Machine manufacturers Gehring and Wafios are pooling their expertise to offer the global automotive industry complete turnkey production lines for hairpin stators.

The first step towards the new network arrived in November 2020, when the family-run Nagel Group took over machine manufacturer Gehring, which further strengthened its role as a technology partner for electro-mobility production systems. The next important step is intensive co-operation with forming specialist Wafios. Together, Gehring and Wafios will be developing stator assembly lines for important automotive locations worldwide, from initial idea to commissioning.

The co-operation combines Gehring’s decades of experience in designing systems for automotive series production and Wafios’ technological leadership in the field of straightening technology and wire forming, which is particularly important for the production of hairpins.

The low cycle times of high-volume production, in which electric motors are produced in under one minute, is a major challenge for stator production and its very complex wire-bending processes.

Says Tobias Single, head of E-mobility at Wafios: “We have mastered this complexity and can offer efficient, process-capable and futureproof solutions on the solid basis of our existing know-how. In addition, the bending process contributes significantly to quality: anything that we do at the beginning, whether right or wrong, makes the processes further down the line easier or more difficult.”

This is where Wafios comes on board as the right partner for Gehring, because the company’s FMU E bending machine has already proven itself many times over in the small series production of hairpins for the automotive industry.

For further information
www.wafios.com

Automation, increasingly networked machines, and changes in the automotive industry: tube-bending machine manufacturer Schwarze-Robitec is strategically repositioning itself in view of changing market requirements. With Heike Ahlers as head of strategic sales and marketing, and Philipp Knobloch as global sales director, Schwarze-Robitec is entering the future with two experienced sales experts and longstanding employees in new roles.

“In view of Industry 4.0, increasing networking and the trend toward automation, our customer markets are changing at breakneck speed – and with them, our sales process is changing,” explains Ahlers. “The sale of complex and customer-oriented machines and systems needs a high level of customer and market knowledge, and requires a holistic understanding of different customer demands.

Adds Knobloch: “We are aligning ourselves with the market even more than before and want to grow more strongly. Individually configured special machines and customer-specific solution concepts are becoming increasingly important. This is an exciting task for me and my dedicated team.”

Both sales experts have been closely associated with Schwarze-Robitec for years. Ahlers joined the business development department in 2013 and was instrumental in setting up the company’s US subsidiary in 2015. Since 2016, she has been head of sales and marketing. Philipp Knobloch, who joined Schwarze-Robitec in 2014 as junior sales manager, most recently spent four years as sales manager responsible for sales at national and international level.

Managing director Bert Zorn is confident about the future: “With our dedicated sales team headed by two experienced experts, we are well prepared for challenges that arise in our customer markets.”

For further information
www.schwarze-robitec.com

A British-built Unison Breeze all-electric tube bending machine will soon be assisting Milltek Sport Ltd, a manufacturer of performance exhaust systems, in exhaust prototyping and development work at Germany’s world-famous Nürburgring racetrack.

Derbyshire-based Milltek invested in its first Unison Breeze machine, a 76 mm (maximum tube diameter) capability single-stack model, almost 10 years ago. A second Unison Breeze machine, an 80 mm multi-stack tube bender, followed in 2017.

The latest Unison Breeze machine to be purchased by Milltek – an 80 mm single-stack model – will be located at Milltek Sport GmbH, the company’s recently opened €1.5m development and testing centre in Nürburg. It will be used for exhaust system research and development, small production runs for some of the world’s leading high-performance cars, and custom tube manipulation work for several race teams.

As Milltek uses only highly robust T304L stainless steel for its exhaust products, the all-electric Breeze’s ability to successfully complete tight bends in thin-wall tube down to 1D radius, as required for many of today’s high-performance exhaust systems, was a key factor in the purchase decision.

“Investing in this 80 mm Unison Breeze machine will allow us to further expand the capabilities we have on site in Germany, as well as better cater to the growing demand for 80 mm diameter performance exhaust products,” says Milltek Sport’s managing director, Steve Pound. “Whereas, up to now, we’ve sent CAD designs from our German facility to our HQ in Derbyshire for prototyping, we’ll soon be able to design, prototype, trial and then complete batch and small production runs on site at the Nürburgring.”

For further information
www.unisonltd.com