Thyssenkrupp today made the investment decision to build a new forging line at the Homburg site in Saarland. The company is investing there around

80 million euros in a new production facility for forged front axles for commercial vehicles. Long-term supply contracts with truck manufacturers were concluded. The expansion of thyssenkrupp's existing production site in Homburg, Germany, is the largest single investment in the history of the site.

Dr. Alexander Becker, CEO of the Forged Technologies business unit at thyssenkrupp: "Our customers deliberately chose the Homburg location. They placed their orders there in order to secure a reliable supply of these special components within Europe in times of international customs risks and rising logistics costs. In terms of manufacturing know-how, product quality and delivery reliability, we can use the specific strengths of the Homburg location in international competition. "

For many years now, the plant has been one of the most powerful production sites in thyssenkrupp's global forging business. The site is a market leader in forged crankshafts and supplies customers worldwide from the automotive industry. With the production of front axles for commercial vehicles, the company is opening up a new product and customer segment. These suspension components are independent of the drive and will continue to be needed even with a greater penetration of electromobility in transport.

At the heart of the new highly automated and digitized forging line at the Homburg site is a forging press weighing around ten meters and weighing 1,700 tons with a pressing force of 16,000 tonnes. This equals the weight of around thirty of the largest passenger aircraft available today.

Dr. Franz Eckl, Managing Director of the forging plant in Homburg: "The main press of the new forging line is the first eccentric press that goes into operation worldwide on this scale, with a high output and with this implementation speed. With this unit, we can produce around 360,000 forgings per year. We are not limited to one product. In addition to front axle systems, crankshafts or other forged components can be produced on this forging line as needed. "

Thyssenkrupp has been producing forged components at the Homburg site since 1947. With currently around 750 employees, the plant is one of the biggest employers in the region. The new investment will create around 70 new jobs at thyssenkrupp in Homburg in the coming years. Construction starts on the world's most advanced forging line in early 2020. The new production facility will be built on a total of around 12,000 square meters of space within the existing plant area. The completion and the beginning of the series delivery are planned for the beginning of 2021.

In 2017, thyssenkrupp merged its global forging activities into a new Business Unit within the Components division. The aim of the integration was a more efficient control of the global forging industry as well as the bundling of the added-value competence for the development of new products in existing and new markets. The Forged Technologies business unit is today one of the largest forging companies in the world, with annual sales of more than € 1 billion. The product portfolio includes forged and machined components and systems for the automotive and construction machinery industries as well as for general mechanical engineering. The company operates around 50 forging lines at 17 locations worldwide and has a broad dealer network in more than 70 countries.

www.thyssenkrupp.com

 

Source: thyssenkrupp.com

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