Germany-based Gedia Automotive Group has been developing and manufacturing cold-formed body and chassis parts for the car industry for over 50 years. In order to meet growing demand for structural parts with low weight and high crashworthiness, the company decided to invest in the latest press-hardening technology from AP&T.

“Gedia wanted to find a partner that could offer market-leading production solutions as well as help develop the company’s press-hardening expertise,” says AP&T’s general manager in Germany, Michael Hunger. “Since the very start, we have worked together to achieve the high level of flexibility, availability and quality that Gedia and its customers want to attain.”
To date, AP&T has installed three complete press hardening lines at Gedia’s facilities in Germany and Poland. Among other things, the equipment includes the latest generation of AP&T’s Multi-Layer Furnace (MLF) and press-hardening tools. The lines are equipped with a sensor-based system that gives full control over the heating and cooling process, which is decisive in terms of ensuring each part obtains the exact properties and quality that are desired. Advanced process monitoring enables the high demands on quality imposed by car manufacturers and, for example, the CQI-9 standard to be met.
A high degree of flexibility and scalability are important to Gedia. AP&T’s MLF is said to enable optimised capacity utilisation. More layers can be used if production increases; if it decreases, heating can be limited to fewer levels, which also saves energy.
For further information www.aptgroup.com