September 19 was a grand night for Freudenberg Sealing Technologies (FST). The company’s DIAvent Highflow Pressure Equalization Element was honored as one of the 30 best automotive innovations of 2022 by an independent panel of industry experts who evaluated the significance and performance of the part in a months-long process as part of the Automotive News PACE Innovation Award competition.
DIAvent Highflow had already been making inroads with global automotive customers, who viewed the compact component as a significant solution to the issue of thermal runaway in electric vehicle batteries. Still, the September 19 celebration helped solidify its reputation as a true innovation and served as a dazzling coming-out party, of sorts. The black-tie event was held at the Max M. and Marjorie Fisher Music Center in Detroit, USA, a sleek glass and steel entertainment venue that shelters a gilded heart – the completely restored,103-year-old, Detroit landmark known as Orchestra Hall.
Key Innovations Recognized
The PACE Innovation Award highlights superior innovation, technological advancement, and business performance among automotive suppliers. Judged by an independent panel of technologists, the competition is globally recognized as the industry benchmark for innovation. Each year, suppliers are invited to enter their newest technology breakthroughs in the competition.
“The PACE program recognizes key innovations, accepted by the market, which drive our customers forward,” said Matthew Chapman, Freudenberg Sealing Technologies’ President of Automotive Sales. “With this award, DIAvent is now fully established as a market-leading innovation for battery venting and pressure management.”
Freudenberg Sealing Technologies’ DIAvent Highflow Pressure Equalization Element was one of 30 technologies identified during the 2022 PACE competition process as truly innovative and exceptional. Approximately 200 projects were submitted for consideration by global automotive suppliers who contribute to every aspect of the vehicle industry. This year, BEVs and their technologies were a strong focus of the competition.
Landing a finalist slot in the PACE competition is an achievement in itself. A team of company employees worked collaboratively to submit an in-depth technical application. Once the company was identified as a PACE finalist, it was required to host an all-day virtual plant tour for judges that included numerous executive presentations, a video of the Reichelsheim production facility, and extensive question and answer sessions.
“Innovating together was key at the beginning of our journey,” said Daniel Uhl, Marketing Manager for the Diaphragm Lead Center in Reichelsheim, Germany. “We successfully worked with five different groups within Freudenberg to make DIAvent Highflow a reality.”
Freudenberg Performance Materials helped develop a high-performance breathing element for DIAvent Highflow, Uhl pointed out. Freudenberg Technology and Innovation helped optimize material flow using CFD calculations and climate tests. SurTec performed salt spray corrosion testing. And within Freudenberg Sealing Technologies itself, Uhl added, a team developed the rubber umbrella critical to component’s unique reversible function while the Lead Center IPS helped manufacture the plastic components in the DIAvent housing. The O-ring Division developed a new O-ring to seal the housing.
Importantly, Uhl said, the entire Reichelsheim facility has undergone a dramatic transition during the past five years to support DIAvent Highflow. The plant opened its scope of business beyond making pure rubber parts.
“With DIAvent, the Lead Center evolved from a sole component supplier to a supplier of a safety relevant, functional venting unit,” Uhl said. “This brought us up the ladder in the value chain and exposed us to completely new challenges.” Those challenges included establishing fully automated assembly lines and ultra-sonic welding, designing end-of-line tests to verify products prior to shipment and guaranteeing the function of a multi-functional valve rather than just meeting the specs of a simple rubber part.
The willingness of the Reichelsheim employees to adapt to these new products and processes was impressive, Uhl said. “We had never done such things before, and we became experts in the shortest time imaginable and convinced our customers of our new competencies.”
And so DIAvent Highflow’s PACE honors are not only a recognition of cutting-edge innovation that provides a superior customer solution in the fast-moving realm of BEVs. It is also a recognition of the thousands of hours of employees’ collaboration and hard work.
