TROY, MI – The growing demand for technical expertise to help with the development and integration of complex systems into today’s vehicles is changing the way engineering specialist EDAG does business.
Founded in 1969 in Germany, EDAG celebrates 25 years in the U.S. with a move into a new 22,000-sq.-ft. (2,045-sq.-m) office space here that will allow the company to build on its strong connections to the auto industry.
EDAG provides engineering know-how to more than 40 automakers, suppliers and other customers on everything from vehicle development to project management to manufacturing.
“Our mission is to solve complex engineering problems,” says Jan Schulte, CEO of EDAG USA. “Our success results out of focusing on the needs of our clients and reinventing the tools and processes in the industry. We develop, with our clients, innovative products and focus also on the continuous improvement of their production line.”
Schulte (left) says competing demands on automakers to develop autonomous, electrified and specialized mobility solutions mean OEMs must lean on their suppliers, like EDAG, to handle more of the development and integration work.
In the past, for instance, automakers kept much of the development work related to internal-combustion engines in-house, while today’s electrified propulsion systems demand more involvement from outside engineering firms and startups, Schulte notes.
As a result, EDAG is more closely involved in understanding the customer, whether that’s an OEM, another supplier or, ultimately, the buyer of the vehicle.
“Now we’re more into higher responsibility levels, with the capability of an OEM, running the process from start to finish” with EDAG managing entire projects in addition to handling the required engineering work, Schulte tells Wards on the sidelines of the company’s anniversary celebration.
The move into the Troy, MI, office also allows the company to bring together engineers from a previously disparate unit, CKGP/PW – a manufacturing and paint process engineering firm EDAG acquired in 2017 – in the same location with EDAG staff. The office will accommodate about 200 employees.
“Since joining forces with EDAG two years ago, we have been able to expand and improve the expertise that we provide to our customers and have become a unified team,” says Phil Stevens, CEO of CKGP/PW. “Now, we are looking forward to even better teamwork as we begin to work out of a single location.”
