd" was founded in the ideal location of Milton Keynes, almest halfway between London and Birmingham, where a whole bunch of motor-vehicle companies and importers have established their bases. England is-for Steyr too-a highly interesting market, the world's second-largest market for lorries. Almost 40,000 lorries with a capacity of over 7.5 tons are sold every year. By comparison: the Austrian market is only one-tenth of this size. There is, additionally, the fact that in recent times the price level in England has noticeably risen and, thanks above all to the strengthening of the British pound sterling, the European level has been more or less reached. INTERNATIONAL 5
6 INTERNATIONAL And so, taking one thing with another, England has become one of the most important planning sectors for the lorry market during the next three years. The Steyr people will have little difficulty in meeting the quality demands placed on foreign products by the English. Steyr lorries are after all known for their high quality standards. The same high standards are called for from the newcomer by the future dealer and service network, in order that the company's good reputation is upheld. At first 8-10 dealers are given a contract. In half a year this number should rise to 20. The choice available will be limited for the time being to six basic models, four medium ones and two heavy ones. The English customers-mainly concerned with local delivery services, will have the following choice: 0 13 tons, 136 HP; 0 13 tons, 177 HP; 0 17 tons, 177 HP; 0 17 tons, 210 HP, and 0 Trailers, 280-310 HP depending on requirements, for a total weight of up to 38 tons. lt goes without saying that all the driveswhether turbo or turbo-intercooleroperate along the HPCE Lines which were developed a few months ago by Professor Franz Moser and for which he was awarded the energy-saving Oscar. Dr Ernst Prandel, head of the Lorries Division, enThe head of the new subsidiary Steyr Trucks (UK) Ltd, founded on 1st June, is Cliff Groves. The fifty-year old Englishman is an engineer by training. Before he transferred to Steyr Trucks Groves was Marketing Manager for the British section of Scania. Earlier he held leading positions with other European lorry-giants, DAF and Our Man in British Leyland. Cliff Groves is already totally immersed in his new task. At the moment he is recruiting his managerial team. The next step will be to create a dealer network. With Groves Steyr Trucks has acquired a highly-qualified lorry specialist who is at the same time a skilled engineer. SDP TOPICAL 1 visages further advantages for Steyr qualities: "With our 7.1 ton front-wheel drive lorries we can acquire vital advantages determining the build-up phase." This will be necessary, though, because our competitors are not asleep either. And in England every important company is represented-starting with Scania, and going via Volvo and Daimler-Benz to MAN and lveco. Nevertheless Steyr-Daimler-Puch anticipates good business from its storming of England. Whatever happens in 1989 and 1990 the foreseeable Austria and West Europe business should guarantee the basic employment situation in the Steyr plant. The outlook is favourable. The order-book this year is already 20 percent up on !hat last year. And during the first half of 1988 the same number of lorries were delivered to West Europe (without England) as during the whole of 1987.
_I S__D_ P_l_iO__P_I_C__A_L_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _IN_T_E_R_N_A_TI_0 _N_A_L _! West Euro ean Technolo Fulcrum In Great Britain the roller bearing specialist Barry Pickering has been taken on as "Technical Sales Director for STEYR Bearings". He has been in the business for more than 30 years and apart from his sales experience he is able to establish the all-important connexions between the English initial-equipment customers and the home-works in Steyr. His aim is "To put the STEYR roller bearing service at least on the same level as a firm based in England." Encouraging projects in the English market show that the intensified application advisory service is the right way to achieve this. New activities in the important West European market are meant to convince customers of the traditional quality of STEYR roller bearings. Not only Steyr lorries seil weil abroad. Ball-bearings and roller-bearings from Steyr are acknowledged by experts to be quality products. Austrian quality bearings are especially weil represented in the key markets of Holland, Belgium and England. In the Netherlands the AKN company, with its seat in Harlem, is the STEYR representative. 18 persons are engaged there as travelling representatives, salesmen and service engineers. 30 sub-representatives-each with their own stockensure a dense customer service network. AKN is particularly proud of the new 1,800 m2 headquarters bui lding . A remarkable 80 percent of the AKN turnover is accounted for by STEYR roller bearings and accessories. The Belgian market is also handled by AKN. From the newly founded company seat in Retie eight qualified associates together with a number of hardworking sub-representatives succeed in gaining extra market segments for STEYR roller bearings. 7
THE FUTURE SDP TOPICAL 1 8
1 SDP TOPICAL Dish on the Roof The world has become smal 1. When you want it, it comes into your living-room via space and satellite. In colour and stereo. And in almost endless variety. wo domestic television channels and three radio programmes have for some time now been found insufficient to satisfy our increased appetite for information. We want to be on-the-spot whatever happens. The future goes under the names Panamsat, Eutelsat, lntelsat or Astra. An (automatically) adjustable parabolic antenna of 60 cm diameter, a receiver, a converter (which can process the signals received so !hat the television set can "read" them)-and, virtually normal in Austria, two permits, one from the Federal Chancellery and the other from the programme producer. That is all. Set up in this way and Mr and Mrs Austrian can already switch on 28 television and dozens of radio programmes from all over the world using the "dish" on the roof. Behind this there is some fascinating technology. Using enormous rockets several communications satellites are launched in so-called "stationary" orbit every year so !hat they seem to "hang" in the sky over a particular point on Earth. For between six and ten years, powered by energy from the sun they relay programmes back to Earth. And there are more and more all the time. In the course of this year Arts Channel, Sky News, Sky Movies, Sky Radio, Eurosport (with several sound-tracks, including one in German) and the European Business Channel from Switzerland will be added. And since the European Ariane 4 rocket went up in June all the important American TV programmes can be seen too. For the Big Listener there are already, e.g., Deutschlandfunk, Voice of America, the popmusic stations Radio Nova, Cable 1 and Radio 10 as weil as, soon, the French THE FUTURE round-the-clock news programme France Info. The difficulty of deciding becomes ever greater. The only question is when to find time for work. 9
10 HIGHLIGHT SDP TOPICAL 1 Ste r in the Fast Lane he operating centre for this service which no competitor in Austria can offer to such an extensive degree is, of course, in Steyr. Round-the-clock, 365 days a year, available on the telephone: (7252)-27772. Anywhere in Europe-including eastern Europe-all that is needed is access to a telephone. Then the driver only has to quote his Euro-Service Card Number, and headquarters immediately has all the details of his vehicle on a computer terminal screen, including any special equipment. Assistance is then guaranteed within twelve hours. At the same price as at A Steyr lorry which needs assistance abroad is guaranteed to receive this within twelve hours without having to pay cash, at normal weekday charges even on Sundays. That is the Steyr Euro-Service and the Steyr Euro-Service Card. home. And at weekday rates. No travel costs, no night-time or holiday-supplements. These costs are borne by the friendly Steyr Euro-Service. In most instances one of the many emergency vehicles which are strategically situated in 18 European countries is sufficient to ensure that the time guarantee is not exceeded. Several of these vehicles are fitted out like a mobile workshop with drilling machine, compressor, work-bench, generating unit, oil-suction gear and special tools. All the crews of these service vehicles are wellschooled tool specialists from the works. Problems or breakdowns which they have not experienced and coped with are unknown.
1 SDP TOPICAL Where the Future is Now In Steyr there is a "factory" in which the future takes place here and now. This factory is prosaically called the Steyr.:rechnology-Centre. The idea behind it: flexible manufacturing systems. And CAD/CAM is the magic formula. CAD/CAM stands for "Computer Aided Design" and "Computer Aided Manufacturing". lt began, as in many other companies, with the drafting of plans and construction sketches. Now integration, the closest co-operation between computerbacked construction, calculating and manufacturing is in the forefront. With the computer, and the monitor-screen, everything goes much easier, quicker and cheaper. Earlier, after the first sketch in the Construction Office, came the costing calculation. This usually meant adjusting the draft. In its turn this necessitated on-going co-ordination between the constructor and the costing-engineer. Then the detailconstructor came on the scene and made further adjustments to the construction. After checking, the work could be put in hand using an initial working plan settling the data for the machine-tool guidance. Nowadays the calculations are all included in the drafting stage. Right from the start exterior strain, stability, durability, possible deformations and the geometry of the finished product are taken into consideration .The programme then draws up the complete constructional design, and turns out the data for the NC machine, which is like-wise computer driven. Something that earlier-from draft to prototype-often required up to six months can now, thanks to flexible construction in the Steyr:rechnology-Centre, generally be accomplished in less than 14 days. At the same time production costs are considerably reduced. The story of this success has already leaked out, Now quite a number of other companies are showing interest in knowhow "Made by Steyr". HIGHLIGHT 11
NEW PRODUCT SDP TOPICAL 1 Puttin to the Acid Test Lorries as nighttime instruments of torture for peace-seeking citizens? These days are over once and for all thanks to the whispering Steyr lorries. The Whispering Lorries with the Steyr logo intended for use in reduced noise zones are effectively only half as loud as normal trucks. They whisper with a maximum noise level of 78 dB(A), and are thereby somewhat quieter even than foreseen by law for newly-registered diese! lorries in Austria. That is the outcome of permanent measuring and research. In the St. Valentin Acoustic Centre the lorry-builders' Big Ear was installed recently. The first commandment in environmental protection reads: Reduce noise at source! Noise Lorry on the power-brake while at a standstill (engine, ventilator, exhaust), noise during driving (wheel and wind noises, engine, bodywork)-the important !hing is to know "Where?". For this a new electronic testbench has been installed. lts key element is a large power-brake. The vehicles can be coupled there to driveshafts whose height can be varied. In this way various rpm categories and load situations in all possible gear-change circumstances can be checked. Without the acoustic pattern being affected by road surface noises and 12 driving wind. Tests are carried out too, of course, in realistic driving conditions. lt is possible here to measure tire- and wind-noises an the lest stretch. And about that lest stretch. lt is the torture chamber for every vehicle. The lest begins on a high-speed streich. Then the lorry, or the Puch G, or the Pinzgauer is given a thrashing an what specialists politely call a "selective" country circuit. A "washboard" (the name explains everything) ensures that various hidden vibrations are engendered. On two twisting passages the vehicle is shaken through a passage which includes 40 centimetre high concrete blocks. lnclination and cornering are demonstrated by a circuit of 80 meter diameter. And , last but not least, there are two genuine gravel pits whose entrances and exits have an inclination of up to 45 percent which tests the ability of building vehicles to cope with these extremes. Torture-stretch for every vehicle
1 SDP TOPICAL NEW PRODUCT ccuracy and speed were much in demand during the "AntiTerror Exercise" at the end of June. In the otherwise idyllic Triesting valley, Lower Austria, 29 anti-terrorist units from 16 countries raced over an obstacle course with built-in tactical hindrances, to release "hostages"-shooting their way through to success. Once again the winners were the Austrians-using the Steyr A1 (AUG) rille, better known as standard Armed Forces equipment under the abbreviation StG 77 (Sturmgewehr 77). Known as the best storm rille in the world this weapon is made by Steyr Mannlicher Ges.m.b.H. in Steyr in various military versions: in addition to the StG version as semi-automatic with 407 mm barrel, in a commando type with 350 mm barrel, as rapid-fire HBAR-automatic weapon or as light machine-gun. Recently introduced are two interesting police versions: the AUG-Police, a .223 Remington semi-automatic, and the AUG 9 mm Para, which uses the same ammunition as the new re~ular pistol which has been standard issue for Austria's security forces for some while. Our Federal Gendarmerie has also opted for the 9 mm Para version. Stock and body remain unchanged. But there are several significant differences: the locking system and the barrel-group have another configuration. An adapter which can be slid into the magazine-shaft enables the standard Steyr MP stick magazine to be inserted with up to 32 rounds. The telescopic sight-which is designed, as with all AUGs, as a handle-has, unlike the Armed Forces version, a precision-enhancing sight with ring and central point. This means that-as the fairy-tale puts it-you can target a fly's eye at a hundred paces. The AUG 9 Para is not intended so much for bursts of fire as for rapid single shots. Gendarmes appreciate its handinesstotal length only 690 millimetres-and its light weight: all in all the new security forces weapon has a combat-weight of only 4 kilograms-including the 32-round magazine. lt is also interesting to find out why there are two police versions. lt was discovered, in practice, that the flat trajectory .223 Rem. caliber with its high muzzle velocity of about 1000 m/s, and a corresponding penetration power, was unsuitable for shooting in an inhabited environment. This induced Steyr to produce a second version in the popular pistol caliber. lts total length is 655 millimetres (barrel: 420 mm) and its weight of 3.8 kilograms (loaded with 25 rounds) is gratifyingly small. Divisional lnspector Helmut Mayerhofer assesses the new police weapon in the periodical "Die Bundesgendarmerie" (The Federal Gendarmerie) in a very positive light. He comes to the conclusion, following tests, that the AUG 9 Para is "certainly a good weapon, which will help us to economise." 13
14 MAGAZINE Golf Clubbed from the South On 13th June the Fiat Tipo hit the home compact-car market like a bomb. 23 m2 of galvanized steel sheet, precisely 5.2 kilograms of paint and 2.8 m2 of glass-perfectly assembled by 698 robots-that is the sensation, fully programmed by Fiat (Turin), which has got the market-leader in the lower medium-class, the Volkswagen Golf, worried. Three different eng ine versions are, for the time being, available in Austria: the 1400, the 1400 DGT (each with 70 HP) and the 1600 DGT (with 90 HP). The Tipo retails at the very competitive price of between 149,000 and 174,900 Austrian Schillings. Six years of really tough testing wen! into the Golf competitor. Thirty (') prototypes proved that ltalian constructional methods were not synonymous with rusting and rattling. Thal is the result of faultless lasercontrolled robots, total galvanization and careful final checking. Fiat's aim is, and remains, a zero-defect car at a slim price. The customers clearly appreciate this: the waiting-list for a Tipo already extends up until the end of the year. First-Hand Information Nearer to the Customer - with the Steyr Partner Contact Point-that is the motto of the Agricultural Machine Seetor of Steyr-Daimler-Puch. In addition to the 600 service-stations in Austria, the prompt around-the-clock component supply system and-if necessary-made-to-order replacement, there is now a permanent Tractor and Agricultural Machine Display in St. Valentin. The whole branch programme can be seen there. All desirable accessories and variations can be seen in the original. And there are, of course, weil trained company specialists on hand to give advice. This is intended to give prospective customers a helping hand in choosing between the wide range of alternatives offered. The purchaser thus saves time, as weil as money, because false investments can have a serious effect on business. In the Steyr Partner Contact Point "only" advice is given. The sales are handled, as usual, by the local specialised retailers. So that order is maintained, as they say. lmportant Visitor On the occasion of his official visit to the Steyr-Daimler-Puch Spezialfahrzeug Ges.m.b.H. King Hussein II of Jordan was SDP TOPICAL 1 Catalogue on Floppy Quick, precise and economical-anyone who can offer his customers these advantages is bound to be a head ahead of his competitors. lt is often not at all easy to find the right type of bearing just when you need it. Because printed catalogues are only up-to-date for a limited time. New additions can only be taken into account when there is a fresh printing. In the case of STEYR roller-bearings there is a fully computerised catalogue on flopPY disc. This roller-bearing data-bank enables not only the very quiekest access to the latest products. lt is also user-friendly. Reader- and input-errors, for instance, are eliminated. In addition, the system has the possibility of reconstructing an ordered listing of every step-choice. And it is impossible to be more up-to-date than in this STEYR roller-bearing PC-catalogue. The technical parameters on the computer floppy are completely identical with those stored in the basic data in the Steyr works. The advantages are already being exploited. Demand is keen. presented the new C02 Match Rille by Director-General Ing. Otto Voisard and Ing. Heinz Hambrusch, manager of SteyrMannlicher GmbH.
1 SDP TOPICAL Keep the Peace with Armour The Austrian Armed Forces takes its task of being ready at all times to protect peace in the country very seriously. This means that not only must the training be constantly completed but also modern technology, which never stands still, has tobe incorporated into the Armed Forces. Onestep in this direction was the decision to update the medium-sized M 60 A1 battle-tank in the Austrian Armed Forces (first introduced in 1964 and in operation with two tank battalions). lf this were not done then expensive new units would have to have been acquired. The re-equipping order for the M 60 A3 was awarded-hardly surprisingly-to Steyr-Daimler-Puch Spezialfahrzeuge Gesellschaft in Vienna. This is not a matter of minor cosmetic adjustments, but rather of replacing a whole range of essential constructional elements and components. The improved battle-readiness thus achieved is of international standard. The first delivery allocation was recently handed over by the Steyr Director General Dipl.-Ing. Otto Voisard to the Minister of Defence, Dr. Robert Lichal. Thanks for Asking 100,000 Fiat Pandas, the "super boxes", climb around the world with all-wheeldrive components Made in Austria through difficult terrain-three times more than the Fiat headquarters in Turin had expected. Hardly surprising that the ltalians, Germans, French and Japanese are queueing up outside the AII-Wheel-Drive Centre in Graz to acquire the vital components for incorporating into their cars. Because the demand for 4WD cars is undiminished. The keenest Panda purchasers are the ltalians, followed by the French, The Britons and the Swiss. Thal the people in Graz are world champions in the construction of all-wheel-drive transmissions is also proved by the 1st Place in the Rally World Championship. The most attractive reward for the work put into the project is the three-year contract which the Managing-Director of Steyr-Daimler-Puch, DDr Friedrich Laussermaier, was able to sign a few weeks ago with the Fiat Director for International Operations, Dr Lorenzo Cesari. This contract foresees delivery of four-wheel drive transmissions for the transporters and small bus series "Ducato" (which is identical with the Peugeot J 5 and the Citroen C 25). In Graz a new visco-clutch and a completely new rear-axle construction have been built. The co-operation with the Ducato gear-box works is also handled by Steyr. MAGAZINE 43 Years with Puch When the barely 18-year-old electrician Johann Fussi joined Puch in July 1945 the bomb-damaged plant was making iceskates. Now, after years with Puch, Fussi, a highly valued production manager, is leaving an enterprise which has a worldwide reputation in the field of all-wheeldrive technology. Johann Fussi, born in 1928, has not only lived through, but also fashioned fourand-a-half decades of post-war Puch history. As a representative for the Customers Technical Advisory Service he travelled throughout Europe in the '50s from the north of Norway to the south of ltaly. He also undertook three trips to the USA to persuade innocent lawn-mower salesmen about the qualities of Puch motorcycles which were marketed there under the trademark ''Allstar". And even when Fussi was not on the road as an Advisor, he was still not necessarily at harne. He took part in numerous motor-cycle races and Alpine Rallies, such as the famous "6 Days" and so on. Fussi "settled down", so to speak, towards the end of 1962 when he was put in charge of automobile production (Puch 500, Haflinger etc.). From 1970/71 onwards Fussi was Production Manager for the Pinzgauer range; and in recent years he has also been Assistant Head of Production for the Puch/Mercedes "G", and the AII-Wheel Drive VW-Synchro Transporter. 15
16 USER REPORT SDP TOPICAL 1 Love at First Si ht A. L. J. M. van Huet Iives in Zevenaar in Holland and owns a transport firm. The town lies with good traffic connexions about four kilometres from the frontier between Germany and the Netherlands on the densely travelled motorway between Arnhem and the Ruhr District. He has specialised in the transport of glass, a lucrative business when you remember the number of glass-houses !hat there are in Holland alone. The particular aspect: "We are the only ones who can undertake window-glass transport without the expensive packing that is normally necessary", the company chief explains proudly. In addition van Huet operates for a transport firm which specialises in seed-deliveries. Every week to Munich and ltaly, as weil as daily to England. After a test run in winter van In the beginning there was just one Steyr lorry. Now a whole service industry has evolved. Huet bought his first Steyr, an articulated lorry. lt was love at first sight. What impressed the boss particularly: the Steyr lorry has an impressive 310 HP six-cylinder engine which uses a negligible amount of diesel oil. He has sufficient comparative examples: the van Huet stable includes 22 Renaults, Scanias and MANs. With Steyr travelling through Europe-night and day And as things so happened: Out of a single Steyr lorry there has developed a whole Steyr contract-workshop, with an illuminated sign on the street saying: "Steyr Trucks". Van Huet is also quite sure: "The next new acquisition will come from Steyr. But that I will buy myself because I am taking over the sales of these remarkable vehicles!". IMPRESSUM: TOPICAL-The Magazine of Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG Owner, publisher and producer: Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG, Franz-Josefs-Kai 51, A-1010 Vienna Artdirection: Atelier Bolnberger Printers: G. Gistel & Cie. Ges.m.b.H., A-1031 Vienna ,: .. il ni D .c :::, D a, C, ~
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