Edition: Mon, 25.01.2021
On the road this week for our house magazine: Jasmin Giger
Do you have suggestions or ideas for a contribution? Send us your suggestions here:
Photo of the week: KYBURZ Fleet in action
For the canton of Valais' winter service vehicles - snow plows, salt spreaders, and snow blowers - it's a big operation this winter. KYBURZ Fleet automatically records driver logs for all vehicles, simplifying operations.
05.02.2021, JAG
Two-arm fork for the KYBURZ DXP
Last Thursday, the first functional sample of the two-arm fork for Australia was mounted on a DXP. The new fork is planned for use on the DXP 5.3 for the Australian Postal Service. It can be used as a two-arm variant, as shown in the photos. With only a few other parts, the same basic design can also be built as a single-arm fork. New features are the fork bridges made of aluminum and the clamped fork legs. This distributes the forces better through the two spars.
The fork was developed by Petr Martinu and designed by Mark Wyss.
Now the fork has to be tested. This week it will be put on the test bench. We'll show you what such a test stand looks like in the in-house newspaper's next issue.
05.02.2021, JAG
Do you have any questions about the two-arm fork? Petr Martinu will be happy to answer them.
In comparison: KYBURZ ePedelec and Bio-Hybrid Passenger DUO
With the trendy design, four suspension wheels, two seats, roof, windshield, and wiper, including windshield washer, Passenger Duo is as comfortable as a small car. It purposefully fulfills the wishes and needs of modern city life.
Our ePedelec is different. Geared to the German postman's needs, our cargo bike satisfies his needs exactly and makes his delivery work much easier. Customized brackets allow the standardized postal containers to be accommodated. These are used to optimize the postal service's logistics chain. Our serial hybrid drive eliminates the need for bicycle chains, toothed belts, pinions, and spoked wheels, thus eliminating recurring maintenance costs. High (load) capacity and long-range allow Deutsche Post to dispense with intermediate storage facilities along the route. Generous space around pedals and saddle, as well as the automatic parking brake, support fast and unhindered access to and from the vehicle.
The two concepts of KYBURZ and Bio-Hybrid could not be more different. And yet the developers at both companies were grappling with the same technical questions: should the rims, generator, transmission, and engine be developed in-house for the best product on the market? We, too, were considering whether to buy the engine control system from scratch and modify it or base it on Curtis' 1000-times-proven product.
04.02.2021, HPE
Do you have questions about the ePedelec? Hans-Peter Erni will be happy to answer them.
Good to know:
One speaks of a serial hybrid drive when the pedal drive exclusively operates a generator whose current is conducted to the motor. Excess energy is temporarily stored in the accumulator (battery).
Avantex - Passion for textile work
Former circus tents become bags and stools.
Avantex in Trimbach near Olten turns circus tents into bags, sews high-temperature insulation for aircraft engines, and supplies canopies and tarpaulins for KYBURZ's postal vehicles. "We produce interesting products for KYBURZ, and we both speak the same direct language," says Daniel Hirschi, managing director of Avantex.
05.02.2021, JAG
Want to learn more about this company? There is a report about it in last year's KYBURZ magazine.
Object of the week: Nord-Lock disc
Vibrations and impacts have an impact on bolted connections, especially in vehicles. To prevent them from coming loose, various methods are used to secure bolts: washers, lock washers, lock nuts, locknuts, adhesives (Loctite), or wedge lock washers.
The Nord-Lock washer (Nord-Lock is the name of the manufacturing company) belongs to the wedge lock washers and actually consists of two washers whose small wedges bite down on the nut or bolt the workpiece when tightened. Since the angle (α) of the wedges between the washers is greater than the thread (β) pitch, the pressure increases and the connection is secured.
Nord-Lock washers are used on all current KYBURZ vehicles. These wheels are each secured with a single nut, and this connection must meet high standards. The connection is very reliable. The nut over the disc is tightened to 85 Nm on the front wheel on the front wheel. A Nord-Lock washer with an integrated nut is used on the rear wheels. It is tightened with 160 Nm.
5.2.2021, DH
| Wheel lock nut (nut-disc combination) | ||
| Dimension: (LxWxH) | 30 x 30 x 15 mm | |
| Weight: | 0.05 kg | |
| Tightening torque: | 160 Nm | |
| Material: | chrome-molybdenum alloyed quenched and tempered steel with zinc flake coating, hardened | |
| Sales price: | CHF 8.50 incl. VAT. | |
If all this is too technical, watch the video linked below. It shows tests with different thread lockers. Watch and be amazed.
The video is in German.
The document is in German.
The latest TECH TALK from and with Martin
Every week an episode from my new video diary TECH TALK will be published. It will be published on our homepage and on YouTube. Become an insider and follow my YouTube channel. You will get interesting insights into the world of KYBURZ.
Financing of the Australia order 2021
We have "Good-News." The financing of the 1000 Australian DXP is secured.
All major orders we place overseas must be financed by our house bank. From the moment we purchase the material until the customer pays for the rankings can take up to 9 months. During this time, we have to pre-finance the purchased material.
But the bank will only do this if it has insurance. The Swiss government created SERV for this very purpose. SERV stands for Swiss Export Risk Insurance.
To get such order as our delivery to Australia insured, many documents have to be prepared: About our company, we have to give detailed information, submit the last financial statements, the exact planning of the delivery and also about our customer we have to submit many documents for the application. They also needed insight into our production costs, annual results, budgets, and cash flow planning.
About such big business, SERV meets only 1x a month. We have to meet strict deadlines. On February 2, SERV's committee decided on our Australia project, and we won the bid.
With this insurance, our house bank gives us credit to produce the DXP. So nothing stands in the way of purchasing the material and assembling all the vehicles. We are happy that all the hard work of preparation has paid off.
03.02.2021, PRR
Do you still have questions about this topic? Then contact Priska Rusterholz.
Pachi - our elephant brain
"If an elephant cub was led to a watering hole in its childhood, it will easily find it again 30 years later." An elephant memory is also our database system. Our "Pachi" also remembers all the data entered. The first of today's more than 50,000 addresses were documented in 1995.
The database program FileMaker was top-rated in the 90s. Martin Kyburz personally created an address database for his still young company with the file name Pachidermes (abbreviated Pachi). Pachidermes is Latin and means pachyderm. Elephants are pachyderms and have a perfect memory.
In the beginning, students of the ETH programmed new modules during their semester breaks. With the increasing scope and more complex functions, professional Filemaker specialists took over the further development.
The Pachi team, Wolfgang Zenz, Rico Meier, Philipp Heim, and Flurin Vicentini, are working on the complete implementation of Pachi 3.0. What started with an address database is now the brain and the skeleton of our company. All departments work with Pachi. Even external service partners maintain vehicle data in Pachi and bill directly through it. The file system has been developed and tailored to KYBURZ to such an extent that replacing it would cost millions.
03.02.2021, DH
Good to know:
For all employees who are occasionally annoyed by the (in their opinion too slow) speed: Elephants are heavy and move slowly, but in over 26 years, we have never complained about a major data loss. The pachyderm is reliable!
Save the date – Circular Economy Symposium 2021
The Circular Economy Symposium last September was a complete success. We received a lot of positive feedback. On Friday, September 3, 2021, we will organize another event in Freienstein.
This time, the theme of the symposium is Meaningful Mobility.
05.02.2021, LIS
You can find more info on the website:
Good to know:
The number of participants is limited. Secure your place now:
Review of the first Circular Economy Symposium on September 4, 2020.
Fleet stores battery data for life
Batteries are the central element of electric vehicles. They determine the range of a vehicle but with their large share of the costs, in fact, also its service life. For this reason, battery manufacturers are increasingly being required to provide a long-term factory warranty of up to 8 years for their products. The manufacturers safeguard themselves and demand proof of proper use in the event of warranty claims. In other words, they require the delivery of battery usage data over the entire service life. This includes charge level, charge cycles, battery temperature, current and voltage curves, and many other technical data.
At KYBURZ, we solve this task with the Fleet system. KYBURZ Fleet has been storing all KYBURZ vehicles' telemetry data with Fleet for life since the beginning of 2020. The amount of data is currently 2 terra bytes of data. Approximately 13 gigabytes are added per day. The information is available online on the Fleet Portal for one year. Afterward, they are stored in the archive and retrieved from there.
If a battery fails prematurely or ages too quickly, we can use the usage data to check whether or not the battery was used properly by the vehicle owner. We can then either reject any warranty claims from the customer or pass the warranty claim on to the battery manufacturer with these facts.
In the future, this technical data can also be used by the development department for statistical evaluations to identify and improve any weak points at an early stage.
05.02.2021, HP
Do you have questions about this topic? Hanspeter Wepfer will be happy to answer them.
New employee at KYBURZ
Last week, on 04.02.21, Pascal Seydoux started his work at KYBURZ. As a mechanic, he supports the KYBURZ team in Western Switzerland. Together with Cédric Leuba and Jad Hafez, this team takes care of all customers in French-speaking Switzerland.
Pascal used to have the company DBS in Geneva. DBS was our service partner and took care of postal vehicles in the Geneva area. As of the end of 2020, the company DBS was closed because the lease contract for the workshop expired, and in addition, Pascal's colleague of many years, Antonio DiBlasi, retired.
We took over Pascal from KYBURZ and were thus able to take over part of DBS's fleet. This fleet will now be serviced directly by KYBURZ.
As our mechanic, Pascal will mainly take care of postal vehicles in Nyon and Geneva. He will do most of the work directly on site. For this, he has an IVECO equipped with all the necessary tools and spare parts.
We wish Pascal a good start, Bienvenue!
5.2.2021, DH
Here you can congratulate Pascal:
Superfood: Roots and tubers
Local root and tuber vegetables are not only trendy, but they are also suitable for our immune system. Turnips, beets, parsnips & co. make meals colorful and healthy and support the body's defense system with their valuable vitamins and minerals. They are low in calories and regionally available in the winter months!
Healthy roots and tubers at a glance
- Kohlrabi
- Parsnip
- Parsley root
- Beetroot
- Salsify
- Celery
- Carrots
- Sweet potatoes
- Radish
- Jerusalem artichoke
- Yacon
The document is in German.
28.01.2021, SL
Never heard of Jerusalem artichoke? The tuberous fruit originates from South America and is now also grown in Switzerland. The slightly nutty to sweet taste is very popular. Jerusalem artichoke can also be eaten raw.
DXP - What is the meaning of this abbreviation?
The "P" in the type designation stands for "Post." The "C" in the DXC stands for "Cargo. But what do "D" and "X" mean?
KYBURZ tricycles were built with DC motors under the name CLASSIC until 2006. Stefan Rittler then designed a CLASSIC with an asynchronous motor as we still use today. These asynchronous motors can also be called three-phase engines. He named the new vehicle CLASSIC D. The "D" stands for the three-phase drive on his design drawings. Since the maximum speed of these vehicles is programmable, he put an "X" as a variable for the full rate: CLASSIC D10 (10km/h), CLASSIC D20 (20 km/h), and so on.
So provisionally, we named the vehicle CLASSIC DX. Since a competition to find a name did not produce any convincing results, we kept it that way. A "P" was added to the new vehicle type for the Swiss Post. At the Swiss Post's request, the DXP was not sold to private customers. Since then, the identical vehicle for non-postal use has been called DXS. "S" for "Special."
05.02.2021, DH
The new location for metalworking machines
The former office of the 2ndLife team is now a small metalworking shop. The previously spread machines in the back of the service department have found a new home.
A mill, a lathe, and the bending machine are located in the small room. The 20-ton press, the band saw, and the warehouse for profiles and bar stock can be found next door in the hall.
For the majority of the employees, it is not possible to do something quickly. The appropriate training must be available. Fast rotating machines and tools can be quite dangerous if not operated properly. Contact Heinz Romer. He looks after the machines.
05.02.2021, DH
MRS Machines + Repair Service
Service partner of KYBURZ
MRS Maschinen + Reparaturservice GmbH has its domicile in Dällikon in the Zurich Furrtal. MRS - these are significantly the brothers Sven and Kai Zumstein with father and coworkers. Flurin Vicentini asked the brothers a few questions.
Flurin Vicentini: How would you describe the company MRS in 3 sentences?
Sven Zumstein:
- MRS is a small, diversified and flexible mechanical repair shop.
- MRS is a family business passed down from father to son. Parents and spouses also work with us. And the kids sometimes get to tag along when there's a lot of work to be done.
- The company is very honest and fair with customers and suppliers, which is also known and appreciated.
Flurin: What distinguishes your company, what is unique about you?
Sven: The company is very versatile and adaptable. Together, we have worked for almost 25 years on an assembly to revive steam and gas power plants worldwide. This assembly work had a significant impact on us, and we were able to experience incredible things and gain exceptional experiences.
Flurin: How long have you been KYBURZ service partners?
Sven: We have been a KYBURZ C-Partner since March 2013 and a KYBURZ B-Service Partner since November 2013.
Flurin: What are your tasks as a service partner?
Sven: Mainly maintenance and repair work. Furthermore, we exchange vehicles, deliver new vehicles or pick up cars no longer needed. The provision and execution of the MFK are also part of our tasks.
Flurin: How do you organize these tasks?
Sven: Our goal is to do as much work as possible directly on site. We have two vehicles specially equipped only for work on KYBURZ vehicles with all the necessary tools and spare parts. We bring the vehicles to our workshop for more extensive mechanical work, such as replacing the fork's upper part or solving complex electronic problems.
Flurin: How many vehicles and which area are you responsible for?
Sven: We are responsible for almost 650 DXPs and PAHs at 19 locations in Zurich and the neighboring Aargau.
Flurin: What do you do when you are not repairing DXPs?
Sven: We also do repairs and maintenance on industrial equipment and motor vehicles. We work for different companies like recycling, concrete production, or supermarkets. Also, there are always smaller special orders for modifications, production of particular parts, welding work, technical translations in English, etc. There are no limits for us.
The document is in German.
Good to know
For a good year now, MRS has also been a service partner for the KYBURZ eRod. They have assembled their own eRod in Embrach. This can be rented in Dällikon.
If we do not have an eRod available for rent, we forward the customers to MRS.
The document is in German.
Cooperation with the translation company "AltaLingua."
For several years we have been working in technical documentation with the professional translation company AltaLingua, specializing in translations in the automotive and mechanical engineering industries for almost 20 years.
We produce all documentation exclusively in German and generally have operating and repair manuals translated into French and English.
On request, we also have them translated into specific national languages, e.g., Finnish or Slovenian. However, the German originals are always considered binding documents.
AltaLingua electronically checks each of our templates and matches the words with previously saved translations so that only new or changed content needs to be translated. Important terms and technical expressions are stored in a glossary and constantly added to so that the translation quality can be improved.
The layout is an important part of the translation process so that the translated words and sentences can be inserted at the right place in the Word.
Despite all this, now and then, there are smaller translations that we do here in our office. This is then always done in French by Eric Nève and his team's service manager. We take care of the small documents' English texts in the technical documentation ourselves.
05.02.2021, OLF
Do you also need a translation? Then contact Oliver Fontana directly.
A day in the life of Stefan Bobst
Erza Mehmeti: How long have you been with KYBURZ?
Stefan Bobst: I have been with KYBURZ for 15 years.
Erza: What are your activities?
Stefan: My activities are mainly selling vehicles, as I work as a mobility consultant. I also perform vehicle demonstrations directly at the customer's site, arrange appointments and schedule them. I talk a lot on the phone with our customers and try to make an appointment with them as soon as possible to be satisfied and look forward to the meeting.
Erza: What is your typical daily routine?
Stefan: My daily routine is never the same. I usually look at my schedule. If I have made an appointment, I arrive on time. I then demonstrate the vehicles there, teach the customer how to drive, address the customer's needs and try to answer any unanswered questions. The same applies when I'm on the phone, where I also have to listen and feel what the customer wants. I also arrange appointments for the delivery of the vehicles.
Erza: What do you like? What do you want less?
Stefan: I don't like anything because I can organize my day myself. That is the most important thing for me when I can decide for myself when I do more or less. I also really like the fact that I have to deal with many different people, so I always have to adjust to people and don't know what to expect. I also particularly like working with my co-workers because I also feel very comfortable.
Erza: What do you like to do in your free time?
Stefan: In my free time, I like to be out in nature, such as in the mountains. But I, as a hunter, am also out hunting a lot. I want to do a lot, such as racing, mountain biking, fishing, Crossfit, downhill biking, and archery.
05.02.2021, ERM
Webshop: Article of the week
Seat cover with anti-slip paint
Stay dry even in the rain with the seat cover for our KYBURZ vehicles. The robust and waterproof seat surface is additionally printed with an anti-slip varnish. This gives you a super grip even in rain and wet conditions. Due to surface tension, the water rolls off directly from the seat. You have the seat cover in just a few seconds, thanks to the elastic mounted. The article is available on our webshop for the special price of CHF 159.- incl. VAT.
27.01.2021, MAR
Test drive days - test different vehicles
I'm sure many people know that we B2C sellers hold regional test drive afternoons throughout the year. These take place at various locations throughout Switzerland. The aim is to allow seniors to get to know the vehicle quietly and take a test drive without being disturbed.
Are you wondering how such contact on-site works? Due to the Covid-19 situation, interested parties have to register by phone. After greeting them at the required distance and wearing protective masks, we discuss the desired vehicle's choice. After the option, we go to the vehicle, which I disinfect directly in front of the prospective customer. After a detailed instruction, we go on the first drive to set "turtle or 1" at a walking pace. This way, I can run along beside the vehicle and give the prospective customer further tips or info. When the prospective customer feels comfortable, I switch the vehicle's speed to 10 km/h. Now the first drive begins without my presence. Of course, I always keep an eye on the whole situation. If the interested party still feels comfortable, I set the vehicle to 20 km/h and then 30 km/h if a passing cat. M is available. This way, the prospective customer quickly and pleasantly gets used to driving and the possible speed. It also avoids unnecessary accidents on the spot, which would immediately cause fear and discomfort towards the customer's vehicle.
After the test drive, I sit down with the prospective customer at a table on-site, and I answer any remaining questions. Maybe there is a sales deal or a binding offer to sleep on.
Of course, the procedure is the same for a prospective customer's personal customer appointment directly on-site at his home.
04.02.2021, TOW
Do you have any questions about the test drive days? Then contact Tobias Wunderli.
You are interested in a test drive?
Comic from the research department
Creative work in the research department. Some new comics were created in the team.
04.02.2021, JAG