HELLA begins the production of fuel control modules in Lithuania

HELLA Lithuania, which has been operating in Lithuania for more than three years, is starting to produce a fuel control module for German premium original equipment manufacturer. The product will be designed to help reduce the carbon footprint while ensuring more efficient operation of cars. It is planned to produce more than one million of such modules annually.

More than EUR 2 million have been invested

“The production of this module is another important step in expanding HELLA’s activities in the country. This is the second product that will be shipped directly from Lithuania to car manufacturers. It is planned to produce over a million units of these modules every year. The fully automated production line will be operated by operators who manage the automatic final assembly line, and if necessary, we will have the possibility to get help from the engineers who designed the line itself. This project was implemented by project management, production, automation, software and quality engineers as well as other specialists. We have created more than 10 new jobs for the production of this module alone,” says Mantas Skinderis, Head of Launch and Change Management at HELLA Lithuania.

Production of the Fuel control module will take place in three shifts. Advanced technologies will be used in the production process, namely ultrasonic welding, automatic component joining, laser product marking, as well as automatic systems to detect incorrect components and defective parts.

The total investment for the preparation of the production of this fuel management module amounts to more than EUR 2 million. The investment includes new production facilities, raw material production technologies, product development and industrialization.

The fuel control module will be used to control the fuel supply and inform its user about fuel pressure, provide the possibility to monitor the resistance to fuel flow, fuel temperature, the amount of fuel ethanol. It will also protect the fuel pump and provide an error and warning function, based on the sensor of the fuel level.

The use of this product will significantly contribute not only to the reduction of CO₂ emissions, but also to the management of total energy: it will reduce average power consumption by about 40 percent, which will ensure the longevity of system products and reduce fuel consumption by approximately 1 percent per 1 l/100 km.

Market demand and trends are taken into account

According to Mr. Skinderis, the global pandemic has not distracted any attention from the importance of ecology. Both in Europe and in other regions, environmental sustainability is one of the priorities that contributes to nature conservation and the safety of car drivers and passengers. It is noticeable that consumers are looking for cars that emit less pollution and have better fuel consumption. In addition, stricter CO₂ requirements are encouraging car manufacturers to develop more innovative products, such as this module, the market demand of which is already relatively high.

“In order to remain one of the world’s leading supplier of automotive components, HELLA manufactures components for complex energy management systems. They are developed by taking into account the needs of customers in the field of environmental sustainability and electrification – the most relevant trends in the car market related to energy management,” the expert explains.

HELLA Lithuania, after starting the development of this module, will join an extensive international network of fuel control systems, which will consist of: Lithuania, Romania, China, USA and Brazil. Each year, several million different types of fuel system control products will be produced at each location.

HELLA operates in some 35 countries. In September 2018, the company opened a factory in Lithuania, the Free Economic Zone of Kaunas. This is the 14th HELLA electronics component factory in the world. It currently has 190 employees. In November 2020, the company announced plans to invest tens of millions of euros in development of the company and create 250 new jobs over the next few years.