Review 2017

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Supplier Innovation Challenge 2017

On November 21st 2017 the first Magna Powertrain Supplier Innovation award was handed over in Steyr/Austria. An Innovation Challenge where our suppliers were asked to share their ideas about products, processes and technologies regarding the powertrain, started ten months earlier.

These ideas were pre-evaluated by selected technical experts and finally judged by a management team. The finalists presented their ideas on the Supplier Innovation Day with an exhibition at the Engineering Center in St. Valentin. Many local employees took the opportunity to inform themselves about the innovations of our supplier selection. At the following evening event, the three most innovative ideas were presented and awarded. The winner received the Supplier Innovation Award 2017.

Due to the great success of the first edition, the Supplier Innovation Challenge will be continued in 2018. In the next challenge we will include new categories, as well as we will address our global supplier base. The submission phase will start at the beginning of April 2018.

The focus of this years challenge is not only on Conventional Powertrain Technologies, but also on Electrification. Magna Powertrain is excellently positioned to determine the future of mobility concepts. For this reason, we implemented the third category Science Fiction Thinking - Automotive Reality.

This category shall emphasis our role as a progressive and innovative company, and shall motivate our suppliers to share their inventive, novel ideas and concepts at a very early stage with us.

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1st Place
SOLVAY Polymers

A new design for magnet wires has been released together with our partner Furukawa (FMGW). For this invention, an extruded insulation layer made of PEEK was developed to allow engineers the use of high voltage traction motor designs.

2nd Place
KACO GmbH + Co.KG

The KACO Shaft Grounding Component prevents bearing damage by safely discharging the electrical voltage from the rotating shaft to the housing.

3rd Place
Hirschvogel Automotive Group

Transmission components with forged parking gear.