Spotlight on KYB advanced suspension manufacturing in Europe

Cutting edge manufacturing by industry specialist

Spotlight on KYB advanced suspension manufacturing in Europe

KYB Advanced Manufacturing Spain (KAMS) is at the forefront of specialist high technology shock absorber manufacturing and was built specifically for that purpose.

KAMS is based in Los Arcos, near Pamplona. With investment of over €20m, it was approved in June 2008 and the first production line testing began in August 2009. Full production commenced four months later with the first OE project between KYB and BMW, the supply of front and rear shock absorbers for the new 5 Series. A few months later, supply for PSA and Audi was transferred from KYB’s other Spanish factory KYBSE.

There are 6 production lines and production capacity is currently 1.45 million shock absorbers. KAMS has 184 employees, 145 of those based on the production lines.

The manufacturing process is highly automated – operators start the process by adding the raw components and they are not touched again until they are manually removed from the end of the production line. Then the quality check of the final product is a fully manual process.

The two main types of shock absorber manufactured by KAMS are the REAS and the IDC.

REAS is a damper system that controls vertical vibration and damping force on cornering without electronic devices. It links shock absorbers by a special third shock, which has a floating piston and distributes a damping force on the left or right shock absorber.

The system controls the behaviour of the car during braking, cornering and acceleration to manage weight transfer and minimise body roll. It improves contact between the tyres and the road through balanced tyre forces, improves tyre wear, improves handling and provides better driving safety in critical situations.

KYB’s Intelligent Damping Control (IDC) suspension system is the latest innovative technology developed by KYB and is used on a selection of prestige vehicles. In Europe, it is used by PSA on the Peugeot 508 and on the DS7 under the name DS Active Scan Suspension. It will also feature on the new DS9 to be launched in 2021.

This smart technology analyses the road profile and sends it to the IDC electronic central unit. It works with four height sensors and three accelerometers to measure the vehicle’s reactions including speed, braking and steering angle among others.

The control unit continuously calculates the optimum shock absorber settings to mitigate any irregularity, improving comfort to create a unique and smooth driving experience. It does this via a proportional solenoid valve on each damper which adjusts the inner pressure between the upper and lower chambers, giving individual control of both the compression and rebound on all four wheels.

Testing shows the benefits are especially noticeable in the rear seats, with the scanning system reducing the oscillation which can occur over bumps. This may sound like just improvements in driving comfort, however it will also have a positive effect on safety. Smoother driving means all four wheels will maintain a better contact with the road, allowing for safer steering and braking. A smoother ride will also reduce driver fatigue.

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