German gearbox maker faces closure

CRC orders train manufacturers to stop using Voith products

Germany-based mechanical engineering company Voith GmbH, a gear unit supplier for China's high-speed trains, faces the risk of production halt in China due to a technical problem with its product, the China Business News (CBN) reported on Monday, citing sources.

Due to flaws in Voith's new models of gear units including gearbox cracks and other technical problems, China Railway Corporation (CRC), a spinoff of the now defunct Ministry of Railways, has asked train manufacturers to stop using Voith's products, and the company's factory in Shanghai has also been temporarily shut down for rectification, the CBN reported.

Voith China was not available for comment on Monday.

Gear unit is the key transmission device and its breakdown can affect the speed of the train and bring it to a halt, but will not have catastrophic consequences, Wang Mengshu, chief engineer of China Railway Tunnel Group, told the Global Times on Monday.

The problematic gearbox is mainly installed on high-speed CRH 380BL trains made by China CNR Corp, one of the top train makers in China, and the train maker is replacing Voith's parts with products of other manufacturers, the CBN cited an unidentified executive of China CNR Corp as saying.

"We have demanded Voith to solve the gearbox problems within three months, and enhanced detection on possible flaws during maintenance," the China CNR Corp executive was quoted by the newspaper as saying.

Since June 2012, a total of 45 cases of gearbox cracks were detected with Voith's gear units on high-speed trains running between Beijing and Shanghai, Wuhan and Guangzhou as well as Harbin and Dalian.

As required by the railway authorities, China CNR Corp had installed a new model of Voith's gear units on the railway cars since early this year. However, at least three more new cases of overheating gearboxes were reported.

The railway authorities' punishment for Voith is severe this time, and a halt of Voith's supply will have a negative impact on the railway car making and delivery, the newspaper cited another unidentified bullet train manufacturer as saying.

The potential impact on the railway car maker so far remains unknown. Both CRC and China CNR Corp were not available to comment on this matter.

Currently, gearbox manufacturing in China mainly relies on foreign technologies and especially German technologies, with Voith, Flender and ZF Friedrichshafen AG being the major market players, Wang Xin, global partner and China managing director of consulting firm Frost & Sullivan, told the Global Times Monday.

"But in the future, the authorities will tend to support the use of domestic products," Wang said.

For the new deliveries of railway compartments, China CNR has replaced Voith's gearbox with Flender's products, and plans to add ZF Friedrichshafen AG onto its supplier list, the CBN reported.

Chinese bullet train makers are expediting local gearbox manufacturing.

CSR Qishuyan Institute Co, a subsidiary of CSR Corp, another railway car maker, has developed its own gear units for high-speed trains, and passed the testing of CRC in May, indicating that the domestic products are likely to soon start replacing foreign brands.