Category: Blogs

Over the last 100 years, there have only been five automotive megatrends that have significantly affected our company. The first of these was fuel, the second was hydraulic braking, third was air conditioning, then came reduced emissions, and now there is electrification of the vehicle powertrain.

With electrification coming to the fore, thermal management systems are now in the spotlight. The fluids within vehicles are used to heat or cool the key components that electrify the vehicle – the electric motors, power electronics and the battery. Thermal management is needed to optimize the vehicle for peak performance. For example, a battery functions best when in a narrow temperature range which means that it must be heated or cooled to achieve maximum range and performance.

We’ve been able to adapt our fluid carrying products and our manufacturing assets to meet the thermal management requirements of electric vehicles. Our HVAC team – now known as Thermal  – reacted to the shift to electrification and the opportunities that could come with it long ago, even when gasoline and diesel powertrains were still on the industry’s front burner.

Working closely with our global OEM customers as well as numerous battery manufacturers, we were able to understand where the world’s automotive market was heading. The message was consistent: electrification is going to be the future. Fortunately for us, this was a shift that we could really take advantage of through our product portfolio.

The hybrid electric and battery electric work that we have undertaken over the past several years has all stemmed from the early initiative of our HVAC team. The automotive industry’s journey towards electrification has started and is now accelerating. That’s why we are committing more knowledge and resources to our growing electric vehicle product portfolio. While the market for vehicles powered by internal combustion engines will shrink over time, it will not disappear overnight. So, we will continue to support our customers with market leading gasoline and diesel products as the industry shifts to electric vehicles.

Over the last ten years, our product offering has taken huge strides forward.

The shift from steel to plastic tanks in the late 1990s facilitated this progress, and laid the foundations for our current Fuel Tank and Delivery Systems division. One of our unique competitive advantages has been our capacity to provide OEMs with a complete fuel tank system, and this advantage has now been bolstered by new technology.

In 2009, we won an Automotive News PACE award for our Ship in a Bottle (SIB) tank. The SIB fuel tank changed the way plastic fuel tanks were made. By integrating the fuel system components into the tank via a preassembled carrier, we developed the world’s first plastic PZEV fuel tank.

As revolutionary as our SIB technology was, the 10-inch plastic parison opening that was required meant that it was limited on some applications. So, towards the end of 2013, we showed off our adaptable plastic fuel tank advanced process technology (TAPT) at the tank.tech conference in Munich. The TAPT technology used existing blow molding to separate a pre-formed, blow-molded parison into two halves while a robot inserted the fuel system components into designated areas of the tank assembly. TAPT could operate without size or location limitations.

The first TAPT tank was produced in Rastatt, Germany, and was used by Mercedes-Benz for the 2014 S-Class, a model that is renowned for being a standard-bearer for technology breakthroughs.

TAPT proved to be groundbreaking. It was the first application of our flexible manufacturing process that was designed to solve the integration of components in a traditional powertrain with a complicated saddle-shaped tank. TAPT made it possible to produce multiple types of fuel tanks for all types of powertrain, be it diesel, gasoline, flex-fuel, partial zero-emission vehicles (PZEV), or hybrid. What’s more, this is all possible via a single design blow tooling set.

Importantly, TAPT technology enabled hybrid vehicle manufacturers to accelerate the replacement of steel fuel tanks with plastic ones. Delivering plastic fuel tanks for hybrid-electric vehicles was beginning to set us apart. We were adapting our technology for the future, though even our engineers may not have recognized how quickly those advances would come into play…

World War Two saw American businesses of all types working hard to sustain the country’s war effort, and we were no different. The Allied cause was boosted by the entrance of the U.S. into the conflict following the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, and this plunged America’s automotive factories into war production.

Detroit was the heart, soul and nerve centre of the American industrial war effort. The city’s automotive industry in particular was quick to mobilize, ceasing the production of civilian vehicles and instead working on weapons and vehicles of war. In fact, Detroit businesses produced $30 billion in military hardware by 1945, which was a fifth of all World War Two output in the U.S. This didn’t just involve large firms with big factories like us, either; even small tool-and-die shops were involved in turning out jeeps, tanks, troop transport carriers, bombers, ammunition, electronics, and even helmets.

We certainly played our part in the war effort. 367 of our 3,000 employees went into the service, and our entire manufacturing operation had been converted to war production by 1942. Our tubing products were used in more than 5,000 war applications, including oil and gas lines, brake lines and brake lubrication lines for tens of thousands of Allied vehicles. This, however, was only the start. During the war, we grew. Much of the structure of our Warren and Van Dyke plants took root in the war years, with more equipment, more conveyors, and more employees. Even production was flying at a mile a minute.

The war years were busy, very busy. The growth we experienced was a clear demonstration of our success throughout the period, but it was not our greatest success during these times. The hundreds of brave men that fought overseas were not forgotten and treated simply as employees. Instead, they were given reassurances that their jobs were waiting for them upon their return, and they were regularly kept abreast of the latest company news. On top of this, they were greeted personally by the company’s president, Wendell Anderson, and given a $50 recognition check.

Despite the first half of the ‘40s being a tumultuous period for the entire world, we not only survived, but we thrived.

Any business that wants success and longevity needs to keep moving forward and never stand still. As is the case with life in the wild, it becomes a matter of adapting to survive and thrive. Having been operating for 100 years now, it is safe to say that TI Fluid Systems has found the right formula.

No entity exists for 100 years without having experienced hardship, and there have been numerous periods of great difficulty for automotive manufacturers over the last 100 years. We’ve been through the Great Depression, World War II, the twin oil crises of the 1970s, the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009, and the Covid-19 pandemic. Our key to success has been to tweak our approach where necessary, whilst always retaining the core aspects that make us what we are.

Take the 1990s as an example. What was once The Harry Bundy Company was now a critical part of UK conglomerate, TI Group Ltd. Other acquisitions led to other new partners, meaning that there were several voices of influence impacting the company. Things had changed since Harry Bundy started things up all those years before.

This time around, the challenge was how to react to an era of wholesale change. As part of TI’s response, an age-old concept of Harry Bundy’s was rediscovered: customer orientation. In embracing this approach to put the needs of the customer before the needs of the business, we have ensured our place at the forefront of the automotive industry.

As you can see, things have changed throughout TI Fluid Systems over time. Whilst the company’s name has evolved and ownership has changed hands, the business is, at its core, still the same customer-serving business that Harry Bundy started 100 years ago.

Harry Bundy’s story is one of courage and innovation. For it was courage and innovation that enabled one ambitious man from a small town in Minnesota to put himself on a path to founding a global success story.

Even in the formative years of his career, Harry was driven by a desire to innovate. Working at Diamond Manufacturing and Detroit Steel Products as a young engineer, he saw many of his contemporaries break the mould with their own creations. This helped to fuel and inspire Harry, who harbored big dreams of his own.

Later, in his time at Detroit Steel Products, Harry began to put his experience to the test and develop a creation of his own. His goal? To make a machine that could produce fluid tubing from flat sheet steel for automobile gas and oil lines.

Whilst the tubes Harry Bundy created might seem basic to a modern engineer, he was ahead of his time and his creation was perfect. Perfect in the sense that it couldn’t be improved upon for a long, long time. These tubes could withstand extremely high pressure and high temperatures, as well as bending and vibration. This product has stood the test of time; the tubes have remained virtually unchanged since their creation.

Whilst the product itself is arguably Harry Bundy’s crowning accomplishment, his formation of The Harry Bundy Company – which would one day become TI Fluid Systems – is his legacy. Just like its founder, Harry’s company has constantly looked towards what comes next, right from day one.

From its humble beginnings as a small shop to its current position as a leading global supplier to the world’s largest automotive manufacturers, none of what has been achieved over the last 100 years would have taken place without the courage and ingenuity of Harry Bundy.

New Partner TI Automotive Joins SRT Motorsports as Associate Sponsor for Remainder of 2014

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (July 16, 2014) – TI Automotive will serve as the primary sponsor for the SRT® (Street and Racing Technology) Motorsports No. 91 Dodge Viper SRT GTS-R in the IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship’s Brickyard Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Friday, July 25.

As part of the agreement, TI Automotive, a leading global supplier of automotive fluid systems, will partner with SRT Motorsports as a team associate sponsor for the remainder of the 2014 season.

“TI Automotive is proud to be a partner with the SRT Motorsports team, as it provides us an opportunity to move our technical relationship with SRT engineers from the street to the track,” said Al Deane, chief technology officer for TI Automotive. ‘Our involvement in the series will also introduce TI Automotive to a wider audience by supporting an iconic race car at a truly iconic race track. We look at this sponsorship as fueling our mutual passion for street and racing technology development.”

TI Automotive currently supplies the high-performance fuel pump module system to the production Viper and the recently released Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat. The fuel delivery module system features the Automotive News PACE Award-winning Dual-Channel Single-Stage (DCSS) fuel pump, one of the industry’s highest-performing fuel pumps. This fuel delivery design enables the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat to be the fastest and most powerful muscle car in history with 707 horsepower.

“On behalf of SRT Motorsports, I’d like to welcome TI Automotive to the team as sponsors of the No. 91 Viper SRT GTS-R,” said Ralph Gilles, President and CEO, SRT Motorsports, Chrysler Group LLC. “It’s exciting to see TI Automotive, who is a great partner on the product side, grow to support our Viper racing program and we look forward to working with them as a partner for the remainder of the 2014 season. As part of the sponsorship, a unique livery has been created for the No. 91 Viper to showcase the TI Automotive colors at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.”

In honor of the new partnership, the No. 91 Dodge Viper SRT GTS-R will sport a new livery for the IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship’s Brickyard Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The vehicle will feature a white body with a bold, bright green stripe outlined in dark blue from nose to tail. TI Automotive’s blue-and-green Fluid thinking™ icon will sit atop the roof and on other key points across the vehicle.

“We think the SRT Motorsports group came up with a great look for a race car,” said Deane. “It’s certainly something that our 24,000 employees in 130 worldwide locations will be thrilled to see and cheer for. We look forward to seeing it on the track and in the winner’s circle.”

About TI Automotive

Fluid thinking™ shapes the mindset of TI Automotive. Global automotive manufacturers turn to TI Automotive for insight and focus to develop industry-changing fluid storage, transfer and delivery technology.

Two-thirds of the vehicles produced in the world feature TI Automotive products.

Our strength lies in our ability to creatively meet and exceed the increasing fuel economy and emissions regulations of tomorrow’s auto industry.

About SRT Motorsports

SRT Motorsports has partnered with Riley Technologies, based in Mooresville, N.C., on the design and build of the Dodge Viper GTS-R race cars. Two identical Viper GTS-Rs compete in the production-based GT Le Mans (GTLM) class in the IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, where the various GTLM class entrants share many styling similarities to their showroom brands.

Contact – TI Automotive:

Frank Buscemi, 248-494-5417, fbuscemi@us.tiauto.com

Contacts – BurnsGroup PR for SRT Motorsports:
Adam Saal, 321-890-2848, adam@burnsgrouppr.com
Matthew Simmons, 404-819-5904, matthew@burnsgrouppr.com
Barbara Burns, 770-329-7134, Barbara@burnsgrouppr.com