FUCHS Holds the 3rd Asia Pacific Tech Day
The third FUCHS Asia Pacific Tech Day was successfully held at FUCHS China headquarters from September 19 to 20, 2023. It was the first offline Tech Day conference since the end of the pandemic, where colleagues from FUCHS headquarters, FUCHS Australia, FUCHS South Korea and FUCHS China gathered to explore and learn from each other, focusing on ways to efficiently achieve strategic goals, advance project implementation and create infinite possibilities.
In his opening speech, Kris Van Gasse, CTO of FUCHS China, stressed that everyone should “work together to achieve development and share success” by confronting challenges head-on, seizing opportunities as they arise and forge ahead in a single direction.
Dr. Timo Reister, Member of the Executive Board, shared via video financial data for the first half of 2023, the Group’s investment deployment and resource optimization plans regarding its sustainability and digitalization strategy, and an analysis of the grim situation and changing risks. FUCHS boosted its sales through price increases in 2023 and in 2024, the Group aims to continue to drive up sales volumes and increase gross margins by working together and moving fast to achieve growth.
Dr. Angelica Marson, Vice President of Global Research & Development, and Joerg Wehrle, Vice President of Global Product and Masterdata Management, shared the initiatives developed by the R&D and product management departments for the realization of the FUCHS2025 strategy from a global perspective. The key is to strengthen technological leadership, focus on the market, conduct differential analysis and expand from a global perspective to regionalization and localization, so as to achieve collaboration and shared growth across global, regional and local levels. During the Q&A session, there was an intense exchange of ideas and insightful discussions on topics such as product complexity, formulation diversity, R&D patents and product development.
Guests invited to this year’s Tech Day included representatives from Sunwoda, GETEC, Eco-Atlas and Fudan University, who shared their unique experiences and insights on energy storage, the EDS market, thermosetting polymers, next-generation liquid cooling technologies for data centers and other related areas, elaborating on the development paths and market changes for these emerging technologies.
Standing at the forefront of digitalization, the FUCHS China IDT team presented the pros and cons along the development through manual operations, automation to artificial intelligence, and pointed out FUCHS China's current position as well as future trends and visions. Right now, several cross-departmental production and technical services applications are underway, including smart services, machine learning and digitalized grease production. Meanwhile, the analytical test team shared the progress and pain points of the lab’s digital platforms LIMS and WORKBENCH.
The introductory talks given by the R&D and PM teams covered product technologies such as shock absorber oil, battery case processing, cavity wax, carbide alloy grinding oil, wind turbine pitch bearing grease, boron nitride grease and PTFE coatings.
The sustainability section delved into recent developments in the localization of dust suppressants, oil production from recycled waste plastics, carbon footprint calculations and liquid production from CO2. As a major force for future development, the new energy team touched on multiple product lines, including hydrogen-fueled engine oil, wet-type electric drive oil, battery thermal management fluid, battery fire protection coatings and NEV motor bearing grease.
Dr. Sebastian Heiner, CTO of FUCHS Group, highlighted the Group’s sustainability challenges and medium/long-term carbon neutrality goals. In particular, Scope 3 carbon emissions from raw materials in the supply chain should be reduced by at least 90 percent by 2040, calling for joint efforts in green sourcing, green raw materials, green logistics and green products.
In his closing remarks, Zhu Qingping, CEO of FUCHS China, mentioned that “We now faces digitalization and sustainability requirements, but it is impossible to accomplish these on its own. It is only when all departments work together to forge ahead that the company can break through and rise above the changes and challenges.”
Klaus Hartig, Executive Vice President East Asia, spoke positively of the Tech Day, saying that “it is a wonderful event, and the technical teams deserve recognition for their expertise and capabilities in their respective areas. The presence of our colleagues from headquarters also fully attests to the support the Group has given us. It is my hope that our teams will work more closely together in the future to coach sales teams on ways to increase customer value and achieve equal returns.”
Technology is the key to winning new customers, an important cornerstone of the growth path defined by the FUCHS2025 strategy and an inexhaustible driving force for FUCHS’s future.