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ALUMINIUM: 2Business and NetworkInterview with Hans-Joachim Erbel,CEO of ALUMINIUM organiser ReedExhibitions Deutschland GmbH

European aluminium semis 12industry in 2017/2018: Upturn continuesEuropean demand for semi-finishedaluminium products is expected to clearly exceed the eight-million-tonnemark in 2017, expects Dr Andreas Postler, Head of Economics and Statistics,GDA Gesamtverband der Aluminiumindustrie, Düsseldorf

nexcast: the next generation 16aluminium minimill SMS group, in cooperation with theAmerican aluminium producer Golden Aluminum Inc., is advancingthe process of aluminium strip casting to make it future-viable in terms of quality and efficiency.

Aluvation is in the starting blocks 26Aluvation Technology Center PaderbornGmbH, the new technology company,offers a complete package for the heattreatment of aluminium automotivecomponents: process development,equipment supply, data acquisition anddata processing.

SHOW NEWSPAPERKICK-OFF EDITIONpowered by and for the global aluminium industry

ALUMINIUM 2018:New topics tomeet the future

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Global production of alu-minium has reached a recordhigh level; the energy transi-tion and the transport sectorare driving demand for lightmetals. The precise trajectorymight vary from country tocountry, but all around theworld, the industry is makingnew investments to gear upfor an economy that contin-ues to boom. This positivemood is felt as well at theALUMINIUM World Trade Fair– even with a year still to gobefore it opens its doors inDüsseldorf.

F rom 9 to 11 October 2018,the Exhibition Centre onthe Rhine will again be-

come the global marketplaceof the industry. Global players,specialists and young innovativecompanies dominate the pictureacross six exhibition halls, whereALUMINIUM will cover theindustry’s complete range –from aluminium production tomachines and plants for pro-cessing to finished goods andrecycling.

The exhibition area will growto 80,000 square metres, morethan 80 per cent of which is al-ready booked. “A clear indica-tion of the current momentumin the aluminium industry”,says Olaf Freier, ALUMINIUM’sevent director. “We’re confidentwe’ll crack the 1,000-exhibitormark at the upcoming event.”

New topics: Digitalisation and environmental protection Special exhibits like the Inno-vation Areas are aimed at pro-viding better orientation for vi -

sitors from user segments suchas automotive engineering,aerospace and the constructionsector. The well-known themepavilions will serve as points ofcontact to lead visitors throughthe exhibition halls, which willbe structured by topic.

The new special area “DigitalManufacturing” demonstratesthat the aluminium industrylong ago arrived in the digitalage. “The future of the industryis digital – and that applies tothe aluminium industry, as well.Our aim with the new exhibitionarea is to show the kinds of

pro ductivity benefits we can al-ready achieve today by deployinghigh-performance IT solutions”,says Olaf Freier.

Another new exhibition areadubbed “Environmental Engi-neering” will cover water treat-ment, air filtration systems andoil/oil mist vacuuming systems– and show how the aluminiumindustry is leading the way whenit comes to emerging topicssuch as energy and resourceconservation in one’s own pro-duction chain.

Technical education pro-gramme to deliver industryand science know-how ALUMINIUM is much morethan just the world’s most im-portant trading hub of the in-dustry: expert presenters fromindustry and science at theALUMINIUM 2018 Conferenceand the ALUMINIUM Forumwill discuss the principles, trendsand innovations of the alumini-

Continued on Page 3 5

Some 1,000 exhibitors from 50 nations will be on hand at ALUMINIUM trade fair 2018

Facts and figuresDates:

9 – 11 October 2018

Venue:Messe Düsseldorf, Halls 9 – 14

Stockumer Kirchstraße 61, D-40474 Düsseldorf

Exhibition Centre entrances:North and East Entrances

Opening hours:For exhibitors: 9 – 11 October 2018: 8:00 am – 7:00 pmFor visitors: 9 – 11 October 2018: 9:00 am – 6:00 pm

Information and registrationwww.aluminium-messe.com

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Special Edition 2017

50,000 visitors and

2.000 exhibitorsattend the ALUMINIUM trade fairs in Germany, China, India, Dubai, Brazil and the USA

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Immediately finding the rightbusiness partner will nowbe easier than ever beforeat ALUMINIUM. The newmatchmaking tool will serveto perfectly match exhibitorsand visitors – before theshow even starts.

T he new networking instru-ment makes it possible tofilter all trade fair partici-

pants according to require-ment – for example by coun-try, topic or trade fair nomen-

clature. This helps exhibitorsand visitors to quickly locatecontacts that are important fortheir companies and to set upappointments to meet at thetrade fair.

And here’s how it works:The platform will go online insummer of 2018. At that time,exhibitors and already-registe-red trade visitors will be ableto register free of charge and,with just a few clicks, createtheir own profiles. They’ll then

receive a list of recommendedcontacts that match their pro-files. They can also browse theprofiles of all other partici-pants and send enquiries di-rectly to contacts of interest.If both sides agree, an appoint-ment can be set up – either atthe exhibitor’s stand or in theALUMINIUM MatchmakingLounge, which is reserved ex-clusively for these meetings.

www.aluminium-messe.com

Three questions for Hans-Joachim Erbel, CEO of ALUMINIUM organiserReed Exhibitions Deutschland GmbH

APR: Mr. Erbel, since its in-ception in 1997 ALUMINIUM has developed into the globalmarquee event of the industry.What two words would you useto describe today’s ALUMINI-UM?Hans-Joachim Erbel: Businessand network hit the nail on thehead. ALUMINIUM is rightfullycalled the global marketplaceof the industry. Visitors cameto the 2016 trade fair with a

total procurement volume of€7.4 billion. But ALUMINIUMis much more than just a busi-ness event: it’s a worldwide net-work which today benefits theentire aluminium industry –with a central meeting place inDüsseldorf and, by now, fivesatellites in the most importantaluminium regions of the world.As the organiser, we increasinglysee ourselves in the role of “re-lationship broker” for the entirealuminium industry. We aim tomake this networking charactereven more visible in 2018.

APR: How are you planningon doing that?

Hans-Joachim Erbel: Visitorscan already take advantage ofour online services via the tradefair website or the ALUMINI-UM app to optimally preparefor the event by searching forspecific products in the exhibi-tors’ directories or for expertsin the supporting programme.But our matchmaking platformwill make things even more tar-geted in future: the digital co-operation tool enables exhibitorsand visitors to put out theirfeelers and establish contactswith each other before the eventeven starts. Who’ll be attendingthe trade fair? Who can answermy questions? Who can I part-

ner with to implement new ideas?By answering these questions,we support both sides and createeven better matches betweenexhibitors and visitors at ALU-MINIUM.

APR: The trade fair has been afixture on the schedule of visitorsfrom the aluminium processchain for years. But how areyou intending to pique the in-terest of new users, especiallyfrom application areas such asthe automotive industry andthe construction sector?

Hans-Joachim Erbel: We’ll makeour visitor outreach even more

targeted in future. Plus, we’llbetter coordinate the variousformats – including the forumwith its expert lectures, themedguided tours and special areas– with specific application areas,thus creating a tailored pro-gramme for visitors. We’ll leaveno doubt: ALUMINIUM is thetrade fair where exhibitors andvisitors drive innovation andbusiness together.

www.aluminium-messe.com

ALUMINIUM: Business and Network

Matchmaking: Making it even easier to get new business contacts

Hans-Joachim Erbel, CEO of ALUMINIUM organiser Reed Exhibitions Deutschland GmbH

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um sector. Organised again bythe GDA, the umbrella associ-ation of the German Aluminiumindustry, the ALUMINIUM2018 Conference will focus onthe material’s future prospects.Exhibitors at the ALUMINIUMForum will present their latestsolutions and technologies forthe aluminium industry andapplication areas.

All roads lead to DüsseldorfMore than 25,000 trade visitorsfrom 100 countries are expectedto attend ALUMINIUM 2018.Boasting a 60 per cent share ofvisitors from abroad, ALUMINI-UM is among the trade fairswith the highest level of inter-nationality worldwide. The 20per cent share of foreign visitorsfrom overseas was remarkablyhigh at the last event – a gaugeof ALUMINIUM’s worldwiderelevance.

www.aluminium-messe.com

Welding and Joining Pavilion:

Machinery and equipment for the welding, joining, separating and coating of aluminium (Hall 9)

Foundry Pavilion:

Aluminium solutions from a single mould (Hall 10)

Digital Manufacturing:

Engineering software & systems, cloud services (Hall 10)

Environmental Engineering:

Water treatment, air filtration systems and oil/oil mist vacuuming systems (Hall 10)

Primary Pavilion:

Systems & equipment for aluminium extraction (Hall 11)

Recycling Pavilion:

Sustainability, climate protection, resources efficiency (Hall 11)

WGM Pavilion:

Aluminium and metal trading forum; supported by the German Association for the Wholesale of Semi-Finished Metal Products

(Wirtschaftsverband Großhandel Metallhalbzeug e.V.) (Hall 11)

Competence Centre Surface Technology:

Design meets functionality – surface treatments of aluminium (Hall 12)

Magnesium Area:

Integrative area promoting the material (Hall 10)

Theme Pavilions Topics covered in the exhibition halls

Continued from Page 1 5

Hall 9:

Metalworking and processing, welding and joining

Hall 10:

Casting, heat treatment, furnace technology, digital manufacturing, environmental technology

Hall 11:

Primary production, recycling

Hall 12:

Surface treatment, semi-finished products

Hall 13:

Semi-finished products (key focus: rolling)

Hall 14:

Semi-finished products (key focus: extrusion)

There are not many aroundwho doubt that 2018 will be a good year for aluminium. Regardless, how strong the world eco-nomy is going to be, therewill be a further increasing demand for aluminium. The reason is colourful –green, very green.

Host industries have tomake their productslighter and lighter to ful-

fil all their obligations to cutdown on carbon-emissions.That means – for example –that aircraft, railway wagons,trucks and passenger carshave to become lighter. Inmost cases the best and eco-nomically only viable choiceis aluminium. Carbon fibrenowadays is simply still tooexpensive for ordinary appli-ances. But replacing steel byaluminium wherever possiblehelps to lower weight and re-duces emissions.

However, aluminium can-not only help to make theworld’s traffic and transportgreener and greener by in-creasing the volumes beingshipped to the industries ma-nufacturing transport equip-ment. Another area in needof more aluminium are allthe various big and small in-dustries doing their bit to im-prove air quality. In most We-stern European countries airquality is still acceptable, alt-hough in some cities like Lon-

don, Paris or Rome peoplehave their problems. They tryto fight back with congestioncharges or banning non-elec-tric cars from inner cities. Butthe biggest problem exists inChina. Air quality has so muchdeteriorated over the yearsthat people in major centreslike Beijing and Shanghai oftenhave to wear masks when wal-king the streets. China neededhuge quantities of electricenergy to fuel its industrial re-volution. The power plantswere mostly fed by coal inmajor parts of the country.All their emissions increasedair pollution. Together withthe emissions of refining andsmelting metals in outdatedindustrial plants created theterrible smog. But this has al-ready changed a lot. Since theold and now new Chinesepresident Xi Jinping startedhis reign in 2012 China hasbecome world leader in solarenergy as well as wind powerplants. Xi is adamant to con-tinue on his course: The coun-try has to build more andnew electric grids, more nu-clear power plants, more newrailway lines and to proceedwith new industrial plants. InChina all that will not onlyincrease the demand for alu-minium, but increase the al-ready existing pressure fromBeijing, not to export alumi-nium purely as a metal but ifat all, as an aluminium productlike foil. China, now the world’s

biggest consumer as well asthe largest aluminium produ-cer, has got some of the mostmodern low emission alumi-nium smelters. But the pro-blem is to shut down theolder ones.

The worldwide increasingdemand for aluminium showsin the price trend for the metalat the world’s largest metalexchange, the LME (LondonMetal exchange). Furthermore,the aluminium stocks in theLME accredited warehousesare falling. Between September2013 und March 2014 up tomore than 5.5 million tonesof aluminium were ware -housed. At the end of October2017 these warehouses con-tained just 1.2 million tons orslightly more than 20 percentof the previous record level.Although the current bull mar-ket in aluminium is the resultof a myriad of factors, themost important contributionto higher prices has been Chi-na’s serious attempt to addresspollution. A continuation ofproduction cuts to combatpoor air quality by out-phasingolder aluminium smelters andsteel works will keep a bidunder the metals and lead toeven higher prices.

Matthew Chamberlain,who only in Spring 2017 hasbecome Chief Executive ofthe now 140 years old LME,sees no signs for the high alu-minium-demand running outof steam, on the contrary, he

says: “We plan to launch acash-settled alumina contractto complement the LME’sprimary aluminium pricingand to allow for greater riskmanagement along the metalsvalue chain.” Immediately afterbecoming CEO, Chamberlainhas started working on whathe describes as “vision of thefuture” of the LME. But hedid not just formulate thisconcept at his desk. Insteadhe talked to the members ofthe exchange, to traders, theircustomers and financial inve-stors.

Chamberlain’s vision is ina good position to bear fruitsince the demand for alumi-nium as well as some othermetals is very strong and theUSDollar exchange rates arerather weak. What the markethas to offer will be visible atthe Aluminum 2018 in Düs-seldorf, the worldwide leadingtrade fair and conference foraluminium. Slightly more thantwo decades ago, Reed Exhi-bitions started developing thisinternational aluminium fair,which became a huge successas is visible now in Düsseldorf.New mega trends like additivemanufacturing and the trendto e-mobility will find muchinterest - as will ways to reduceenergy consumption and tomake more economical useof the limited resources ofour planet.

Dr. Katharina Otzen-Odrich

Author: Dr. Katharina-Otzen-Odrich, APR London correspondent

Definitely a very green future for aluminium

i

Aphorism for a grasp of the actual situation by Bruno G. Rüttimann

Never before in history havepolarised ideologies so influenced the world’s

economy as much as now. Nev-er before have the potentialconsequences been so far-reaching as they are now. Neverbefore have there been so manyeclectic options on the agenda.In these stressful times the alu-minium industry is not immunefrom the effects.According to the OECD worldeconomic growth is likely toamount to 3.5 % in 2017. In thisregional differences can bepointed to, which contribute tointernational tensions. Despitethe promised positive effects ofglobalisation without bound-aries – with all its potential neg-ative consequences – it is pre-cisely for this reason that moreand more national protectionistmeasures for the protection ofdomestic industrial interests areon the agenda. Very many fac-tors influence the world-politi-cal events in a globally inter-linked world that has becomemuch more transparent owingto the multiple communicationchannels available. Of them all,to appreciate the position main-ly three factors have to be takeninto account:

• Firstly: a subtly differentiatedgeo-political constellation withnationalistic tendencies,

• Secondly: various competition-distorting factors such as costsand dumping, and

• Thirdly: economic-political po -wer of technological pro gress.

The western economic systemof America-Europe-Japan, char-acterised in the 1980s by theso-called “triad” competition,has mutated in recent years intoa bipolar economic system, adivision characterised by ad-vanced (mature) and new, emer-gent economies. Today an eco-nomically mature and at thesame time high-cost, but inno-vative (as well as decadent) west-ern production system, such asthe “new” western social-capi-talistic-technological economicsub-system, has to be set againsta Chinese-dominated oppositepole with massive productioncapacities. Today China ac-counts for more than 50% ofsteel and aluminium produc-tion and for a 20% proportionof the world’s population. Withonly slight exaggeration, it canbe said “China against the restof the world”. In this new stressfield (here, “new” means sincearound 15 years) China has notonly contributed decisively toworld economic growth, i.e.economies other than its ownhave benefited, but China hasalso redefined the rules of com-petition. Besides the exploita-tion of any remaining cost ad-vantages, and backed by unfairsubsidies resembling dumping,in the coming decade a neweconomic-political starting-point will emerge: As an-nounced at this year’s ChineseCommunist Party Conference,China aims to achieve techno-logical leadership by 2025.

Whether that will be achieved,remains to be seen. The tech-nological leadership aspired tomeans that China wants to be-come a “fully paid-up member”of the “club of advancedeconomies”. Will that have anyeffect on the bipolar competi-tion system? Hardly any at all,because other emergingeconomies will occupy the for-mer position of the low-costcompetitor and will also travelalong the maturity-growth curve.

Let us now consider roughly thecharacteristic developments ofthe macro-economic regions.

America: In the so-called Landof Free Trade (that was the gov-ernment’s credo before Trump)protective tariffs levied since2010 against Chinese imports of

extruded aluminium productsare still in force after Chineseimports in 2010 reached morethan 200 kt, which led to theclosure of dozens of Americanextrusion plants. After the intro-duction of import tariffs this sit-uation has meanwhile nor-malised, and the American ex-trusion industry has recoveredits dynamic. Meanwhile, howev-er, the same paradigm is playingitself out in the rolling sector: in2016 American rolled-productimports from China reachedaround 350 kt and it is only amatter of time before similar im-port tariffs will be imposed onrolled products too in order toprotect the domestic industry. Itis only the flourishing prospectsowing to technological advancesin aluminium rolled sheets,paired with the weight-reducing

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The aluminium industry under stress due to a new economic and political world order

Bruno G. Rüttimann

demands in the automotive sec-tor and new, dedicated rollingplant capacities, which for thetime being will disguise suchpotential outcomes.

Europe: The winner in the Eu-rozone is certainly Germany,since Germany has understoodthat it must overcome its costdisadvantages by virtue of in-novation. The losers in Europeare the other major Europeaneconomies, since they have notunderstood that old nationalmonetary systems originallykept competitive by devaluation,should be replaced by a newindustry system transformed byindustrial advances. In this thealuminium industry is no ex-ception. Even though in Europethe nationalistic economic as-pirations are less stridently pro-claimed than in Trump’s Amer-ica, Brexit is hardly going to bea solution for the UK sincenowadays the world economyrepresents the marketplace; theEurozone alone certainly hasthe critical size for taking up alarge part of the trade in goodsof a national economy. With animport trade volume of around7000 billion USD, Europe isthe largest regional market.

China: For two decades Chinahas achieved rapid economicgrowth and has also becomethe engine for the world econ-omy as a whole. China has notonly built up production capac-ities for its domestic market, buthas also profitably exported itssurplus capacities. We do notwish here to go into the issueof subsidised exports. These sur-plus capacities will not be athreat to the world economy solong as the domestic market inChina is still growing, and thatshould not be a problem for

some years since rural areas stillhave much need to update theirinfrastructure. Slower economicgrowth, but at a volume of12,000 billion USD (that is theGDP in China), is still very largecompared with the absolute fig-ures for the European countries.The problem will only becomeacute if the Chinese economyever shows zero growth. TheChinese political regime maythen want to maintain overca-pacities by export-promotingmeasures, in order to avoid in-ternal political social problems.By its continued efforts towardtechnological leadership, Chinais preparing itself to deal withits dwindling cost advantages.

In the future “new” Club ofTechnologically Leading Coun-tries, with China added, thefight will be “at arm’s length”;note well that the bipolar eco-nomic system of “advanced vs.emerging” will last for sometime. For the western world thismeans that nothing will changein the existing business model,except that in the technologysector new rivalry will grow. Andwhat will that mean for the alu-minium industry?

The aluminium industry hasvarious critical success factorswithin the value chain, whichcorrespond to the structuralconditions of the individual val-ue creation stages. Clear cost

leadership on the raw-material-determined upstream side andclear differentiation in the so-lution-determined applicationsector on the downstream side.In addition, market-related lo-gistical aspects come into play,which are determined by thecharacteristics of the product:raw metal, semifabricate, com-ponents or finished product.The upstream side will becomemore concentrated and willutilise scale effects in countrieswith favourable energy sources;it is important to secure rawmaterial sources by financialparticipation (or other forms ofinvolvement). The downstreamside will continue to have adominant regional importanceand to maintain the work con-tent in the technologically pro-ductive regions concerned. Weshould not forget: technologicalleadership also means main-taining the productive dimen-sion. And accordingly, in the fu-ture too the semis industry willhave to play a regionally impor-tant part. This will involve bothSME and MNE. The recogni-tion of rational industrial logicis decisive for survival in aneclectic business environment.

One thing is certain: nothing isas permanent as change. Busi-ness models that are successfultoday must continually be re-viewed and adapted, becausethe environment is changing too.

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Hofmann Wärmetechnik ofHellmonsödt, Austria, canlook back on a long history in plant engineering and construction. It has been developing and constructingfurnaces and plants for practically all aspects of heat treatment since 1946. It celebrated its 70thanniversary last year.

The company offers innova-tive solutions in the fieldof heat treatment. It is fle-

xible in the way it deals with itsclients and strives to find thebest possible solution in coope-ration with them. Clients are in-volved comprehensively in thedevelopment and design of theirplants. This allows Hofmann toaddress clients’ specific needsand requirements and thus pro-vides them with support to op-timise the heat treatment andthe whole process cycle.

All Hofmann furnaces andplants are designed and builtwith conviction in Austria. Inthis way, the company ensuresthat all expertise remains withinthe company and is thus at thedisposal of its clients.

The company was foundedin 1946 by Herbert Hofmann.Hermann Gründl took over thebusiness in 1974 and expandedits Linz location. In 1994, Hof-mann built the world’s largestage-hardening furnace for alu-minium with a usable volumeof 2 x 650 m3. Aluminium pro-files up to 65 metres long couldbe loaded into the furnace di-rectly from the extrusion press.During this period, the compa-ny also successfully developedother furnace types. Aluminiumextrusion was now a growth

market; besides age-hardeningfurnaces, heating the toolingalso became an issue, and soonnitriding furnaces were added.

In 1999, Wolfgang Nieder-länder took over the manage-ment of the company. From thebeginning he looked for newchallenges for Hofmann. Thecar industry had long sincechanged over to using alumini-um alloys for the engine. Thisbecame yet another milestonein Hofmann’s company philo-sophy. Then in 2005 the com-pany entered the furnace mar-ket for heating aircraft parts. The specific challenge here wasparts of the landing flaps of the Airbus A380 because thismeant more stringent qualityrequirements mechanically andabove all in control technology.This period, saw an increase instaff working in the technicalfield.

In recent years, the companyhas specialised in the field ofheat treatment for aluminiumor steel parts. The new companypremises in Hellmonsödt, whe-re the product building was ex-tended by 600 m2 to 7,500 m2

in 2008, offers adequate space

for additional developmentsteps. Clients include compa-nies from the automotive andaviation industries as well assmall and medium-sized busi-nesses in the field of heat treat-ment.

In 2011 the car industry ap-proached Hofmann with newrequirements: chassis parts hadto made from aluminium in -stead of steel. The reason wasto save weight in this area. Con-ventional batch furnaces couldno longer be used because thecapacity requirements wereenormous. A continuous-furna-ce concept had to be imple-mented and this has been mar-keted successfully since then. In2013, the factory was once againtoo small and a new facility hadto be erected. Successful entryinto the Chinese market follo-wed in 2015 and in the com-pany’s anniversary year, 2016,this was followed by the USmarket.

Hofmann WärmetechnikHall 10, Stand E30/23

www.hofmann-waermetechnik.at

Author:Dr. Bruno G. Rüttimann has been in the aluminiumindustry for 20 years as an expert in the fields ofglobalisation, strategy and Lean Production. Today he islecturer at ETH Zürich, and a consultant at Inspire AG, atechnology transfer institute of the ETHZ.E-mail: brunoruettimann@bluewin.ch

Efficiency in thermal engineering

Continuous furnace

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Since the industrial produc-tion of continuously rolledaluminum strips to foils,Kampf Schneid- und Wickeltechnik develops future- oriented machines for the manufacturing andconverting process.

Rolling and processing offoil from roll to roll startedmore than 100 years ago

with a patent application fromMessrs Neher, Lauber andGmür in Switzerland. A fewyears later, the industrial pro-duction of continuously rolledaluminum strips into foils andtheir further processing started.

The Erwin Kampf Maschi-nenfabrik, founded in Wiehl in1920, had already establisheditself with slitting and windingmachines for the paper industryand quickly became a supplierfor the emerging aluminum foilmanufacturers. Kampf’s instal -led machines were already doc-umented in the early 1930s, forexample in the various plantsof Robert Victor Neher inSwitzerland and in Singen. Withits aluminum slitting and wind-ing machines, the companyKampf has always been deci-sively involved in all develop-ment stages of production rightfrom the start.

Modern rolling technologymore and more produced thin-ner and wider foils, coil diame-ter and weights grew and ever

higher machine speeds led toa constantly increasing produc-tivity of the manufacturing pro-cesses.

In the mid-1980s, for exam-ple, Kampf supplied the firstDuplomat and Sepamat ma-chines for off-line doubling andseparation of foils with a widthof more than 2,000  mm toVAW, today Hydro Aluminumin Grevenbroich. The process-ing of the wide foils with a re-duced foil thickness of only 6µm created many new require-ments.

Particularly for the rewindsection of the separators newdevelopments became neces-sary. This included the contactpressure control with so-calledair-over hydraulic cylinders, thevertical lift-off unwind with acombined center-surface-driveand optimum, short distancesbetween the rolls and the inte-grated handling systems forloading and unloading the ma-chines.

The Sepamat 10, the resultof these developments, suit-

able for separating the dou-ble-rolled foils still sets thestandard for quality, reliabilityand productivity in the pro-duction of thinnest foils withwinding diameters of 1,000mm and 1,200 mm.

Only some 15 years later,another film producer instal -led 2000 mm lines – of courseagain with Kampf-Duplomatand Kampf-Sepamat finishingmachines.

However, the trend towardswide foils has not yet been ac-cepted as a standard for the foilproduction and is still the ex-ception. Most new plants aredesigned for widths between1,600 mm and 1,900 mm. How-ever, if large production rollsare to be achieved with weightsof more than 3,000 kg or moreper winding level, these produc-tion lines also benefit from thedevelopments of the Sepamat10 from Kampf.

Most produced foils with athickness of less than 0.02 mmare now standard products andare mainly used in the produc-

tion of different packaging foils.One trend has existed for

many years – the reduction offoil thickness – this constantlydemands further developmentof foil technologies. If a foil ofe.g. 6.5 µm can be replaced bya foil with the same propertiesbut a thickness of only 6.0 µ, amaterial saving of almost 10%can be achieved. Foils of 5.0 µand less are already used inelectronic components today.

For the winding of these thinand sensitive foils, very sensitivedrives are used in the machinesof Kampf. Separating machinesof the type Sepamat 8 areequipped with two motors perwinding level for these applica-tions. A small, low-power motorthat is capable of developing acontrolled material tension ofonly a few Newtons when it isstarted, as well as a larger motorthat will only provide its powerif more torque is required bythe increasing weight of thewound roll. With the Sepamat8, it is thus possible to reliablywind the thinnest foils even on

winding shafts with a diameterof 76 mm, but also to producefinished rolls of 850 mm.

In the last few years, theKampf Sepamat 8 is the mostfrequently sold separating ma-chine. With a maximum rewinddiameter of 850 mm and work-ing widths of up to 1,900 mm,this machine is decisively in-volved in a trend which has alsoprevailed particularly in Chinesefoil production – right-sized so-lutions.

The rapidly growing Chinesemarket with continued invest-ments in so-called ‘greenfieldplants’ for the production offoils is of great importance forthe European machine manu-facturers. With almost one hun-dred machines at Chineseplants of foil manufacturers andprocessors, over fifty percent ofthose in the last ten years,Kampf has met the require-ments and convinced with tech-nology and service.

Now, the innovative ma-chine manufacturer focuses onthe networked production of

the future. Each machine al-ready produces quite a lot im-portant information. In addi-tion, there is an enormousamount of data from inspectionsystems such as pinhole detec-tors and surface inspections.However, the information thatcan be derived from this is sofar only rarely evaluated andused for an improvement in themachine’s performance andthus for the overall production.For the processing and analysisof large amounts of data inmodern production plants,terms such as Industry 4.0 andBig Data are filled with contentand life in recent years.

With the Converting 4.0 pro-ject, Kampf has already begunto apply these ideas on slittingand winding machines morethan two years ago. With the newproduct the@vanced, Kampf de-velops an integrative softwareplatform which enables the dataand information from the pro-cess sequences of the slittingmachine to be evaluated anddisplayed at any time and at anyplace. Furthermore, the@vancedoffers the possibility to connectintegrated components as wellas upstream and downstreamequipment to monitor and an-alyze the entire process data. Inaddition, the operator is provid-ed with a tool for planningmaintenance and productionwith the complete machine doc-umentation. The@vanced hasattracted great attention and fur-thermore received an innovationaward. The view into the futureremains extremely exciting forthe Kampf developers!

KAMPF Schneid- und Wickeltechnik

Hall 13, Stand J40www.kampf.de

Always a step ahead: Kampf trend setting within the foil production

Screenshot of user interface of the@vanced platform

Kampf machines type Sepamat in operation

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www.sms-group.com

LEADING PARTNERIN THE WORLD

OF METALSSMS group is your leading partner in the world of

metals. As a family-owned business headquartered

in Germany, quality and innovation are in our

DNA. Fast and flexible, we develop individual and

modular solutions – whether it’s the design of a

new plant, Modernization, Digitalization, or Life

Cycle Services. In close Collaboration with you,

we help you ensure your success. Let’s add value

along the entire value chain, together.

Leading partner in the world of metals

For more than ten years nowextrutec GmbH, located at the Lake Constance, has distinguished itself with tech-nological innovations for thealuminium extrusion industry.The product range coversgive-in magazines via equip-ment for the transport, clean-ing, heating and sawing oflogs to profile cooling, dieheaters and ageing ovens.The reference list is too longto be listed here.

Gas-fired log/billet heatersare one important main-stay of the company. The

furnaces are characterized byburner technology where asmuch billet surface as possibleis impinged by the hot gases.In general, extrutec’s highest pri-ority is to ensure maximum en-ergy efficiency during the heat-ing process – in view of the fur-nace design as well as the pre-heating magazine which usesthe hot exhaust gases from thegas heater.

A few years ago extrutec andIAS, meanwhile part of the SMSgroup, took the technical worldby surprise with the so-termed‘in-line furnace concept’, inwhich the gas and inductionfurnaces are not arranged inparallel but directly one afterthe other. With this concept logheating is largely carried out us-ing cheap energy in the gas fur-nace. After passing the log on-ward in accordance with thepress cycle, the zone of theeventual billet length is heatedto the desired, final temperaturein the directly following induc-tion furnace, which produces

an exact temperature profileover the length of the billet.

As regards the cutting of bil-lets, extrutec favours the use ofhot saws instead of hot shears.“The investment costs with asaw are better and sawn billetends can be used substantiallymore advantageously in the ex-trusion process,” says extrutec’smanaging partner Uwe Günter.Today, the handling of swarf andchips when using saws is noproblem anymore thanks tomodern swarf presses and anappropriate briquetting for theremelting process. extrutec alsooffers technical solutions for se-

lectively collecting swarf and bil-let discards of high-value alloys.

In the profile cooling con-text extrutec focuses on the in-tensive cooling of high-valueand special profiles of the typeused increasingly in automo-biles and aviation. “Such pro-files usually have asymmetricalcross-sections which tend towarp when rapidly cooled. Toprevent that we have developedsolutions which eliminate theproblem directly at the run-outafter the extrusion press,” hestresses. Immediately behindthe press the contour of theprofiles is stabilized by selectivemetering of the cooling wateramounts, and only after that isthe extreme cooling applied toproduce the desired metallur-gical properties.

A further development by ex-trutec relates to the simulationof equipment adjustments. Withreference to the profile geome-try the nozzle array is alreadypreset so that as soon as a pro-file moves into the cooling zoneit encounters optimum flowconditions. First applicationshave already been implementedat HMT in Germany and Thöniin Austria.

In view of the ever-stricterquality demands for many pro-files extrutec sets great store bythe construction and control ofageing furnaces. The metallur-gical properties of high-gradeprofiles have to be absolutelyreproducible, which means thatthe temperature in the furnacehas to be maintained over theentire cross-section of a chargewith an accuracy of ±3° K. Overthe whole length of a profile,

the strength values also have tobe absolutely constant. That canonly be achieved when the tem-perature distribution of the fur-nace atmosphere is absolutelyhomogeneous. This entails buil -ding transversely ventilated age-ing furnaces. In view of the con-trol system, extrutec offers an au-tomation package which enablesthe ageing process to be linkedto the Level-3 plant control sys-tem.

As regards die heating fur-naces, extrutec focuses on thehigh-tech sector as well. Lastyear the company commis-sioned a fully automated die

furnace in overhead arrange-ment at a Japanese customer.In this case too the temperaturedistribution in the furnace mustbe reproducible and absolutelyuniform, which is achieved withoptimized flow technology.

extrutec regards itself wellpositioned for the future. Therequirement for demandingprofiles will continue to in-crease and a growing numberof extrusion plants will have toincrease productivity to staycompetitive. These develop-ments call for sophisticatedplant technology to meet therequirements for product qual-

ity, efficient process technologyand energy efficiency. At thesame time plant technology hasto be robust and inexpensivewith high availability. “For us atextrutec this means that we arenot planning to make any con-cessions in the mechanics andour core competences of burnertechnology and drive systems.But we do see an approach tosimplification in the areas of au-tomation, interlinking and pro-cess visualization,” says Günter.

extrutecHall 10, Stand G55

www.extrutec-gmbh.de 

In the profile cooling context extrutec focuses on the intensive cooling of high-value and special profiles of the type used increasingly in automobiles and aviation

Billet cross transfer

extrutec – setting trends with equipment for extrusion plants

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Kampf Schneid- und Wickeltechnik GmbH & Co. KG | fon +49 2262 81-346 | aluminium@kampf.de | www.kampf.de

Unial seriesHigh performance slitters for hard rolled

and soft annealed aluminium foils

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www.voa.de

Die Stimme der Branchein Wirtschaft, Politik und Medien

Interessenvertretung und Netzwerkder Oberflächenveredelungs-Industrie

Der Motor für technisches Know-how

Treffen Sie uns am VOA Standauf der ALUMINIUM 2018!

Der VOA ist Generallizenznehmer internationaler Qualitätszeichen:

reliability of Mecal products is guaranteed by an advancedengineering and design depart-ment staffed by dynamic andhighly qualified personnel. Thepresence of a dedicated, full-time, in-house engineering anddesign department represents akey added value for MECAL’scustomers.

The activity-leading team hasalways tuned and calibrated theproduction progress accordingto the continuous and suddenevolutions of the market, reply-ing effectively and offering prod-ucts and solutions able to meetthe requests and requirementsof the players in the faceted andcomplex scenario of aluminiumapplications.

The 5-axis, double mitre sawTDC 622 Edgemaster and the5-axis machining centre MC302 Geos MDT fully expressthis production vision: two high-

end products perfectly embody-ing this strategical driver.

Double mitre saw TDC 622 Edgemaster The double mitre saw for com-bined cuts is characterised byhigh cutting capacity and ut-most flexibility which enablesto switch between machiningtypes in very short times, thusoptimising the production cycle.The machine is based on a 5-axis system controlled by brush-less servomotors. The blades arelubricated by a spray mist sys-tem. The profile locking systemsare movable with automaticmovement related to the angu-lar positions of the cutting units.The technological developmentof the TDC 622 Edgemasterhas been greatly spurred by theworld of aluminium profiles, al-ways looking for larger and larg-er section to extend their appli-

cations: the operators must havemachines able to section largesizes switching between profilesin the shortest possible time,still guaranteeing excellencequality standards. TDC 622Edgemaster enables all this.

Machining centre MC 302 Geos MDT The 5-axis machining centreMC 302 Geos MDT is charac-terised by extremely high ma-chining capacity and, as in thecase of the mitre saw, utmostversatility: the 18-position, rotarytool magazine is on the ma-chine movable post and en-ables to reduce significantly thetransition times between differ-ent machining types. The ma-chining centre is equipped witha cutting module (MDT) de-vised to machine profiles com-pletely, including the extrudedbar sectioning and facing. The

Machining centres, mitresaws, accessory machinesbesides solutions for thehandling and assembly makeup Mecal wide catalogue,characterised by very hightechnological standards asguarantee of performance excellence. Mecal is a successful company well- established internationally inthe field of aluminium andlight alloy machining: thewhole range of machinesand systems dedicated to the machining of aluminium,PVC and light alloy profileshas been designed and developed in Frascarolo,Pavia, for forty years.

T he whole cycle of productdevelopment, from designto final production, takes

place inside the factories thanksto an articulated companystructure which is fully equip -ped in every sector of the pro-duction activity. The activity andthe know-how are applied fromraw materials to the productionof the finished product, withoutany outsourcing: compliancewith the Excellence That Worksprotocol is thus guaranteed. Thesuperb quality, functionality and

use of digital electronics enablesto apply fibre optic for the datatransmission, which guaranteeshigh speed and total absenceof interferences due to externalfactors. The motorised vices forlocking the piece are indepen-dent and can be simultaneouslypositioned in very short timesalso during the machining cy-cle, to speed up production andto guarantee high accuracy stan-dards of the finished product.Profile cross sections up to 550x 380 mm with lengths depend-ing on the underframe size of7.800 – 13.990 mm can be ma-chined. With the pendularmode the machining times arereally very reduced; however,the user software is the biggestadvantage. From 3D machiningdrawings can be generated withfew “clicks” complete machin-ing programs, which again makethe user’s operation of the Geosconsiderably easier.

Mecal Hall 9, Stand E40www.mecal.com

Double mitre saw TDC 622 Edgemaster

Machining centre MC 302 Geos MDT

Mecal: The Excellence in the machining of aluminium profiles with Mecal

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ecal

Trade-showedition

A luminium Praxis willagain be the officialGerman-language

trade-show newspaper atthe 12th ALUMINIUMfair in 2018 – just as it hasbeen at every ALUMI -NIUM since 2002. Thetrade-show edition willhave a much larger printrun than usual and will bedistributed to all visitorsto ALUMINIUM 2018. Itwill have over 50 pagesand report extensively on exhibitors, the latesttrends, innovative pro -ducts and services.

Aluminium Praxis’ edi -torial staff will be on handto conduct backgrounddiscussions during the fair.Alwin Schmitt, its editor-in-chief, and his colleagueVolker Karow from Alumi -nium International Jour-nal will be talking to read-ers on all three days of thefair. Please contact us ifyou have any questions orsuggestions.

Staff from Giesel-Ver-lag’s sales and advertisingdepartments will also beon hand to welcome visi-tors, discuss matters withthem and, of course, offerthem the one or othercool refreshing drink.

www.giesel.dei

€7,4 billion was the procurement volume at last year’s ALUMINIUM

9

H E A T T R E A T M E N T 4.0

WWW.ALUVAT ION.COM

ATC ALUVATION Technology Center Paderborn GmbH

OUR SERVICES

metallography

tensile tests

hardness tests

micrography

geometry measurements (optical and tactile)

temperature distribution measurements / control

predevelopment of process parameters

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

heat treatment T5, T6 und T7 quenching media: air, water, polymer

stress relief heat treatment, recrystallization annealingstabilization annealing, soft annealing

aluminium alloys / casting alloys / wrought alloys

range of temperature: 80 to 570 degrees Celsiusdimensions: 5.400 x 1.700 x 1.700 mmmaximum weight per part: 6 tons

HEAT TREATMENT development, construction and manufacturing of charge carriers

optimization and implementation for serial processes

production start-ups

process monitoring

data handling and data archiving

SERIAL PROCESSES AND IoT

The activities of Tenova LOI Thermprocess for the aluminium industry focus on the heat technological application and processes in customers’ plants.

During the fair ALUMI -NIUM 2016 the widerange of furnaces for the

heat treatment of semi-finishedproducts and structural com-ponents as well as plants for re-cycling and casting were exhi-bited. The consultations mainlydealt with the question how tofurther increase the efficiencyof heat technological applica-tions by process modificationor optimization in customers’furnace plants.

Tenova LOI Thermprocessoffers complete installations in-cluding scrap charging, recy-cling furnace, casting furnace

and control system for the cast-ing process. Our company sup-plies foundries and manufactu-rers of semi-finished productswith heat treatment process sys -tems for cast and forged partsto be used in the automotiveindustry. In case of rolling millsour offer comprises technolo-

gies and systems for homoge-nization, intermediate and finalannealing of strips and foils. Te-nova LOI Thermprocess coversalmost the entire range of ther-mal process technology in theprocess cycle of continuouscasting, mould casting, trans-forming and recycling.

Due to the wide range ofplants and processes, produc-tivity advantages can be assurednot only for every single processstep, but additionally for theoverall plant integration.

Aluminium Secondary MetallurgyAn example of the optimizedsingle process step is the conti-nuously further enhanced two-chamber melting furnace TCFwhich features a high energy ef-ficiency and sets benchmarksfor environmental aspects. Con-taminated scrap can be chargedwithout pre-treatment. The in-tegrated waste gas treatment al-lows for a safe and efficientcombustion of contaminants.The recycling furnace is equip-ped with a regenerator systemwhich features a high heat re-covery from the furnace waste

gas. Moreover, the LOI-regene-rator system ensures the quickwaste gas cooling which is in-dispensable for environmentalcompatibility. Due to the lowerwaste gas temperature down -stream the regenerator the invest -ment costs for the filter systemare reduced, whereas its effi-ciency is increased. The recy-cling technology of Tenova LOIThermprocess TCF is success-fully applied throughout theworld and actually producesabout 3,400 t/day liquid metalfrom scrap metal.

Aluminium Heat TreatmentThe heat treatment lines for va-rious cast and forged structuralcomponents to be used in theautomotive industry guaranteesafe parts and vehicles to thefinal consumer. The continuous

enhancement of actual processand the increasing implemen-tation of heating and compo-nent-specific cooling processesin automated lines are essentialfeatures which offer decisivecompetitive advantages to thecustomers.

Prospect of ALUMINIUM 2018Significant productivity benefitsare already achieved by the ac-tual heat technological processoptimizations and furnace plantintegrations. Considering the in-creasing networking related toIndustrie 4.0 further huge de-velopment leaps are expected.

LOI Thermprocess Hall 10, Stand G13www.tenova.com

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Heat Technological Process Optimizations and Furnace Plant Integrations in Aluminium Recycling and Heat Treatment Processes Author: Hermann J. Meyer, LOI Thermprocess GmbH, Essen, Germany

Two-chamber melting furnace TCF, Tenova LOI Thermprocess

Phot

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OI T

herm

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ess

10

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Vortrag:6. Dezember 201713.15 - 14.00 Uhr

HOFMANN Wärmetechnik GmbHGewerbezeile 7, 4202 Hellmonsödt, AustriaTel.: +43 (0) 7215 / 3601-0

E-Mail: offi ce@hofmann-waermetechnik.at

IHR SPEZIALIST IN SACHEN WÄRMEBEHANDLUNG

spread over the furnace width(continuous furnace). The mea-surements can be taken in aloaded or unloaded furnace.

The traditional method tomeasure temperatures in a con-tinuous furnace is to use longthermocouples which are at-tached to a product or sampleand then trailed through thefurnace. The downside is thatproduction has to be stoppedor shortened and in a partiallyloaded furnace, the results donot show the real productionconditions. It is also advisableto use shorter thermocouples,as this reduces the cost for eachmeasurement and the risk ofpotential magnetic and electri-cal interference.

PhoenixTM has developedthe ideal tools to meet the re-quirements of CQI-9 andAMS2750E: the HTS01 andHTS06 temperature profilingand surveying systems. The sys-tem travels through the furnace(including water or air quench-ing if applicable) and  mea-sures  the temperatures  at upto 20 points either on the prod-uct or at specific locations with-in the furnace. The system caneasily be placed on the produc-tion line with the products,causing far less disruption than'trailing thermocouples'. Thiswill give a more accurate pictureof the true product temperatureas the furnace loading is lessaffected. Data collection can belargely automated, saving timeand the PhoenixTM system iseasy to use even for inexperi-enced operators. When design-ing the system thought must begiven to whether the system it-self will have an effect on theprocess. For example when“Hot Box” systems are used inthe aluminium brazing industry(radiators, condensers, etc.) (Fig-ure 4), there is a possibility thatoxygen may leak into the nitro-gen furnace atmosphere duringthe process, and affect the brazequality. To prevent this, beforedelivery to the end user, the“Hot Box” system undergoes amild heat treatment processwhere air is extracted from theinsulation under vaccum, thenback filled with nitrogen.

The new generation ofPTM1-200 data loggers fulfil the requirements of CQI-9 3rd edition and AMS2750E. Theyrecord the complete furnacetemperature profile at all mea-surement points and if required

can even transmit data in realtime to a PC outside the fur-nace. Zigbee technology allowsthe use of wireless repeaters andtwo-way communications to en-sure reliable data transfer. ThePhoenixTM “Thermal ViewSurvey” software is designed tosurvey furnaces according toAMS2750 requirements andproduce survey reports quicklyand efficiently. It features Ther-mocouple and Data logger Cor-rection Factors, user definedTUS levels and Tolerances,View Frame analysis, OvershootSearch, Data Import / Exportand a printed AMS2750 report.

Unique to this market,PhoenixTM  has launched“Thermal View Mobile” soft-ware for Android devices. Acompatible smartphone ortablet can now be used to pro-gram and operate the data log-ger and analyse the data. Com-patibility via Bluetooth makesthis even smarter. With oneclick data can be transferred toa computer.

With the benefit of recurringmeasurements, disruptions or

nonconforming production caneasily be detected, analysed andsolved. This brings processesnot only to a better quality stan-dard but makes them also moreefficient and transparent.

Temperature profiling in the aluminum industry

PhoenixTM Temperature Measuring System

Measuring prepared at product basket

The third edition of CQI-9 in-troduced new requirementsto the aluminium heat treat-ment industry.

Changes include tightermeasures controlling themethods and frequency of

checks on furnace processesand equipment. CQI-9 requiresquarterly temperature uniformi-ty testing of the furnaces andan accuracy check on all regu-latory thermocouples (for de-tails see CQI-9 3rd edition –Source AIAG)

During a uniformity surveythe furnace is set to pre-definedtemperatures and sensors arelocated in each corner of thefurnace (batch furnace) or

PhoenixTM Hall 10, Stand H17

www.phoenixtm.de

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USE RESOURCES EFFICIENTLY.USE ALUMINIUM.

Gesamtverband der Aluminiumindustrie e. V. | Am Bonneshof 5 | 40474 Düsseldorf | Tel.: +49 211 4796-0 | information@aluinfo.de | www.aluinfo.de

SO LIGHT YET EXTREMELY EFFICIENT:ALUMINIUM CAN BE RECYCLEDTIME AND TIME AGAIN

Recycling aluminium scrap

makes an important contribu-

tion to using resources prudently,

intelligently and economically.

The energy needed for recycling

is only 5 % of the energy originally

required to extract the metal from

its ore. And products that benefi t

from aluminium’s lightness save

even more energy during their

service lives.

> www.aluinfo.de

Based on the previous success of PCD drill type „PS“during burr and delaminationfree machining of fibre composites – also in combi-nation with aluminium – so-called stacks components– Lach Diamant developedthe PCD drill type „PS-plus“.

PS-plus drills show highesteffi ciency and quality for adiameter range of 2.5 up to

12 mm and time savings up to75 %. A long tool life makes PS-plus drills the ideal choicefor maximum machine utiliza-tion and unmanned shifts.

The trouble-free use of thesePCD drills normally saves 2-3previously necessary work steps,such as pre-drilling/drilling ofpilot holes, drilling and evenreaming when aiming for burr-free quality up to h6. Optimalchip removal is guaranteed viaMQL or coolants. For drill dia-meters over 5.0 mm, PS-plusdrills will be delivered with in-ternal cooling.

PS-plus drills are designedfor maximum cutting speedsand feeds and therefore gua-rantee shortest cycle times. PCDdrills type PS-plus are super fasttools for serial production anddrilling into solid material, e. g.

for all aluminium or die-casthousing components, extrudedor drawn parts, aluminium tur-ning parts and in general for allpinhole, thread and core drillingfrom 2.5 to 12 mm. Of coursePS-plus is also available as stepdrill tool.

Moreover, type PS-plus PCDdrills are ideal for aluminiumand fibre composite compo-nents in today’s automobile andaircraft manufacturing industries.

www.lach-diamant.de

Spiral PCD Drill “PS-plus”

Lach Diamant PCD drill type PS-plus

Aluminium specialist Hammerer Aluminium Industries (HAI), based inthe Upper Austrian town of Rans hofen, has secured full capacity utilisation for several years to come with major new orders from the automotive andrail vehicle industries.

New orders received –amounting to morethan 200 million euros

– in addition to our ongoingbusiness mean that our pro-duction halls will be workingto capacity until 2020," re-ports Rob van Gils, CEO ofHAI.

"Despite the adverse con-ditions faced after the finan-cial crisis along with difficul-ties in the solar industry, we'vedone our homework well inrecent years. The acquisitionof plants in Germany, our fo-cus on the highest productquality, and the expansion ofproduction capacity are nowpaying dividends," explainsRob van Gils.

"With more than 1000 em-ployees, we have risen to be-come a reliable and success-ful partner throughout Euro -pe in the field of lightweightaluminium construction. Thepositive order situation meansthat we need even more skil-led staff. As a family-ownedbusiness, we can consistentlypursue our development stra-tegy of healthy and resolutegrowth over the long term.

Additional orders of over 200million euros bring HammererAluminium Industries full capacity utilisation until 2020

Bodyshell for the Wuppertal overhead railway

CEO Rob van Gils

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AI

iThis is an outstanding pro-spect for new employees!"says Rob van Gils, addressingthe opportunities in person-nel development.

Automotive heading at high speed towardselectromobilityThe transition in the automo-tive industry away from com-bustion engines and towardselectromobility is taking placeat high speed. "With our light-weight solutions, we are a professional and attractivepartner for the transition inthe automotive industry. HAI produces for all the leading automotive brands in Europe.Together with our customers,we are acting swiftly, profes-sionally and above all inno-vatively to continuously fur -ther develop and expand theproduct range," says Rob vanGils, explaining the compa-ny's recipe for success.

Hammerer Aluminium In-dustries employs 1,100 people.Founded in 2007 with itsheadquarters in the UpperAustrian town of Ranshofen,the company is family-owned,so it can act completely in-dependently of external in -vestors. In its three productiondivisions of Casting, Extrusionand Processing, HAI registe-red sales of around 425 mil-lion euros in 2016.

Hammerer Aluminium Hall 14, Stand F40

www.hai-aluminium.com

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European demand for semi-finished aluminium productsis expected to clearly exceedthe eight-million-tonne markin 2017. The industry is alsooptimistic about the pro-spects for 2018 and is hopingfor a further increase in de-mand. The reason for this po-sitive market sentiment is thecontinued good level of acti-vity in industry and the buil-ding and construction sector.

In this paper, aluminium semis(excluding conductor material)are sub-divided into two fields,

rolled products and extrusions,because there are marked dif-ferences between these industrialsectors. The extrusion industryis characterised by mainly smalland medium-sized enterprisesand an atomistic market struc-ture. Its main products are pro-files, rod and bar and tube. Incontrast, the rolling sector isdominated by integrated con-cerns and its market structuretends to be characterised by anoligopoly. Its products are over0.2 mm thick – so-called rolledsemis (thinner material falls intothe foil category).

European demand for aluminium semisIn 2009, the year of the crisis,European demand for alumi-nium semis was 6.2 milliontonnes (see Figure 1). Sincethen, demand has increased bysome 2.1 million tonnes andthis year will almost reach 8.3million tonnes. Demand is thusalso once again well above the

level of 2008. Demand for rolledproducts has increased moredynamically than has been thecase with extrusions. This hasresulted in rolled products’ shareof total demand for aluminiumsemis rising from 59 per cent

to 63 per cent. In 2017, demandfor extrusions is expected to bethree million tonnes and thatfor rolled products 5.2 milliontonnes. Demand for rolled pro-ducts will thus have risen by1.5 million tonnes since 2009,

while the increase for extrusionswill have been 500,000 tonnes.

Demand for aluminium se-mis in Germany in 2009 wasabout 1.8 million tonnes (seeFigure 2). In 2017, the figure isexpected to be some 2.55 mil-

lion tonnes. This representsgrowth in demand of 750,000tonnes during this period. De-mand in Germany is now againwell above the level in 2008.The development for rolled orextruded products has beenmore homogenous than forEurope as a whole. Rolled pro-ducts’ share of total demandfor aluminium semis was onlyslightly higher (increasing from59 per cent to 61 per cent). In2017, demand in Germany isexpected to be a million tonnesof extrusions and 1.55 milliontonnes of rolled products. De-mand for rolled products willthus have risen by 450,000 ton-nes since 2009, while the in-crease for extrusions will havebeen 300,000 tonnes.

Germany has thus furtherextended its leading role as themost important market inEurope. Germany’s share ofEuropean demand rose from29 per cent to 31 per cent bet-ween 2008 and 2017. Here theincrease of four percentagepoints for extrusions (29 percent to 33 per cent) was signi-ficantly greater than the onepercentage point gain for rolledproducts (29 per cent to 30 percent).

Development of production in GermanyAs Europe’ largest producer ofrolled products, Germany hasan important role to play as asupplier. Almost two thirds ofGerman rolled semis are ex-ported, mainly to other Euro-pean countries. In 2016, a totalof 1,887,931 tonnes of rolledproducts ‘made in Germany’were produced. Germany is alsothe largest European producerof aluminium extrusions. Therewere over 30 plants operatingin this sector in Germany alonein 2016, with a total of morethan 80 extrusion presses. About80 per cent of output was pro-cessed in Germany. The remai-

ning 20 per cent went mainlyto neighbouring countries inEurope. In 2016, output was569,795 tonnes. Total Germanproduction of aluminium semiswas thus 2.46 million tonnes.In 2015, production was 2.43million tonnes and thus justunder the all-time high achievedin 2014.

Current development of theoutput of rolled products isshowing a slight fall. Productionduring the period January toAugust 2017 was 1.26 milliontonnes. Compared with the cor-responding period a year earlier,this was a fall of 1.7 per cent.In August 2017, production wasonly marginally lower year-on-year, with a fall of 0.4 per cent.In contrast, output from pro-ducers of aluminium extrusionsdeveloped positively during theperiod from January to August2017, with a rise of 1.9 per cent.

OutlookThe economic situation in 2017is positive for the aluminiumsemis plants in Europe: bothdemand and production areexpected to increase further.The main driving forces are theautomotive industry, mechanicalengineering and the buildingand construction sector. Asthings stand at the moment,this positive economic picturewill not change fundamentallynext year. However, there arerisks associated with trade policyand politics, the effects of whichare barely quantifiable. Never-theless, the European alumini-um industry is optimistic aboutthe business trend in 2018. Ontop of this is the expectationthat the intensity of aluminiumuse in many key industries willincrease even more in the me-dium to long term. Growth pro-spects therefore remain favou-rable.

www.aluinfo.de

12

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European aluminium semis industry in 2017/2018: Upturn continues

Author: Dr Andreas Postler, Head of Economics and Statistics, GDA Gesamt verband der Aluminiumindustrie e.V., Düsseldorf

Figure 1: European demand for aluminum semifinished products

Figure 2: Demand for aluminum semifinished products in Germany

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Rolled Products Extruded Products

Rolled Products Extruded Products

13

9 – 11 October 2018 Messe Düsseldorf, Germany

www.aluminium-messe.com

Organised by Partners

ALUMINIUM 201812th World Trade Fair & Conference

8

High-performance laser-basedthickness measurement iskey for competitiveness inmany production processes.In the Industry 4.0 era, thedemands placed on the digi-talization of production dataare steadily increasing. Higherdata densities lead to anever more sophisticated understanding of process,more efficient production andhigher, documented quality.Numerous industrial enter -prises around the world arealready leveraging nokra’sultra-precise inline geometrymeasuring systems based onlaser measuring technologyto establish themselves asglobal market leaders.

Automotive solutions are aprime focus of nokra’s mis-sion. Today’s vehicles con-

tain a broad array of componentsthat are already being measuredusing nokra’s technology: fromsheet metal panels to brakedisks, from a wide variety of

camshaft types to complex andbulky axle cross-members. Theadvantages are clear: productionand quality reliability and im-mediate feedback to ongoingproduction processes. Particularlyin the automotive industry, in-strument capability and trace -ability play a major role – andnokra measuring systems easilyassure both.

A further example: series-scale windshield measurementdirectly downstream from thehot bending furnace. This re-quires a robust measuring systemthat can deliver high accuracyat ambient temperatures of upto 300° C. For years now, themajor players in this industryhave been depending on proven,innovative alpha.glass technologyfrom nokra.

The importance of instru-ment-capable, traceable inlinemeasurement is steadily increa-sing in the metalworking industryas well, as more and more cus-tomers are placing ever greaterdemands on the documented

quality of materials. To meetthis demand, nokra offers arange of flatness and thicknessmeasuring solutions for sheet,long and strip products.

alpha.ti 4.0 is the latest mile-stone in laser-based thicknessmeasurement: close to 20 yearsof experience have gone intothis product, which was engi-neered from the ground up.Our top priority was makingthe system simple to integrate,simple to handle and simple touse. At the same time, accuracyand precision were increasedeven further, so as to ensurethat QM-critical instrument ca-pability is achieved even for themost demanding requirements.Equipped with an array of stan-dard interfaces, alpha.ti 4.0 en-ables flexible, customized inte-gration in the plant equipmentenvironment.

The most important new fea-tures include temperature-inde-pendent measuring accuracy,flexible measuring ranges withtool-less sensor exchange without

needing adjustment, as well asthe quick-exchange sensor panesand invisible air knives to keepthe optical paths clear. The sys -tem is available as C- or O-frame, in both cases the measu-ring operation can be traversingor using a fixed measuring track.

Due to the simplicity andcompactness of alpha.ti 4.0, itis possible for the first time touse the system as an off-linesys tem for laboratory measure-ments. For this purpose, a sam-ple scanning mode is availableto deliver either a single mea-

surement or a composite areaprofile of an entire sample sec-tion efficiently.

Future software options – ifdesired even custom expansions– allow alpha.ti 4.0 to grow fle-xibly with new demands, for in-stance for data filtering or dataaggregation in the context ofIndustry 4.0.

www.nokra.de

nokra Optische Prüftechnikund Automation GmbHwas founded in 1991 as aspin-off from FraunhoferInstitute for Laser Techno-logy (ILT) and FraunhoferInstitute for ProductionTechnology (IPT) in Aachen.As a medium-sized tech-nology company we deve-lop, produce and distributelaser based measurementdevices for automatic inlineinspection of geometric pro-perties of products in themetal, automotive and glassindustry. Products to be in-spected are rolled productsin the steel, aluminium andnon-ferrous metal industry,large-diameter pipes as wellas vehicle components.

nokra products – laser-optical measurement for global players and market leaders

alpha.1d sensors for shaft test measurement

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okra

14

AHC OberflächentechnikGmbH with headquarters inKerpen, near Cologne, Germany, comprises 19 sitesin Europe and in China.

The business of the AHCgroup is focused on provi-ding functional coating of

technical surfaces as a service.AHC’s customers are from tech-nical sectors like automotive in-dustry, mechanical engineeringmarket, aerospace industry, oiland gas sector, medical-technicalindustry or electrical and elec-tronic industry.

For patented coatings, licen-ses are granted all over theworld. Well established processesare hard anodising of alumini-um-based materials (Hart-Coat)

and Electroless Nickel platingof ferrous and non-ferrous ma-terials (Durni-Coat). With thefirst process, a hard oxide layeris produced, whereas with thesecond process, a nickel-phos-phorus alloy of specific com-position is deposited on thesurface.

Every day at AHC individualparts, small scale productionsand mass produced componentsare meticulously and reliablycoated. For example, AHC ano-dises 60 million aluminiumvalve spools p.a. for automatictransmissions in its Göppingen-Voralb factory in Baden-Würt-temberg. In most AHC plants,the control of work processesand the documentation arecompletely digitised. Large mo-

nitors display the status of ordersto the foremen and the em-ployees.

One or the other plant fo-cuses on its own coating process.Thus, AHC’s plant in Berlinspecialises in so-called plasma-chemical processes for light me-tals which lead to white, wear-resistant and corrosion-resistantor else to black, highly light-ab-sorbing oxide ceramic layers. Inthe case of aluminium as a basematerial, the name Kepla-Coatis introduced to these coatingson the market. Workpieces upto 2 m length can be coated inthe large scale production or asa single part. At the Lorraineplant in Faulquemont alumini-um parts are selectively hardanodised via the Selga-Coat pro-cess, primarily for the automotiveindustry. Here the aluminiumcomponent is not dipped in anelectrolyte, but is placed in acoating tool. Integrated sealingsystems in the special producedtool ensure that the electrolyteonly circulates in defined areas.This ensures that only thefunctional surfaces of the com-ponent are exposed to the elec-trolyte and coated when currentis applied. No masking or me-chanical finishing of compo-nents is necessary. The Selga-Coat process is also licensedby the AHC group. AHC Faul-quemont sells Selga-Coat sys -tems and installs them on-sitein customer production lines –worldwide. Acorn Surface Tech-nology near Nottingham in Eng-land is a further company ofthe AHC group. Acorn establis-hed a strong focus on the aero-space industry on the back of ahigh level of technical knowledgein the associated anodising andpainting processes. Acorn hasbeen successfully adopting anddeveloping the technology andprocessing capability of the Ion

Vapour Deposition (IVD) alu-minium coating process forabout 20 years. The coatingcan be used to prevent bi-me-tallic or galvanic corrosion; anexample being the use of IVDaluminium to coat titanium fa-

steners, which are used to fastenaluminium assemblies. Acornwas the first company in theworld to achieve NADCAP ac-creditation for the IVD alumi-nium coating process. The pro-cess is also approved for a num-ber of major aerospace primarymanufacturers including Airbus,Boeing, Bombardier, Leonardo,Rolls-Royce, Safran and UTC.

AHC supplies surface coa-tings for mechanical engineeringand for the large system sup-pliers to the automotive industry,such as Bosch, Schaeffler andTRW Automotive. Fuel pumpcasings, impellers for turbo-chargers and control pistonsfor automatic transmissions, allof them made from aluminiumalloys, are protected againstwear and corrosion. The largecorporations and their systemsuppliers now have branches

in China. For them, AHC inHangzhou, near Shanghai, isnow their local coater.

In a somewhat different busi-ness is RIAG Oberflächentech-nik AG, located in Wängi, Swit-zerland. This company is a glo-

bal developer and supplier ofhigh quality process chemicalsfor processes of chemical andelectrochemical treatment ofmetals. RIAG has in stock morethan 800 raw materials on mo-dern production location. Theseraw materials are mixed withSwiss precision in order to pro-duce effective process chemicals.A team of highly specialisedprofessionals are in daily ope-ration and provide customersfrom all over the world, whofor their part treat the productsof all key industries. More than250 batches per month leavethe work. Large storage on theclient side is not necessary sinceRIAG can ensure rapid deliverydue to its logistical processes.Customers particularly appre-ciate the quality, consulting ex-pertise, individual service andsecurity of supply.

You are interested? Just contact us!H2O GmbH | Germany | Phone: +49 7627 9239-0info@h2o-de.com | www.h2o-de.com

Effective and reliable process solutions. For a zero liquid discharge production.Leading companies rely on vacuum distillation systems for the sustainable treatment of industrial wastewater.

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Halle 20, Stand H24

AHC Oberflächentechnik: From handicraft business to a globally operating industrial company

Phot

os: A

HC

The here shown Hart-Coat system in AHC’s Chinese factory in Hangzhou is fully automated and offers maximum series production reliability and economy.

Fully automated large-scale installation for plasma chemical coating at AHC’s Berlin plant.

AHC is already active inmany countries and it is thedeclared aim of the companyto be the world's leading partnerin the field of surface treatment,with the highest problem solvingabilities and service levels. With

a strong parent group at theside, the financial basis for thisproject is laid. The AHC Groupis part of the Dutch AalbertsIndustries corporate group withmore than 15,000 employees atmore than 150 locations inmore than 20 countries, and isalready internationally involvedabout this. Specific goal in theforeseeable future is the esta-blishment or the takeover of atleast one production site in theUSA. Other countries such asBrazil, Japan and India are re-ceiving more and more attention.Thus, the AHC Group has de-veloped into a globally operatingindustrial company from simplehandicraft business in aroundsix decades.

AHC Oberflächentechnik Hall 12, Stand G25

www.ahc-surface.com

i

The Top5 visitor countries

besides Germany are: Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey, Spain and the UK

15

Together with Reed Exhibi -tions, the fair organiser, Düs-seldorf-based Gesamtverbandder Aluminiumindustrie e.V.(GDA) will be organising theconference to accompanythe ALUMINIUM trade fair (9-11 October 2018) for thefifth time in 2018.

Under the heading ‘Alumi-nium ─ Material for theFuture’, presentations are

planned that will cover the sub-ject areas Plant and Equipment,Additive Manufacturing, Auto-motive, Surface, Recycling Tech-nologies and Aluminium Mar-kets. The presentations are in-tended to give a broad and tho-rough overview of the futureopportunities that aluminiumhas to offer in the various usermarkets. The conference langua-ge is English and all presenta-tions will be translated simul-taneously into German or Eng-lish.

Experts from companies, re-search institutes and universitiesare invited to submit paperscovering the individual subjectareas. All papers submitted willbe assessed by a programmecommittee, which will also allowother subject areas where ne-cessary. Papers will be publishedin the collated conference pro-ceedings. Suggestions for topicsand presentations can be sub-mitted from January 2018 on-wards. The corresponding Call

for Papers is in preparation. Pa-pers and presentations shouldbe in English.

GDA at ALUMINIUM 2018 Gesamtverband der Alumini-umindustrie e.V. celebrated its25th anniversary this year andis now one of the most impor-tant national trade associationsin the European aluminium in-dustry, if not worldwide. Theassociation represents the sectorinterests of aluminium produ-cing and processing companiesin Germany, an industry whoseeconomic importance is reflec-ted in an annual turnover of 14billion euros Based on the pro-duction of the German alumi-nium industry, some 96 percent of all aluminium compa-nies are members of the asso-ciation.

As co-initiator and concep-tual partner of the ALUMINI-UM trade fair, GDA will be ex-hibiting in Düsseldorf again in2018 and will have its own standin Hall 13 (Stand K15). The as-sociation will provide informa-tion and advice on the use ofaluminium in a company-neutraland product-independent man-ner. At the same time, the GDAstand will serve as a communi-cations platform and meetingpoint for visitors and exhibitors.

Lightweight construction, di-gitalisation, urbanisation, effi-cient use of resources and ener-gy, and demographic and cli-

mate change – these long-termmegatrends require intensivediscussion between society, in-dustry and research. They alsodemand innovative and sustai-nable solutions from the alu-minium industry so that it canstay apace of the ever-morestringent demands made byuser industries. It is becomingincreasingly more important tothink intersectorally and act inan interdisciplinary manner. To-gether with its member com-

panies, GDA is facing up tothe current and future challengesat both national and interna-tional level, and will be focussingon this in its presentation atALUMINIUM 2018. In addition,the trade association will againoffer an attractive supportingprogramme, with two ‘Alumi-nium-Talks’ planned.

GDA Hall 13, Stand K15

www.aluinfo.de

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“ALUMINIUM 2018 is thesector highlight of the yearfor all companies engagedin the aluminium industry,”says Christian Wellner, Exe-cutive Member of the Ma-naging Board of GDA. “Thetrade fair has positioned it-self as the outstanding plat-form for our metal to dis -tinguish itself in competitionwith other materials. It isthe ideal forum for alumi-nium producers and con-verters to present themselvesto a specialist internationalaudience. Our industry, ourcustomers and our supplierswill take the oppor-

tunity in Düsseldorf to in-troduce and publicise theirtechnical capabilities, trend-setting applications and in-novative technologies.”

Christian Wellner, Executive Member of the Managing Board of GDA

ALUMINIUM 2018 Conference ‘Aluminium – Material for the Future’

Under the heading ‘Aluminium – Material for the Future’ GDA will beorganising the conference to accompany the ALUMINIUM trade fair

„

16

direct compact hot rolling mill. Market demands have chan -

ged over more than 30 years ofplant operation and the marketdemands a wider portfolio ofalloys and grades. The maximumproduct width of about 800millimeters at Golden Alumi-num Inc. turned out to be a

Similar to the CSP technologythat revolutionized the produc-tion of hot steel strip, the mi-nimill concept for combinedcasting and rolling of alumi-nium strip has the potential tosubstantially enhance efficien-cy in aluminium production.Contrary to the conventionalmethod, all steps needed toproduce and process ingots areno longer required. This meansthat sawing, grinding, heatingand pre-rolling of ingots can

completely be omitted. Sincecomplete production plantsare waived, investment cost sa-vings up to 40 percent areachievable for new facilities re-ferred to a corresponding an-nual output. In addition, thecompact production processreduces operating costs by upto 25 percent. The nexcast minimill is particu larly suitedfor businesses with low to me-dium production capacity andalso for serving local markets.

nexcast minimill

SMS group, in cooperationwith the American aluminiumproducer Golden AluminumInc., is advancing the processof aluminium strip casting tomake it future-viable in termsof quality and efficiency. Theproject was first presented tothe public on the occasion ofDüsseldorf trade fair – ALUMI-NIUM 2016. In the meantime,important milestones havebeen reached in advancingthe project.

At its Fort Lupton locationin Colorado, the U.S. alu-minium producer Golden

Aluminum Inc. is operating acontinuous strip casting androlling facility, a so-called mi-nimill, for aluminium hot strip.The production line essentiallyconsists of a strip caster and a

• Wide range of alloys fromAA1xxx to AA8xxx

• Annual output up to200,000 tons

• Maximum strip width:2,200 millimeters

• Reduced effort for materialhandling

• Significant reduction in in-vestment and manufactu-ring costs due to compactplant configuration

nexcast features

Focused on expanded product range

nexcast: the next generationaluminium minimill

limiting factor. SMS group wasthe right technology partner forGolden Aluminum Inc. to sys -tematically advance the potentialof the strip casting facility tobe able to even better meetmodern market requirements.The nexcast project strives foran increase in product width

to 2,200 millimeters. This raisesthe minimill’s nominal capacityto about 200,000 tons per yearand expands the range of gradesthat can be cast and rolled. Tothis end, extensive tests on pro-cess temperature managementand surface quality have beenperformed at Golden Alumi-num’s production plant in Co-lorado and also in SMS group’stest center in Hilchenbach, Ger-many. Within the nexcast pro-ject, SMS group engineers focuson design and technologicaladvancements of the strip casterserving for controlled solidifi-cation of the liquid aluminiumand for shaping it to hot strip.A particular challenge here isthe increase in width. The newdesign solutions shall then betested in further trials in theSMS test center.

The nexcast project will en-able SMS group to expand itsportfolio in the field of alumi-nium plants by a caster thatcan be combined, in interaction,with the proven hot rolling fa-cilities to form a compact, con-tinuously working process linefor low to medium capacities.

SMS group Hall 9, Stand C20

www.sms-group.com

Issue: 9/17 10/17Dates of publication: 03.09. 27.09.2018Advertising deadlines: 20.08. 13.09.2018Editorial deadlines: 23.07. 16.08.2018

Alwin SchmittChief editor Aluminium PraxisTel.: +49(0)211 6412790alwin.schmitt@t-online.de

Volker KarowChief editor International ALUMINIUM JournalTel.: +49(0)2225 8359643vkarow@online.de

Dennis RoßObjectmanagerTel.: +49(0)821 319880-34d.ross@giesel.de

Birgit SchaperSalesteamTel.: +49(0)821 319880-33b.schaper@giesel.de

Stephan KnauerSalesteamTel.: +49(0)821 319880-19s.knauer@giesel.de

Publishing house AugsburgGögginger Straße 105a86199 Augsburgwww.giesel.de

The ALUMINIUM 2018 show-editions

Give your fair presentation the real kick and inform the industry early on your fair-highlights:

– in the previews of Aluminium Praxis and International ALUMINIUM Journal which will be published in the beginning of September,

– in the show-newspaper of International ALUMINIUM Journal from September 27th and in the

– official show-newspaper of the ALUMINIUM 2018 of Aluminium Praxis from October 1st.

In cooperation with Reed Exhibitions the official show-newspaper of Aluminium Praxis will be distributed with an essential higher circulation:

– in the run-up to the show to all visitors of the ALUMINIUM 2016 by mail,

– as a handout to all visitors of the ALUMINIUM 2018 together with International ALUMINIUM Journal and

– at your booth, if you order some issues to take-away.

The editorial- and the advertising-team look forward to hearing from you.

SPECIAL: ALUMINIUM 2016 – SHOW EDITION

Exhibitors report on latest developments

Ebner / Gautschi – Interview

Mino continues its rise in the aluminium industry

Aluminium for auto body panels – a dynamically growing market

Aluminium scrap is an important contribution to metal supply

Volume 92 · November 2016International Journal for Industry, Research and Application 11

© R

eed

Exhi

bitio

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euts

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OFFICIAL MEDIA PARTNER OF 20th ARABAL CONFERENCE

Fortsetzung Seite 2

ALUMINIUM 2016 - Die Aluminiumwelt trifft sich in Düsseldorf

Aluminium-Messe bleibt

weiterhin auf Wachstumskurs

Giesel Verlag GmbH • Postfach 54 20 • 30054 Hannover • Deutsche Post AG • PVST H 41947 • Entgelt bezahlt

Linda Hein wird Projektleiterin der ALUMINIUM

18. November 2016

www.alu-web.deAusgabe 11 | 16

21. Jahrgang

Materialmessen bauen Vertriebsaktivitäten aus

Linda Hein (35) übernimmt

ab 1. Januar 2017 die Lei-

tung der ALUMINIUM, die

vom 29.11. bis 1.12.2016

zum elften Mal als welt-

weit größte Branchenmesse

an den Start geht. In ihrer

neuen Funktion berichtet

sie an Olaf Freier, der als

Geschäftsbereichsleiter auch

künftig für den Verbund der

Materialmessen von Reed

Exhibitions Deutschland

verantwortlich ist.

Linda Hein, ursprünglich

ein „Kind“ der Compo-

sites Europe, kennt seit

2007 das gesamte Spektrum

unserer Materialmessen, dar-

unter auch die ALUMINIUM,

für die sie zwischenzeitlich drei

Jahre als Event Managerin tätig

war“, so Hans-Joachim Erbel,

CEO der Reed Exhibitions

Deutschland GmbH.

Linda Hein tritt die Nachfol-

ge von Jessica Kristian an, die

zum Jahresbeginn als Vertriebs-

Foto

: Beh

rend

t & R

ausc

h

Die ALUMINIUM blickt

optimistisch auf ihre 11. Auf-

lage vom 29.11. bis 1.12.2016

in Düsseldorf. Auf der

weltweit größten Branchen-

messe zeigen rund 1.000

Aussteller aus 50 Nationen

zukunftsweisende Lösungen

für mehr Effizienz in Pro-

duktion und Verarbeitung

von Aluminium. Damit ist

die ALUMINIUM auf dem

besten Weg, an das Rekord-

jahr 2014 anzuschließen.

Wachsen wird die Messe

auf jeden Fall in der Fläche:

Sechs Messehallen (9 bis 14)

wird die ALUMINIUM in

diesem Jahr belegen.

Alle zwei Jahre zeigt die

ALUMINIUM Weltmes-

se neue, zukunftswei-

sende Lösungen für mehr Effi-

zienz in Produktion und Verar-

beitung – vom Rohmaterial über

Halbzeuge bis zu fertigen Pro-

dukten aus den Anwendungsin-

dustrien, von Maschinen über

Anlagen und Zubehör bis zur

Oberflächenbehandlung. 2016

wird die Messe den Fokus auf

die Themen Leichtbau, Ressour-

cen- und Kosteneffizienz legen.

„Der Megatrend Leichtbau wird

dem Werkstoff Aluminium

künftig global hervorragende

Wachstumschancen bieten“,

so Olaf Freier, Event Director

der ALUMINIUM Messe. „Vor-

aussetzung ist aber, dass es der

Industrie gelingt, die Produkti-

on und den gesamten Wertstoff-

kreislauf ressourcen- und kos-

teneffizient zu gestalten. Lang-

fristig wird eine schlanke und

effiziente Wertschöpfungskette

über die Wettbewerbsfähigkeit

des Werkstoffs entscheiden“, so

Freier weiter.

Bei der Zahl der Ausstel-

ler und der Ausstellungsfläche

konnte die ALUMINIUM 2016

erneut zulegen. Global Player,

Spezialisten und junge innova-

tive Unternehmen prägen das

Bild in den sechs Messehallen,

in denen die ALUMINIUM die

ganze Bandbreite der Industrie

abbildet – von der Aluminium-

produktion über Maschinen

und Anlagen für die Bearbei-

tung und die Endprodukte bis

Hauptstraße 1 • 79807 Lottstetten

Telefon (0 77 45) 92 32-0 • Telefax 92 32-30

stark@stark-eloxal.de • www.stark-eloxal.de

SchweißelementeINNOVATIVE

Im SOYER®

24h-Online Shop

www.soyer.de

Mit kreativen Ideen

zum perfekten Produkt!

www.koenigmetall.de

Eloxieren & Beschichten

Zur ALUMINIUM 2016, der weltweit größten Branchenmesse, erwartet Veranstalter Reed rund 1.000 Aussteller

leiterin für die Vermarktung

der Materialmessen von Reed

Exhibitions Deutschland ver-

antwortlich ist. Hierzu zählen

neben den weltweiten ALUMI-

NIUM-Messen die Composites

Europe und die IEX Insulation

Expo. Die Zentralisierung der

Vertriebsaktivitäten hat das

Ziel die weltweite Vermarktung

der Materialmessen spürbar

auszubauen. Derzeit finden die

Materialmessen von Reed Exhi-

bitions an weltweit acht Stand-

orten in Deutschland, China,

Indien, Brasilien, den Vereini-

gten Arabischen Emiraten und

den USA statt.

www.aluminium-messe.com

Neu

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nd A

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finde

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DER SINN FÜR DIE OBERFLÄCHE

DERDERDERDERDERDER SSISSISIS NNNNNNNNNNN FÜRFÜRFÜRFÜRFÜRR DDIDIDIDIE OE OE OE OE OBERBERERFFLÄLÄLÄLÄCHECHECHECHEE

DER SINN FÜR DIE OBERFLÄCHEIDIDIE OE OE OE OE OE BERBERBERBERBERFLÄFLÄFLÄFLÄFLÄÄCHECHECHECHECHEHE

DIE OBERFLÄCHEWerkzeuge zum

- Schleifen

- Polieren

- Entgraten

www.kreeb.com/alu

Qualität verbindet.

Bolzenschweißen – die beste

Verbindung in Millisekunden!

HBS Bolzenschweiss-Systeme GmbH & Co. KG

Telefon: + 49 8131 511- 0

hbs-info.de

Linda Hein

Each line of an Otto Junkerheat-treatment system isbuilt specifically for solutionannealing, quenching andartificial ageing of cast aluminium wheels. Energyefficiency, maintenance-friendliness and flexibilityare particularly importantconsiderations in develo-ping its design.

Contrary to conventionalsystems relying on an -nealing racks, the system

has been designed withoutracks in order to save energy.The parts to be heat-treatedare fed into the furnace via aroller table on which they arealso aligned, measured andpositioned. Once the com-plete charge has been assem-bled, it is placed in the furnaceby the loading manipulator.

The charge is movedthrough the furnace by a wal-king-beam system. This is afurther development of thewalking beam conveyer usedin steel heat-treatment appli-cations which are noted fortheir particularly exacting de-mands regarding ruggednessand reliability of the conveyersystem. The charge is movedat low speed, making full useof the cycle time, to preventboth damage to the productin its contact area and positionshifts.

At the exit of the walkingbeam furnace, the wheels areremoved by a manipulatorwhich immerses them intothe quench tank. From herethe parts are conveyed intothe artificial ageing furnacefor completion of the heattreatment. At the end of theartificial ageing cycle thewheels are picked up by amanipulator which placesthem on the exit roller table.From here they are moved toa cooling station for coolingwith cold air.

Otto Junker’s heat-treat-ment system for alloy wheelsdistinguishes itself by its highthroughput capacity whilemaintaining an excellent tem-perature uniformity across thevarious furnace zones. Thisensures an optimum heattreatment.

Moreover, these lines relyon a specially developed ener-gy saving system. With thissystem the hot exhaust gasfrom the solution annealingfurnace is reinjected. This de-sign achieves vast energy sa-vings compared to a systemwith conventional burner hea-ting.

Its low energy consumpti-on and the unsurpassed qua-lity of the heat-treatment pro-cess make Otto Junker‘s heattreatment system for alloywheels what is probably themost efficient plant of its kindworldwide.

Otto JunkerHall 10, Stand E42

www.otto-junker.de

Probably the world‘s most efficient plants of its kind

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Cast Aluminium Wheels

Layout of a nexcast minimill

In a sophisticated process, the block caster shapes liquid aluminium to strip. Optimum temperature management is an important factor.

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100 companiesfollow the six ALUMINIUM trade fairs around the world as “Global Partners” – which means they don’t just exhibit in Düsseldorf but at other events, as well.

Tubes | Profi les | Spacer bars

Aluminiumwerk Unna AGUelzener Weg 36

59425 UnnaGermany

Tel.: +49 (0) 23 03 / 206 -0Fax: +49 (0) 23 03 / 206 -155info@alunnatubes.comwww.alunnatubes.com

See you at the Aluminium 2018 in DüsseldorfHall 14 Booth E 40

Development on the right track

Achenbach Buschhuetten trans-fers all control data via OPCUA into a cloud. Initially, thisdata is used for process analysisand production optimization.The next goal is ‘unsupervisedmachine learning’ and thereby,the machinery performance willbe further improved. André Bar-ten, Achenbach’s Managing Di-rector, says: “There are evidentsigns that Achenbach Optilinkis on the right track to becomeanother milestone of the furthertechnological development inthe Aluminium industry.”

Roger Feist, head of auto-mation at Achenbach, has beencaring for the digitalization ofrolling mills and slitting ma-chinery for about three years.“Our customers, but also weourselves want to understandthe single production steps moreprecisely, for example to checkthe correlation of foil rollingmill data and slitting machinedata with the customer’s feed-back.” Thus, production shallbecome more efficient, proces-ses will show more transparencyand the product quality will beconstantly high to the greatestextent. In 2014, three years ago,this was the self-imposed re-quirement of Roger Feist andhis team. Today, they have largelyachieved the objective togetherwith their partners Scitis.io,Google and others: The appro-priate solution, called ‘Achen-bach Optilink’, has currentlybeing run for several monthsat the customer’s site.

During operation all dataof the different control systemsare transferred via OPC UA toa small single-board computerwhich is able to subscribe tothe information and to file itin a cloud storage. In this con-text, it is of great significancefor machine data safety that itcannot be accessed from the

cloud. A special safety conceptguaranties that data is onlytransferred to connections whichare built out of the machinerynetwork. The machine controlis neither visible nor addressablefrom the internet. Thus, onekey condition for the operatoris fulfilled: He alone decideswhich data is transferred intothe cloud and which not. And:this does not only work withAchenbach machinery but alsowith all modern control systemsof the existing equipment.

This can result in huge dataamounts of several gigabytesper machine during one day;mostly OPC-UA and SQL data.And as the storage space in thecloud is so to speak unlimitedand very favorable, machinedata need not to be deleted.Feist: “Neither our customernor we can say today whichquestions we address to datain future. Only when concreteproblems with a specific mate-rial occur or a customer struggleswith the breakdown of a certainsubsystem we know which datais relevant in order to solve theproblem. If they were not storedin the run-up or deleted tooearly for reasons of space, the

problem solution would be si-gnificantly more difficult.

It only takes about half aworking day to equip a machinewith Achenbach Optilink fordata transfer and memory; thus,a trial installation is not ofmajor concern. Once installed,Optilink collects the data ofsingle machines for an overallprocess analysis and by inte-grating further machines alongthe process chain. BesidesAchenbach Optimill rolling millsthese are Achenbach Optipuresystems for the rolling oil ma-nagement or the AchenbachOptifoil machinery for doubling,separating and slitting of rolledaluminum foil. Third party ma-chinery of other manufacturerscan be easily integrated as well.

Highly interested customersVia web-interface the machineoperator is able to query thecurrent status of all machineryat any time and for this purposeAchenbach provides its custo-mers with a basic set of analysistools. Of course, the customercan develop and perform itsown analyses as well. “For quitesome time, we have been mar-

learning’ by Google. With re-spect to several solution ap-proaches Achenbach counts on‘unsupervised machine learning’.The idea behind: Such a systemtries to recognize patterns di-verging from the unstructurednoise. Ideally the patterns aretypical for a specific problem.Then, the system can give a re-commendation for action tothe operator, for example toorder a spare part. “Currentlywe are working on these andsimilar applications togetherwith our partners”, reports Feist.Thus, Achenbach does not onlywant to keep its lead in the in-novative possibilities to improvethe machinery performance butalso to expand it.

Achenbach Buschhütten Hall 13, Stand M15www.achenbach.de

On the occasion of the Google Cloud Summitin Munich on 6 Decem-ber 2017 André E. Barten will give a speech on ‚Industry 4.0 and Industrial IoT on GoogleCloud‘ (13:15 pm)

keting Optilink as an add-on”,reports André Barten and ishappy that the system causesparticular attention. “Lots ofcustomers are interested in theanalyses for preventive main-tenance, for data control forpurposes of error message andfor determining and finding

Internet of things: Achenbach Optilink

Visualization and analysis of process data duringthe entire production process in the cloud

spare parts in our online cata-logue. It is also exciting for ourcustomers to be able to handover a respective documentationof the production process tothe final customer enabling himto accelerate the complex cer-tification process”, he adds.

To sum up, together with itstechnology partners AchenbachBuschhuetten creates a high-performance portal for analyzingproduction data. The internetgiant Google provides the cloudtechnology for the data storageand Scitis.io brought a lot oftechnique from the Silicon Val-ley into the cooperative project.“All data is on European serversand is furthermore owned byour customers”, explains Feist.By the way, he considers thedata centers of the big cloudproviders to be safer than theIT-systems of most of the com-panies.

Artificial intelligence as future development stepsAchenbach Buschhuetten wouldlike to open up even more pos-sibilities to the rolling mill ope-rators in the sense that theycan take advantage of the ma-chinery data to an even greaterextent: Artificial intelligence isthe keyword which is more thanthe strongly promoted ‘deep

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The demand for highlystressed aluminium compo-nents is growing. Alumini-umwerk Unna (ALUnna) hasreacted to this demand withthe production of seamlesstubes for severe and very se-vere requirements, and is to-day one of the most impor-tant suppliers worldwide.

Otherwise than in by far themost extrusion plants,which process standard

alloys at high extrusion speedsto produce large tonnages, inthis field of work other criteriaapply. The material grades pro-cesses in this case are difficultto deform and can thereforeonly be deformed at relativelylow extrusion speeds, at leastan order of magnitude less thanwith standard alloys. During thisthe structure of the material im-poses, as it were, a metallurgicallimit on the extrusion speed;besides, the deformation resis-tance of high-strength alloysalso limits the extrusion speed.In the production process, met-allurgical factors too play an im-portant part.

Seamless and highlystressedUnna produces mainly seam-less tubes, which account foralmost two-thirds of the totalproduction volume. If the alsoseamless, thick-walled pumpsections are included, the pro-portion amounts to aroundthree-quarters.

It is true that the range ofapplications of seamless tube

and section components is re-stricted to those cases in whichtheir utility justifies the highercost, but the increasingly severedemands on the componentsused endow seamless tubesmade form high-strength alloyswith interesting utility options.This is particularly the case inaviation, where saving weight isall-important. Interest in seam-less products is also growing inthe automobile industry. In ad-dition ALUnna’s customer cir-cle includes the optical industry,mechanical engineering, hy-draulics and many other bran -ches.

The plant processes all avail-able alloys to produce seamlesstubes, including the high-strength, hard-to-deform mate-rials of the 2xxx and 7xxx alloyseries. There is in addition ascandium-containing alloy vari-ant with good welding proper-ties.

All these material are melt-ed and adjusted in the compa-ny’s own foundry. This has theadvantage that the entire pro-duction chain remains underone roof; interfaces, with theuncertainties that they bring, areexcluded thereby, the more sosince as part of its QM (ISO9001:2008; EN 9100:2009) acomprehensive managementsystem has been installed in theplant.

Seamless extrusionAt Unna various productionmethods are used for manufac-turing tubes. For tubes extrudedseamlessly the mandrel for the

inside contour is fixed on theextrusion ram. In contrast, witha chamber die the extrusionmandrel is fixed to the die bymeans of support arms. Whichof these methods is used, de-pends on the alloy and the ap-plication concerned. Since asthe deformation resistance ofthe material to be processed in-creases the mandrel attachmentin a chamber die is more andmore highly stressed, for theprocessing of hard-to-extrudealloys the seamless extrusionprocess is used for preference.

ALUnna extrudes seamlesstubes over a mandrel, optionallyon indirect presses or directpresses, in each case with apiercing device. Without wish-ing here to go into detail, theessential features of these pro-cess variants can be sum-marised as follows:• Otherwise than in the usualdirect-extrusion process, duringindirect extrusion there is nofriction between the billet andthe inside wall of the contain-er. This is because the mainmovement is carried out notby the ram, but by the entirecontainer. In this way the forcerequired can be reduced to athird.

• During extrusion over a man-drel, the die forms the outercontour of the section. The in-side contour is formed by themandrel, which is either fixedto the extrusion ram or can bemoved independently.

For all the process variants,over the past years the planttechnology has been mod-ernised and extended step bystep. Today the plant has pro-duction methods with whicheven technically demandingcustomer specifications can besatisfied.

An important step was thecommissioning of a new indi-rect press in 2012. With an in-vestment volume of around 12million euros a modern, auto-mated extrusion line was pro-duced, which not only enlargesthe capacity of the plant butalso sustainably improves theeconomy of the productionprocess. Important features ofthe line are inductive billet heat-ing in three furnaces, the press

plant, earmarked for closure,was taken over in a MBO byThomas Weise and the staff.The new shareholders imple-mented systematic modernisa-tion and expansion in individ-ual steps.

Once the financial basis hadbeen secured in 2000 – notleast, thanks to a substantialcommitment by the employees– in 2001 the largest press inthe plant, with an extrusion loadof 50 MN, was modernised in2001 at a cost of around 4 mil-lion euros. To mach increasingdemand, from 2004 the drawingcapacity has been continuouslyenlarged. Further investmentswent toward heat treatment, amodern etching unit for diepreparation, and comprehen-sive reconstruction of the in-frastructure.

The result was one that atthe time of the takeover just 15

years earlier none of those in-volved would have thought pos-sible. The last operating lossmade by ALUnna was in 1999,just before the MBO. Under theadministration of the newshareholders, the results havebeen uninterruptedly positive.Investments have been made,modernisation carried out, andeven debts have been repaid.Today the plant is better set upthan ever: in 2016, with around200 employees a turnover of 65million euros was achieved.

Estimates about the futuredevelopment of the plant areoptimistic. According to Dr.-Ing.Gerhard Schroeder, responsiblefor sales in the company: “Thebasis for future growth is inplace. So far as the breadth ofour product range is concerned,our company is in the lead. Ourrange extends from 4.7 mm toat least 300 mm outer diameter,and this in all the common al-loys. Judged on the basis ofturnover or quantity, we are nowone of the three leading sup-pliers. But we now anticipateattractive growth options thanksto the changed ownership situ-ation.”

Aluminiumwerk Unna Hall 14, Stand E40

www.alunnatubes.com

itself (built by Kobe Steel) withan extrusion load of 40 MN,the universal cooling equip-ment for air, water or a sprayedmist, the long run-out with apuller machine, the wide cool-ing bed with a straightening de-vice and the layer saws.

Drawing operations andheat treatment At Unna, tubes with a smallouter diameter or small wallthickness are given their finalcontour in a downstream draw-ing process. It can also be nec-essary to draw the tubes whenclose tolerances have to be re-spected. With naturally aged al-loys the desired strength cate-gory can be produced by cold-working. If the tube is to bemuch deformed during subse-quent processing, a particularlyfine-grained structure can beproduced by a sequence of

drawing stages and heat treat-ments, with which maximumdeformation degrees can beachieved.

Depending on needs, theseworking steps are supplementedby intermediate annealing,cleaning processes and inspec-tion stages. To produce the re-quired mechanical propertiesthe tube is as a rule subjectedto final heat treatment in a tow-er furnace. In that unit the tubesare suspended individually andvertically in a charging frame.Since the heated tubes are low-ered very rapidly into a waterbath directly under the furnace,the necessary high cooling ratesare achieved.

The last stage is a compre-hensive final inspection, evencarried out by an independentclassification company if de-sired. Before packing and dis-patch, in most cases the semisavailable in production lengthsare cut up according to the cus-tomer’s wishes.

Step by step enlargementof the plantAlthough AluminiumwerkUnna AG (ALUnna) celebratedits centenary in 2104, in its pre-sent configuration the companywas only started as the millen-nium began. At that time the

FormgebendeMatrize

GepresstesRohr

Pressrichtung Dorn für dieInnenkontur

Press-bolzen

Indirect extrusion of seamless tubes: schematic representation

Aluminium Unna wants to continue growing with quality tubes

Finish processing of seamlessly extruded tubes on a drawing bench

Automated billet-loading system for press

Extruded tube

Shaping die

Extrusion billet

Extrusion direction Mandrel for inner contour

19

Neuman Aluminium -

SLUG PRODUCTION

IMPACT EXTRUSION

DIRECT EXTRUSION

FORGING AND ASSEMBLY (RAUFOSS)

PROFILE PROCESSING (PWG)

The technology leader in precision sawing surprisesonce more with its saw ofthe fm10 type: Auxiliary processing times are reducedby uncoupling the saw and infeed, rolling mills are equipped with wellthought-through, profitabletechnology. The bearer ofthese concepts is the power-ful Schelling flagship, the fm 10/12.

New market benefits for rolling millsWith two successful referenceprojects – in Austria and inChina – Schelling shows thatrolling mills can advance innew, profitable ways. The fullyautomatic edge trimming andcut-to-size plants with crosscutand rip cut saws trim the rawboards and cut them very ac-curately (!) to standard dimen-sions.

Until now, the flying sawsof other manufacturers werestandard in rolling mills. A sim-

ple technology that was ade-quate for conventional marketrequirements. But the customersof rolling mills have also becomemore demanding: Buying boardsby weight is no longer sensiblewhen standard dimensions aremet with precision, and notsimply within the usual rangeof tolerance.

With the fm 10 and fm 12models, Schelling offers ex-tremely accurate and practicaltechnology for this. An addi-tional advantage is the highlevel of automation. Where fivepersons were employed per sawin the past, two reference pro-jects today require just two per-sons and productivity is higher.

But there's more to it thanthat. Chips and waste are topicsin rolling mills that not onlycause headaches, but also costmoney. Because the raw mate-rials – valuable aluminium alloys– are expensive. That's why thechips from Schelling saws areimmediately suctioned awayand separated according to the

specific alloy. This also ensuresgreater cleanliness in the halland avoids additional work asa result of the production waste.The remainders are crushed,sorted according to the specificalloy, collected in containersand processed into compactbriquettes by Schelling. Thosewho are familiar with the valueof the aluminium alloys per toncan simply calculate the re -gained profit that is generated.

Reducing auxiliary processing times through automationDue to their solid machine de-sign, powerful drives, water cool-ing and dozens of detailed im-provements, the actual sawingprocess in the fm 10 and fm 12is short, powerful and alwaysprecise. Where there is stillroom for optimisation is in theauxiliary processing times thatoccur on the operator side. Assawing times have become short-er, the auxiliary sawing timeshave become more important

in comparison. And make up70 % of the total processingtime today.

The problem is primarily inthe feeding of boards and theremoval of the remainder parts.For this reason, Schelling pro-vides solutions to simplify andto automate operation as wellas to reduce the influence ofthe operator quality, and auto-matic material feeding is in de-mand. The responses to thisare extremely customer-specific,e.g. the use of in-house storagesystems, automatic connectionto high bay systems and verticalbox warehouses or buffer sys-tems, the sawing, feeding, stack-ing, packaging, etc., uncouplingthe buffer and waiting times aswell as the avoidance of down-times of the saw - all measuresthat also lighten the load on

the logistics in the hall andstacking traffic. As well as re-ducing the area required forthis until now.

HPO and XBoBThe high material value in

the aluminium sector positivelycries out for optimum utilisationof the material and for sophis-ticated re-use of the remainders.For this, Schelling offers theproven HPO 4.0 optimisationsoftware that calculates the cut-ting to size of aluminium platesso there is as little waste aspossible. In addition, theSchelling XBoB 4.0 remainderrecycling program ensures thateven the lower amounts of re-mainders that occur thanks toHPO can still be re-used. It is apractice-based system to allocateusable remainders to a storage

area, label them, store them,automatically replan their utili-sation, to re-use or recycle themand to book them out. Thisenables a total of valuable alu-minium boards of 90% andmore to be converted into hardcash!

The Austrian companySchelling Anlagenbau GmbHis headquartered in Schwarzach,Vorarlberg. Schelling employs500 workers worldwide at atotal of 10 locations. The prod-uct portfolio includes precisionsaws and plants for aluminium,non-ferrous metals, ferrous met-als, plastics and circuit boardmaterials including peripheralsand feeders.

Schelling Anlagenbau Hall 13, Stand K40

www.schelling.at

Schelling reduces auxiliary processing times with the fm 10 and automates rolling mills

fm 10: The Schelling flagship for sawing non-ferrous metal panels

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59% of visitors travel

from abroad

For more than 30 years, Berlemann Torbau GmbH has been developing andproducing sliding gate solutions, fence systems and barrier systems. Berle-mann's sliding gate solutionscan be found in buildings of airports, prisons, police, fire brigades and cash-in-transit companies. In 2012the product range was extended by a complete production line, the INOVA SilverLine – an aluminium sliding door.

W e wanted to expandour Inova range witha new range of alu-

minium sliding doors. We de-cided to use the material becauseof its lightweight appearance.At the same time, we wanted torealise inexpensive doors of theusual quality", says Ralf Michler,Head of Development & Designat Berlemann.

In addition, the new slidingdoor system had to be manu-factured efficiently and at thesame time offer the customermaximum individuality. Ofcourse with a first-class price-

performance ratio. This was thebirth of the Inova SilverLine.From a design, production andvisual point of view, this is anew type of sliding door systemmade of aluminium, which isstill in demand with customersworldwide.

High demands on new softwareOne of the main goals in thedevelopment of the SilverLineseries was to achieve maximumautomation with regard to econ-omy. The demands on the au-tomation process were complex.

They ranged from logistics with-in production, work preparationand production to the operationof the assembly robots used byBerlemann. In order to imple-ment these requirements, a com-pletely new, almost fully auto-matic production line was re-quired and a flexible CAM soft-ware that not only reliably con-trols the CNC machines, butalso ensures a smooth processin the warehouse and outputsfaultless parts lists. In addition,standard doors should also beable to be produced parametri-cally without any CAD design.

Work preparation"The crucial point of the ex-tension to the SilverLine serieswas the increased demands onwork preparation. The intro-duction of the new door serieshas made it necessary to preparethe data generated in the CADprogram for the individual pro-duction machines with little ef-fort," says Ralf Michler. “Onthe recommendation of a ma-chine manufacturer, we becameaware of the 3D analysis pro-gram cadXtract and the CAMsoftware camQuix from camProxOHG”, so Michler continues.

“With camQuix, work prepa-ration is carried out withoutany problems. The CAD designdata of the orders are generatedparametrically, i. e. variable insize, analyzed in cadXtract andread into camQuix. This enablescamQuix to output the datafor all production steps”, ex-plains Ingo Häußler, co-founderof camProx.

CNC controlcamQuix simultaneously createsall CNC programs for the cor-responding profile types forproduction on a 3-axis elumatecmachine as well as on a BJM-ALBZ, a 4-axis continuous ma-chine.

Last but not least, camQuixcontrols the output of the com-plete production data for thescrewdriving and assemblyrobots used in production.

Implementation of the software“Within one year, the softwarewas implemented step-by-step.During this time, five postpro-cessors were adapted and tested.The software was adapted bythe programmers without anyproblems and was carried outon site. The software is easy tocontrol with little practice. Thesystem is still running as we

imagined it would”, adds RalfMichler.

“The flexibility of the solutionconvinced us above all. We usea wide variety of machines tomachine different parts. WithcamQuix, all machines are con-trolled with a single software.This significantly speeds up theproduction process and mini-mizes possible sources of error”,continues Michler.

“We have achieved our com-mon goal and were able to op-timize production with camQuixto such an extent that 90% ofall orders do not require manualintervention”, summarizes Mr.Häußler the project.

According to the developers,the basis of the successful im-plementations was: • Intelligent analysis of 3D mod-els (STEP)

• Automatic allocation of theprofile groups to the variousmachines

• Automatic tool assignment,optimization and automatictooling control

• 100% reliable collision controlcamQuix is among other

things specialized in the CNC-supported production of alu-minium profiles, mainly in thefield of window, door and facadeconstruction and has been usedworldwide since 2004. In themeantime, the camProx OHGsoftware has been in productiveuse at Berlemann TorbauGmbH for five years and formsthe basis of production there.

The combination of inno-vative design, optical lightnessof aluminium as a material andflexible CAM software, whichenables high throughput andshort delivery times, is appreci-ated by customers.

www.berlemann.dewww.camprox.com

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Berlemann Torbau breaks new ground

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Inova SilverLine Aluminium Sliding

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Continuous jet heating furnaces for rapid heating and uniform heat treat-ment in forging lines (suspension parts, hinges, wheel rims, etc.), including quench section, final cooling to handling temperature, and integration into conveyorized production lines.

Continuous convection heating furnaces for the heat treatment of castings (engine blocks, cylinder heads, structural parts, suspension components, etc.) including water and air quench as well as a destacking system integra-ted into the furnace chamber for individual quenching of parts.

Space-saving multi-deck rotary hearth furnaces using convective heating forthe treatment of forgings and castings (heat treatment of individual parts and material flow without product carriers), including water quench, air quench and industrial robot for part handling.

Continuous jet heating furnaces for an exceptionally efficient and/or fast heating of sheet metal components (doors, hoods, covers, etc.) made of high-strength age hardenable aluminium alloys, complete with jet cooling for extremely high quenching rates after the solution annealing step, including roller or belt conveyor, single or two-sided application and gas firing or electric heating system.

Automotive lightweighting BSN: Heat treatment of aluminium parts

BSN Thermprozesstechnik of Simmerath/Germany

supplies innovative furnace concepts for heating and heat-

treating of aluminium components. The equipment caters to

the entire range of lightweight engineering solutions.

Increasingly restrictive CO2 emission limits continue to

be the strongest driver for weight reductions in automotive

engineering today. In addition, lighter vehicles provide en-

hanced riding comfort and performance.

The most cost efficient solution for reducing vehicle mass

currently lies in the use of aluminium alloys. Especially in

bodywork, suspension and powertrain systems, which

account for the dominant portion of a car’s weight, alumini-

um can substitute many other component materials.

For a large number of parts, aluminium has achieved the

breakthrough to mass production already.

New production lines now in planning or already in the

implementation phase will make for additional growth.

At present, for instance, we are seeing investment in rolling

mill capacity for high strength aluminium on a global scale.

BSN supplies furnace concepts specifically developed

for the associated requirements in terms of quality and

features.

An overview of these furnace designs is given

on the right side.

www.bsn-therm.de

BSN Thermprozesstechnik GmbH

Kammerbruchstraße 64

D- 52152 Simmerath

Telefon + 49 2473-9277-0

E-Mail: info@bsn-therm.de

BSN

Thermprozesstechnik

We will be exhibiting at ALUMINIUM 2018 in Düsseldorf, Hall 10 - Stand E61

Energy is an expensive production resource. To save energy we've reliedsince 1986 on the energy efficient process of directvapor recompression.

T he industrial wastewater isevaporated under a slightvacuum. This reduces the

boiling temperature of the water.The emerging steam is com-pressed to ambient, normalpressure and heated up by me-ans of a vapor compressor. Theheated steam is then used forthe evaporation of the incomingindustrial wastewater. Thus theenergy of the water vapor is fedback. The energy of the hotsteam is recycled to evaporatethe wastewater. Due to the ener-gy recycling in the waste waterevaporator no additional eva-poration energy is required. Theelectrical motor of the vaporcompressor is the sole energyconsumer in the wastewaterevaporator system. Thus the Va-cudest wastewater evaporatorhas an energy efficiency of 95percent.

Focus on energy efficiencyOne of our goals, as we continueto further develop our Vacudestwastewater evaporator systems,is to improve energy efficiency.We provide for optimal heattransfer from the steam to thewastewater. Also the residualheat in the distillate is used ef-ficiently to pre-heat the waste-

water entering the system. Inthe last 10 years we could reducethe average energy consumptionin our Vacudest wastewater eva-porator systems by 28 percent.For the user this brings savingsof 2 – 3 €/m³ of treated indu-strial wastewater. Our modernVacudest wastewater evaporatorsystems stand for highest energyefficiency and lowest operatingcost.

Learn more about yourway into a wastewater-freeproductionNext year, too, you will havethe opportunity to meet H2OGmbH at one of the interna-tional industrial trade fairs andget to know the Vacudest vacu-um distillation system better.The Leaders in Zero LiquidDischarge will advise you per-sonally about your individualsavings potential.

IEexpo03. – 05.05.2018, Shanghai

IFAT14. – 18.05.2018, Munich

Surfair22. – 24.05. 2018, Biarritz

Surface Technology05. – 07.06.2018, Stuttgart

Aquatech04. – 06.09.2018, Mexico City

www.vakuumverdampfer-h2o.de

Wastewater evaporator with energy recycling provides for cost efficiency

Is low-cost lightweight con-struction possible in auto -motive engineering? Andwhy have solutions failedthus far? Answering thosequestions is the marketstudy “Lightweight Construc -tion as Innovation Driver” just presented by ALU-MINIUM organiser Reed Exhi -bitions. The findings werepublished on 20 Septemberat the Lightweight Techno -logies Forum taking place as part of the CompositesEurope trade fair in Stuttgart.

T he study describes the sta-tus quo, in particular thetrends and emerging chal-

lenges of multi-material light -weight construction in the auto -motive industry, and illuminatesthe innovation drivers of thefield – from legal requirementsand resource conservation toe-mobility and enhanced vehi-cle dynamics. Throughout thestudy, the authors elucidate in detail the questions and is-sues surrounding new tech-nologies, costs, barriers toimplemen tation and customerbenefits.

“The study shows how hy-brid lightweight constructionand mixed-material constructionmethods are rapidly gaining in importance”, says study di-rector Rainer Kurek from AMC,who designed and implementedthe collaborative project with trade fair organiser ReedExhibitions. “Since the energybalance of future low-energyand low-emission vehicles willdepend in large parts on effec-tive light weight construction,there’s a clear trend towardsintegrative vehicle concepts”,Kurek adds.

The study is based on inter -views and surveys with light -weight construction expertsfrom automotive manufacturersand suppliers as well as fromresearch institutes. In addition,the report summarises the find-ings of other lightweight con-struction studies. The resultsof the study (only in Germanlanguage) are available in abound format from Reed Ex-hibitions for a price of €300.For additional information,please contact Viktoria Heid-kamp, T +49 211 90191- 186,Viktoria.heidkamp@reedexpo.de

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Aluminium Praxis to give away two copies of the market study “Lightweight Constructionas Innovation Driver” (German language). Interested in getting a report? Then send an e-mail to alwin.schmitt@t-online.de. All submissions will be entered into a drawing for the studies. The submission deadline is 15 November 2017. No right of legal recourse shall be granted.

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3D printing, additive manu-facturing, laser cruising or se-lective laser sintering – whilean attempt is still beingmade to find a commonname for these novel manu-facturing processes, massiveinvestments are alreadybeing made worldwide andthe average growth rate inthe past four years was over30 per cent a year.

3D printing is now used inmany branches of industry:human joints, teeth, in-ear

hearing aids, spare parts forcars, aircraft, trains or ships,gold jewellery and nowadayseven complete houses. The rea-son for this sudden boom isthat 3D printing enables novelproducts to be made with mi-nimal use of resources, duringmanufacturing as well as duringoperation. However, the newproducts must first be developedand approved – and that is notalways easy given the innovativenature of the method of ma-nufacture.

AM plant technologymakes it possibleStrictly speaking, additive ma-nufacturing technology has beenaround for over 20 years. It isonly now that it has experiencedan industrial breakthrough. Ad-ditive manufacturing describesa process in which a componentis produced in layers based onthree-dimensional design data.Weldable metals and meltableplastics are available as materials.

Powdered material is weldedlayer by layer in the printerusing a laser or electron beamor applied via a nozzle.

Systems for carrying out AMprocesses with metal have longsince been available for indus -trial use. Not only do they havea larger build envelope, thespace where the products aremanufactured, the system laserpower is also becoming evergreater in multi-laser applica -tions. The development started

in 2011 with systems that had alaser power of 250 watts; todaythere are systems commerciallyavailable with up to two kilowattsand it has been announcedthat a four-kilowatt unit will beintroduced in 2017.

The most powerful seriesprinter for metal currently avail -able is the Concept X-Line2000, a double-laser unit witha total laser power of two kilo-watts. The largest powderbedprinter is in South Africa. It

was developed by Aerosud, asupplier to Airbus, with thehelp of public funding. From2017 onwards it is intended toproduce titanium componentsat a rate of 250 cubic centime-tres an hour using a five-kilowattlaser system.

Systems are thus not onlygetting faster and larger, largeamounts of money are alsobeing invested in the develop-ment of these technologies. Forindustrial applications, besidesthe laser power and the buildenvelope, it is primarily the in-process control that is of interest.The production units continu-ously control all the parametersof the printing process and givethe operator the first indicationswhether and where in the com-ponent there might be an areathat must be specially examinedafter manufacturing.

Potential applications inthe aerospace industrySo far, more than 230 AM metalprojects have been implementedin cooperation with a largenumber of engineering teams,mainly in Germany. It is beco-ming clear that AM combined

with topology engineering orfunction integration is openingup completely new potentialfor the aerospace industry aswell for other industries. An ex-ample here is the hydrauliccontrol block for raising andlowering the spoiler on theA380. The printed housing canreduce weight by 35 per cent,and there are thus new oppor-tunities to reduce flow resis -tances within the equipment.These components (producedby Liebherr in cooperation withAirbus) was successfully testedfor the first time in the AirbusA380’s test facility on 30 March2017, a world first.

Potential CO2 savings madepossible by AM-related genera-tive (automated) design can bestbe illustrated using the ‘bionicpartition’: during an averageoperating year of an A320, prin-ted latticeworks in Scalmalloy(an AlMgSc alloy) lead to a 45per cent weight saving and anapproximately three tonne savingin kerosene consumption, andthus reduced emission of aboutten tonnes of CO2.

In the long term, so-called‘clean sheet designs’ will emerge.

One takes a complete compo-nent and produces multifunctio-nal designs that are only feasibleusing AM. The first demonstra-tion project is an assembly forattaching a hydraulic tank inthe aircraft. Previously, this com-prised 126 individual parts andmore than 60 fasteners. It isconceivable that there will asolution for series productionin 2019 that consists of onlythree or four parts and at thesame time will still reduce weightby about 30 per cent.

Further prospectsIt is foreseeable that AM willbecome established in most in-dustries, primarily for any meansof transport. The strived-forelectromobility in particular willhave to utilise additional light-weight construction potential.Process engineering as a whole,e.g. in mechanical engineering,will also be able to use new de-sign freedoms, e.g. for supplyingor dissipating heat in order toreduce process times.

Sooner or later, AM will affect every industryThe new printable AM-CADmodel is the best example forfuture digitisation.

Far less hardware will betransported and in future pro-duction will take place withoutfixtures at the point of use (star-ting with digital spare parts…)

www.airbus.com

Author: Peter Sander, Vice President,Manager Emerging, Tech-nologies and Concepts Ger-many, Airbus OperationsGmbH Hamburg

Changes in manufacturing and product design due to additive manufacturing (AM) – 3D printing

Hydraulic Bracker assy with concept plane

Peter Sander with BioSpoiler

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WEFA has been producing allporthole extrusion dies andflat dies in new 5-axis millingcenters. By introducing 5-axistechnology, we were able tosignificantly optimize the pre-vious production strategy. Inparticular, the expenses formanual reworking as well asEDM work have decreasedsharply. The elimination ofprocessing steps also meansthe reduction of assemblywork which is prone to error.In addition to the advantagesin terms of time, the conver-sion to 5-axis production alsocreates further technologicaladvantages. The contour and repetitionaccuracy of the parts, for ex-ample, have been dramati-cally increased.

The generally higher pro-duction quality reduces thesubsequent finishing work

to the extent that only minimalgrinding work is necessary inthe area of the ports, feeds, etc.for rounding. This developmentled to a change in thinking inthe design and programing de-partments at WEFA due to thefact that it is now mandatoryto have full 3-D CAD modelsfor all dies. The increased mod-eling expenses are partially bal-anced out by the faster manu-facturing process. In addition,the increased repetition accuracyreduces expenses related to cor-rections.

On average, the processingtime can be reduced by almosthalf a day by converting to 5-axis processing with its signifi-cantly increased precision. Thisalso allows future extrusion diesto contain innovative ventilationfeeds within the dies in orderto cool the profiles and tocreate an inert gas atmosphereat the profile outlet, which isalso more efficient and of higherquality.

Coating DevelopmentThe durability of an extrusiondie is greatly influenced by thethermal and mechanical loadduring the pressing process. Inparticular, the main causes ofdie failure are abrasive and ad-

hesive wear and tear on the diesurface, thermal fatigue, as wellas corrosion. In order to increasethe durability of dies, both con-ventional nitriding processes aswell as specific CVD coatingsare applied to the die surfaces.WEFA has been selling coatedextrusion dies (CED) underpatent and trademark for years.The coating using chemical va-por deposition (CVD) offersseveral advantages comparedto conventional nitriding pro-cesses. For example, coated diesdo not require the various sub-sequent nitriding treatmentsunavoidable for nitrided diesdue to thermally induced dif-fusion processes of the nitrogenwithin the structure and theaccompanying softening of thesurface layer. The CVD coatings,uniformly applied in terms ofstructure and thickness, do notrequire any subsequent treat-ments and are distinguished bya very strong wear resistance bymeans of optimal adhesion to

the substrate as well as theirsuperior hardness. Due to theirlow friction coefficient and ther-mal qualities, CVD-coated ex-trusion dies also make fasterextrusion speeds in the extrusionplant possible.

There has been a shift atWEFA from high temperature(HT-CVD) to mid temperaturecoatings (MT-CVD) over thepast years. The approx. 200 °Clower coating temperature pro-vides several advantages. Oneadvantage is the reduction ofthe thermal load of the substrate(hot-tool steel), which can sig-nificantly minimize warping,particularly for large dies. Inaddition, the layer structure andsurface are much finer, whichalso allows for the improvementof, for example, the surfacequality of the extruded alu-minum profiles. Figures 1 and2 show an example of the in-fluence of the CVD-process onthe surface structure of anAl2O3-coating layer. Current

developments are focused onmodified TiN-based CVD coat-ings, which offer several bene-ficial layer characteristics withregard to wear resistance, layerhardness and surface, as wellas nanocrystalline layer struc-ture.

Using FE-SimulationsThe use of FE methods in thearea of extrusion has great po-tential for both die design aswell as in the extrusion plant.Thanks to the continuous de-velopment of software packagesand the significantly improveduser-friendliness and calculationefficiency, using this tool whendesigning difficult extrusion diesoffers great advantages. Partic-ularly for sophisticated profiles,the simulated results provideimportant information relatedto material flow and its homo-geneity within the die as wellas at the profile outlet. Thus,potential die deformations canbe noticed and design measurestaken to maintain the dimen-sional tolerances of the profileand to prevent the prematurefailure of the die. WEFA cur-rently uses the commercial sim-ulation packages Altair Hyper-Xtrude and PF-Extrude, the latter developed at the ETHZurich.

Figure 3 shows the stationarysimulation results regarding pro-file speed for a thin-walled hol-low profile as well as the realprofile head. Typically, only thestationary condition of the ma-terial flow is calculated for theefficient use of FE simulation.This does not allow for a preciseimage of the profile head.

However, a significant inho-mogeneity of the profile speedemerges from the simulatedimage. This information allows

the user to predict when thecorner and edge areas are run-ning at a higher speed as wellas flow reduction in the middleof the profile of the actual part.On the basis of these simulatedresults, the designer has thepossibility of taking design mea-sures and further optimizingthe die prior to production.The mid-range goal is to com-pletely or at least partially avoidsample extrusions in the extru-sion plant and to increase cus-tomer satisfaction with the re-sulting savings in time and costs.This is particularly relevant forcoated extrusion dies (CED)due to the fact that correctionsare more difficult for these diesthan for conventional dies. Thus,in connection with 3-DCAD/CAM and 5-Axis-Tech-nology, a pioneering die conceptis emerging.

Authors: Joachim Maier, ChristophBecker, Marcus Engelhardt

WEFAHall 14, Stand F25

www.wefa.com 

Die Construction of the Future

Since 1972 WEFA, a family-owned die making company,produces aluminum extrusi-on dies for the internationalmarket. At five locations inGermany, the Czech Repu-blic, Switzerland and theUSA WEFA manufactureshigh-precision porthole and

flat dies for profiles whichare used in the automobileand construction industriesas well as in electrical engi-neering. With the develop-ment and subsequent paten-ting of our own coating pro-cess, WEFA made the leapto become the global market

leader in the area of coateddies. Our customers includeleading aluminum compa-nies and innovative medium-sized pressing plants. Cur-rently the company employsover 250 highly qualifiedpeople and trains its ownspecialists.

WEFA: Best dies for best profiles

Figure 2: Al2O3-coating layer surface applied with MT-CVD

Figure 1: Al2O3- coating layer surface applied with HT-CVD

Figure 3: Real profile head and the corresponding simulation result

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The honeycomb structure is cutwith a good surface finish at alow cutting pressure so as notto crush the honeycomb, thechips are broken cleanly andaluminium can be machinedwithout excessive tool wear.

Wide range for aluminium machiningThe range offers a wide varietyof tools for machining alumi-nium, from extremely small/mi-cro milling cutters for applica-tions in aluminium die makingvia HSC high-speed milling cut-ters through to HPC high-powermilling cutters, especially for tro-cholidal dynamic cutting (TDC)with CAM-optimised tool paths.

There are various optionswith a diameter of 0.3 mm ormore for large working depthswhen 3D machining alumini-um shapes: with sharp cuttingedges for a flat groove base, asa torus cutter with a corner ra-dius or as a full-radius cutter forcopying work.

Various types of milling cut-ter are available for high-speedmachining of aluminium: withlarge chip spaces, non-uniformtransverse pitch, protectivechamfers, combined roughingand finishing profiles, chip brea-kers and internal coolant supplywith coolant discharge in thegrooves. The polished surfacesresult in a lower sticking ten-dency. The TDC process is re-commended for high-powermachining. It involves high-dy-namic milling at high cuttingspeeds and controlled axial wor-king depths. CAM-optimisedtool paths combined with va-riable delivery and dynamicfeed rates lead to an optimalcontrolled depth of cut andthus the best cutting conditionsfor milling.

The benefits of the TDCmilling strategy in combinationwith SPPW milling cutters are: • the complete working depthof the milling cutter (3 x dia-meter) can be used

• the cutting forces are better dis-tributed over the milling tool

• significantly less heat is gene-rated during the milling pro-cess

• the life of the milling cutter isincreased

• the metal removal rate increa-ses dramatically

• the machining times are con-siderably reduced.

In SPPW’s new comprehen-sive catalogue, which comes outin 2018, the range has been si-

gnificantly extended and deve-loped further. For the Rapid-Line product family, these ad-ditions take the developmentof new materials and technolo-gies into account. “We havecontinually observed the trendsand developments with newmaterials, especially in light-weight construction, and by me-ans of thorough and extensivetesting we have developed theappropriate tools for the respec-tive materials,” says Oliver Mei-neke, CEO of SPPW GmbH.

In the area that deals withthese tools, the additions are sosignificant that they are coveredin a separate section of the ca-talogue. Users who machinealuminium, lightweight con-structional materials and com-posites thus have a compact yetnevertheless comprehensiveworking document with clearlypresented tool selection for thevarious applications and tech-nical information and appro-priate recommendations for thecutting data.

All SPPW milling cutters areoffered with different commoncoatings to offer an optimal so-lution for the client’s respectivemachining process. Thus, thereis almost always an appropriatecutting tool for almost every ap-plication in lightweight con-struction.

www.sppw.de

Lightweight construction isbecoming increasingly impor-tant in every sector. Reducingweight and conserving re-sources have contributed towards the development ofnew materials, ever more ofwhich are finding their wayinto factory workshops. Newtechnologies are needed to machine and process plastics, aluminium and aluminium alloys, Dibond, copper and copper-base alloys, fibre-composite mate-rials, aramid fibre reinforcedplastics, honeycomb compo-sites, graphitic materials andGRP/CFRP and similar newmaterials.

Spanabhebende Präzisions-werkzeuge GmbH (SPPW)based in Lich, Hessen, is

offering the appropriate answerwith its Rapid Line range. Therange was developed some years ago for the lightweightconstruction industry and hasbeen continuously adapted inclose cooperation with clientsto meet changing requirements.

Milling tools with specialgeometries and propertiesRapid Line HSC milling cuttersexhibit a highly polished (finelylapped) flute. Combined withthe special geometry of the cut-

ting edge, this means they havean extremely favourable coeffi-cient of friction and offer signi-ficantly better chip removalwhen machining long-chippingmaterials. Lower temperaturesmean overheating and weldingpick-up are avoided. These mil-ling cutters have a longer servicelife and achieve a significantlybetter surface finish, so that onecan dispense with subsequentpolishing.

SPPW stocks grooved RapidLine milling cutters for machi-ning thin materials. The straightflute means less deflection isgenerated parallel to the toolaxis, which reduces vibration ofthe workpiece considerably, im-proves the surface finish andextends the life expectancy ofthe tool. The use of a straightflute avoids tensile forces andprevents delamination.

Rapid Line HSC milling cut-

All SPPW milling cutters are offered with different common coatings

Rapid Line Aluminium milling cutters: Wide range for aluminium machining

Rapid Line tools

ters with pyramid cross-cut pro-files for machining compositesare a special innovation. Thesemilling cutters are available withdifferent profiles and designs:• with a multi-edged end millfor face milling, circumferentialmilling and trimming

• with a double-edged end millfor groove milling, plunge mil-ling and circumferential mil-ling

• with a 135° drill tip for cuttingto size, trimming and drilling.

Rapid Compression millingcutters are a new addition tothe programme. The spiralisingin these milling cutters changesfrom left to right, which leadsto the axial cutting forces con-verging in the centre, in otherwords being compressed. In ad-dition, the milling cutters havea chip breaker to ensure rapidremoval of the chips and reduc-tion of the process temperature.

Rapid Compression milling cut-ters are intended for machiningplastics based on epoxy resinsor polyesters with carbon orglass fibres and enable surfaceswith a finish quality of Ra < 2µm to be produced.

Honeycomb composites,which have an extremely favou-rable stiffness-to-weight ratioand are widely available, mustbe machined using tools thatdo not damage the honeycombstructure or cause a burr, other-wise the adhesion between theplates will be reduced conside-rably. Furthermore, it makeseconomic sense to do a jobwith only one tool – in otherwords without a tool change –and without reworking.

The milling cutters of theRapid Line range can also offera solution here that meets theserequirements to make the ma-chining of honeycomb reliable.

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The requirement: reliable machining of lightweight constructional materials, aluminium and composites

25

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eluCloud is the joint “Industry4.0” solution from eluCloudand elusoft for the digitaliza -tion and analysis of machineand production data. An analysis of these data helpsto optimize production pro-cesses and to proactivelyplan maintenance tasks. Thisallows cost reductions, in-creased machine availabilityand improved productivity.

The eluCloud captures ma-chine and production dataduring active operations.

This data is combined to formmeaningful analysis results andare provided in real time. Con-sequently, what is currently ta-king place in production andwhat has already been accom-plished can be viewed at anytime from anywhere. In thisway, the eluCloud enables re-sponsible parties to quickly re-cognize deviations from the de-sired production flow. The livedisplay of the current machinestatus and the real-time calcu-lation of momentary machineefficiency are among the featureswhich provide assistance here.Problems in production becomeapparent very quickly as a resultand the data collected help instructured troubleshooting andanalysis. Moreover, the eluCloudoffers an overview of currentlyrunning jobs as well as detailedinformation on the parts pro-duced. This information provi-des the basis for exact analysisof production times and indi-vidual optimizations. The elu-Cloud product group also helpsin demonstrating to potentialclients: “We are a reliable andtechnologically advanced part-ner.”

Industry 4.0 – decision-relevant information forlong-term success, every-where and at all times Machine data acquisition hasa long tradition. Often times,the data was only available di-rectly at the machine. Conse-quently, the data had to be ma-nually exported from the ma-chine or perhaps even recordedby hand in writing. Our newproduct group is called “elu-Cloud” because the machinedata are now digitalized andtransmitted to the central elu-Cloud server fully automaticallyduring active production ope-rations. Gathering the data long-term on a central server makessense because large amountsof data are acquired and thisapproach avoids burdening themachine PCs with the task ofstoring it locally.

Of foremost importance forelumatec and elusoft is the pro-tection of the acquired data.This is why the eluCloud solu-tion differs from other well-

known cloud products. The elu-Cloud server was specially de-veloped so that it can be inte-grated into a company’s existingIT infrastructure with no greateffort. This means that the dataremain safely within the com-pany. The requirements of In-dustry 4.0 are met by the elu-Cloud with the help of variousdifferent modules which offerindividualized options for ac-cessing the saved data, analysingthem, or integrating them inexisting applications. This en-sures that the data are alwaysavailable where they are neededand can thereby contribute tolong-term success.

The eluCloud product groupThe eluCloud product groupcomprises four different mo-dules and one app which makesthe eluCloud functions ac -cessible worldwide from asmartphone, tablet, laptop orPC. With this app, the user cancheck up on the status of ma-chines operating in the plantback home with a smartphonewhile travelling. For businesstravellers, the app is like a pairof binoculars which allow de-velopments at home to be re-cognized in advance. Being well-informed, it is possible to reactquickly if deviations from plan-ned schedules arise. The foureluCloud modules are calledeluCloud Monitor, eluCloudServer, eluCloud Analytics andeluCloud API.

eluCloud MonitorThe eluCloud Monitor is themachine’s digital window. Thismodule processes the recordedmachine and production dataand presents them in a clearoverview. This makes the elu-Cloud Monitor the fundamentalbuilding block in the overalleluCloud solution. The desig -nation is clearly derived fromthe verb “to monitor.” The mo-dern controllers of elumatecmachines are able to capturemany types of data for this pur-pose in real time, which youcan then access with the elu-Cloud Monitor.

For instance, this includesinformation about the quantitiesof parts produced, error mes-sages, or detailed time protocolsconcerning downtimes, produc-tion duration, spindle operatingtimes or the service lives of thetools used. This exact time in-formation helps in recognizingthe necessary maintenance in-tervals in advance, allowing bet-ter planning for them.

eluCloud ServerAll of the data from the linkedmachine go onto the eluCloudServer. It stores all status mes-sages and makes them availablefor analysis and utilization. The

eluCloud server was speciallydeveloped to be integrated intoa company’s existing IT infra-structure. Provided that there isfree server hardware capacityin the company, the eluCloudServer can be installed on exi-sting systems with ease. TheeluCloud Monitor module andthe eluCloud Server form thebasic equipment for customerswho wish to use the eluCloud.

The solution provided bythis combination allows impor-tant key figures such as operatinghours, spindle operating timesor the quantity of processedparts for an individual machineor an entire machine pool tobe monitored. In fact, it is irre-levant whether all of the ma-chines are operated at the samelocation or are distributed acrossseveral production sites. Thedata are prepared and presentedin the form of a web page andcan be viewed from any enddevice with a connection tothe eluCloud Server. Thedashboard gives an overview ofeach individual item of infor-mation so that it can be seenat a glance.

eluCloud Analytics eluCloud Analytics is a supple-mental module for subsequentanalysis of product and machinedata. This makes detailed ana-lysis of topics such as the follo-wing possible: production uti-lization, progress of job pro-cessing, processing times forjobs, analysis of individual ma-chines, analysis of the entiremachine pool or processing times for individual parts. elu-Cloud Analytics, with the pro-

cessed information and its user-friendly filter options, also sup-ports the optimization of pro-duction times, for example.

Through the capture andanalysis of non-productive timessuch as clamp positioning ope-rations, tool changes or partorientation changes, the tech-niques employed in productioncan be refined and the timescan be reduced in a sustainablemanner. The module also helpsin troubleshooting and productcosting analysis.

Using filter functions allowsexact determination of the re-quired production times for ajob or a part. This knowledgealso serves as a very good basisfor the costing of future jobs.Using this information as a

basis also allows questions suchas, “When did which downtimesoccur?” and “What was the rea-son for this?” can be answeredeasily after the fact.

eluCloud APIA core characteristic of everyIndustry 4.0 solution is the seam -less communication betweenindividual machines or betweenthe machine and the software,which is often summarized withthe term “Internet of Things.”This can be implemented withthe help of eluCloud API. Theterm “API” refers to an interfacewith which the eluCloud solu-tion can be integrated into exis -ting Industry 4.0 concepts aswell as linked to other softwaresolutions. The machine data

and analysis results which aregathered in the eluCloud canbe accessed and further pro-cessed for this purpose by ex-ternal programs, such as costaccounting programs and ERPor MES systems.

For instance, it would alsobe possible to automaticallysend messages to an internalordering system when the elu-Cloud system has recognizedthat the maximum service lifeof a tool in use will soon bereached.

ElumatecHall 9, Stand D10

www.elumatec.com

With data analysis to success Die eluCloud-Produktgruppe

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Aluvation Technology CenterPaderborn GmbH, the techno-logy company formed byMarkus Belte in October2016, offers a complete pa-ckage for the heat treatmentof aluminium automotivecomponents: process devel -opment, equipment supply,data acquisition and dataprocessing. The first moduleis currently being optimisedduring trial operation. An ad-ditional module (air cooling)will go into operation in No-vember and further moduletypes –continuousthroughput, cooling with air,water or polymer – will beavailable at the end of thefirst quarter of 2018.

Heat treatment is a key pro-cessing step and an increa-singly important one when

it comes to highly stressed alu-minium components like thoseused in the car industry. Use ofmodern technologies means itis not only possible to modify a component’s mechanical properties (yield strength, elon-gation at fracture and tensilestrength) in a targeted mannerbut it is also possible to mini-mise the level of residual stress.

New innovative heat treatment conceptsOver the past two decades, thedevelopment of heat treatment

has been closely associated withthe name Markus Belte. In 1998,Belte founded a company inDelbrück that offered alumini-um-processing companies pro-fessional heat treatment services.A fundamentally important in-novation was that the companyused polymer quenching insteadof the water bath that had beenused almost exclusively hitherto.Use of the new method reducedthe level of residual stress to ap-prox. 10% of its previous levelwhile improving the compo-nent’s mechanical properties.

In order to be able to offerthis method at economicallycompetitive prices, Belte devel -oped the concept of a universalheat treatment line for the au-tomated flow of parts, with op-tional quenching in water or po-lymer. Cooperation with the Es-sen-based company that wasthen called LOI Thermprocessresulted in a novel plant for dif-fering process variants and com-ponents.

The concept was developedinto a marketable air-quenchingsystem suitable for series pro-duction of heavy gauge compo-nents during the next step. Thismethod promises particularlyuniform cooling over the wholecross-section of the part. The re-sult was an effective reductionin residual stresses that was su-perior to that of polymer quen-ching in many cases.

Based on the experience gained from the experiments ithad carried out, the companydesigned a continuous processplant for automotive parts in2004, cooperating closely withLOI Thermprocess once again;in addition to water or polymerquenching, this plant can alsobe used on an industrial scalewith air as the quenching medium. Altheim near to Lands-hut was chosen as the locationfor this plant and the unit hasbeen operating successfully since August 2006.

Centralised or decentralised?At first, Belte was reliant at

first on a central plant for thedevelopment and market launchof new heat treatment processes.This was associated, however,with a not insignificant logisticaleffort. The aluminium compo-nents were cast at one location,then driven to the heat treater,where they were treated, shippedonce again and then sent formachining. The effort for thetransport – not just the costs butalso the time ─ is considerable.In addition, intermediate storageis always required at each loca-tion to safeguard the processchain, which ties up capital.

The first step towards solvingthese conflicting goals was theinstallation of the first continu-ous process plant in Landshut,in the immediate vicinity of au-

tomotive customers. Despite itssuccessful operation, this solu-tion was also ultimately incapa-ble of satisfying those medium-sized foundries and processorswho did not have access to theplant.

‘Aluvation’, a new conceptdeveloped by Belte involving de-centralised heat treatment usingmobile plant modules, promiseda truly radical solution. The sys -

tem comprises the completeprocess, starting with client-specific process developmentand planning, via making theplant available (if necessary in-cluding start-up and certifica -tion) through to construction ofthe respective supporting jigs re -quired and monitoring. For this,plant engineering is providedthat allows modules to be com-bined in order to fulfil the spe-cific task.

Process development withthe support of specialistsThe starting point is the devel -opment of the heat treatmentprocess optimised for each in-dividual component. The Alu-vation Technology Center (ATC)with its experienced team head-ed by Dr Dragulin and its fullyequipped laboratory providessupport here. The company re-gards the R&D department to

be the conceptual basis for thebusiness idea. The fact that pro-cesses are developed using stan-dardised plants means that thewhole process for a component,including the production planttechnology, is reliably definedonce the design phase has beencompleted.

The complete process fromsolution heat treatment, quen-ching and ageing through tostraightening and testing is de-

veloped in plants located at theATC. The supporting jigs are alsodesigned and built in parallel at the ATC; their effect on theheat treatment process and thedistortion of the componentsshould not be underestimated.Reproducibility of the results isensured because process devel -opment is carried out on theATC plants that are suitable forseries production.

The results can be validatedby the laboratory at the ATC.This means it is also possible todirectly monitor series produc-tion continuously during theramp-up phase.

Plant engineering – univer-sally adaptable and flexibleAluvation envisages using a mo-bile and standardised modulesystem for heat treatment. Thisallows production plants adap-

Aluvation is in the starting blocksLayout of modules of a continuous furnace with polymer quenching

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ted to the process to be put to-gether by combining differentmodules.

All modules are designed inthe form of containers suitablefor road transport, so that thereis no restriction on flexible useof the plants. The furnace plantmodules were designed andbuilt by Tenova LOI Thermpro-cess GmbH, with whom Beltehas collaborated successfullyfrom the start. They operateusing a roller hearth and can beused as batch furnaces as wellas continuous process plants.

All modules can be mutuallycombined. This allows the plantperformance to be adapted fle-xibly to the changing require-ments of the production process.One can start, for example, witha small unit (e.g. a batch furna-ce), which with increasing de-mand for parts can be upgradedby adding additional modules.Conversely, it can also be re -duced in size again. Further -more, the physical position ofthe modules in the productionflow can be changed at any time.

Several furnace modules, anair-quench module and a me-dia-quench module are availa-ble. In addition, there are varioustransport modules, which if ne-cessary can also be complemen-ted using special customised so-lutions.

The furnace modules consistessentially of a furnace shell withinsulation and include heating,air circulation, transport systemand control unit. There is alsoa charge/discharge module,which has a door on the oneside and is open on the other, achannel module that is open onboth sides and a batch furnacemodule, which is designed tobe a complete compact furnace.

The air-quench module is in-stalled complete with air supply,transport system, control unitand silencers and can be incor-porated into a line as a closedunit.

The media-quench modulecomprises three units: the con-tainers, the pump unit and thetransport system. In addition, themedia-quench module is instal-led in such a way that the solu-

tion annealing furnace can beinstalled at a higher level.

All modules are installed onthe factory floor. They do notrequire special foundations. Themodules can be erected and ready for operation within a fewdays.

Individually adapted supporting jigs The seating for the supportingjigs must be adapted individuallyto the components; in contrast,the external dimensions and thedesign of the underside, whichis important for transport, arealways the same. They can bedesigned as a complete unit oras several jigs stacked one ontop of another. The spray sys -tems in the furnaces and coolingstations are designed in such away that they are equally suitablefor use with a very large rangeof different geometries.

The development of suppor-ting jigs is an important factor,especially for the heat treatmentof structural components, be-cause correct support preventsdeformation (less correctivework needed). It is importantthat sensitive areas of the com-ponent are supported and ef-fects attributable to the castingprocess are considered.

All supporting jigs can beidentified by means of a uniquecode and are thus trackable. Aheat treatment programme canbe assigned automatically to thesupporting jig and the batch. Ifthe batch of the supporting jigbeing used is not compatiblewith the process selected, theunit can refuse to accept thesupporting jig.

Fully in keeping with Industry 4.0Relayr GmbH in Munich is in-volved as the cooperation part-ner for the monitoring of theplants and processes. The systemdeveloped by Relayr allows pre-ventive maintenance to be car-ried out on the plants, it sup-ports the overall concept andtakes care of the integrated datastorage. The Relayr modules canbe used on any plant. They en-able deviations from the normal

state and the current data fromplants installed worldwide to berecorded and analysed.

The plants are monitored di-rectly from the Aluvation Tech-nology Center (ATC) in Pader-born. If a furnace module goesinto operation at the client’s fa-cility, the furnace scans the codeon the supporting jigs and callsup the relevant data for the re-spective treatment from the ATCin Paderborn. It is such digitali-sation that makes multiple ope-ration of the Aluvation plants ateach location possible at all; butmanaged and controlled fromthe ATC.

The necessary process docu-mentation is also prepared cen-trally at the ATC and processedand made available digitally forthose requesting the informati-on. This is in keeping with theconcept of Industry 4.0, whichis leading the way for the digitalalignment of future productionplants.

Conclusion and outlookThe heat treatment concept de-veloped by Belte is novel andrevolutionary. The key elementis the standardisation of the mo-dular plants and processes,which provides every marketplayer with access to the latestheat treatment technology – anddoes so with economically jus -tifiable effort. The concept offersimportant benefits:

The standardised modules ofthe mobile integrated heat treat-

ment plant make it possible todevelop processes until they areready for series production with -out having to erect the final production plant. This reducesdevelopment time and effort.

The plants can be installedin different places without anychanges having to be made andalways give the same heat treat-ment results.

The mobile heat treatmentplant reduces transport distancesand costs and thus makes a po-sitive contribution to environ-mental protection.

With its integrated digitalmonitoring, centralised dataanalysis and centralised compi-lation of batch reports, the sy-stem also meets the require-ments of Industry 4.0.

The first steps on the roadto establishing the complex sys -tem with its multifarious oppor-tunities have now been taken.To begin with, the completespectrum of existing plant mo-dules will be available in Pader-born by the spring of 2018. Oncethe functioning and perfor-mance of the modules has beenproven at the ATC, the activeimplementation of the rentalstrategy will begin as an addi-tional field of business. At themoment, according to informa-tion from Aluvation, enquiriesfor module plants of the orderof more than 100 units have al-ready been received from lea-ding OEMs. The market is ap-parently receptive to the Aluva-tion concept.

Given the serious repercus-sions aluminium componentscan have on the process chain,attention to further develop-ments should be given in a time -ly manner. Additional advancedupgrading steps and ideas thathave not been mentioned herewill be covered in detail in a se-ries of articles in this periodicalin future. Another aspect thatneeds to be examined is seriesproduction of heat treatmentplants, something that has notbeen practised hitherto.

ATC ALUVATION Technology Center

Paderborn Hall 10, Stand H13

aluvation.com

Batch furnace module in the test phase during a temperature distribution measurement

Ramp-up curve of a heat treatment process

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ics: A

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tion

1997Majestetic kickoff:

Queen Sonja from Norway at the

opening ceremony of the first ALUMINIUM

2004Bright prospects for the

automotive industry

1998AlLUMINIUM

shows profile

2006 Astronaut Ulf Merbold, racing driver

Jutta Kleinschmidt and designer Luigi Colani at the

presentation of the European Aluminium Award

What few people realise:the origins of DeutscheMesse AG in Hannover

were all about aluminium. That’sbecause until the end of WorldWar II, the location of the world’sbiggest exhibition centre todaywas the site of Metallwerke Han-nover, a subsidiary of aluminiumproducer and processor Verei-nigte Leichtmetall Werke (VLW).High-quality aluminium alloyswere rolled, pressed, drawn andforged right here, at the plant inLaatzen. No one at the time ex-pected the production site to oneday turn into the home of theleading capital-goods trade fairin the world – today’s HannoverMesse. But that’s exactly how itcame to be.

Miracle of HannoverOnce the war was over, the Bri-tish military government pushedfor Germany’s economy to getback on its feet. A large industrialtrade fair was aimed at drivingreconstruction. Initially Düssel-dorf, already a trade fair location,was the Britons first choice. ButDüsseldorf hesitated, and so thecity on the Leine river – untilthen a blank spot on the tradefair map – was awarded the con-tract. A location was foundquickly: within 99 days, the par-tially destroyed VLW halls wererenovated and turned into thevenue of the first industrial tradefair. The “Miracle of Hannover”began on 17 August 1947 andhas since created the world’s lar-gest network of trade fairs, whichitself spawned a number of sepa -

rate industry fairs over time.ALUMINIUM, launched in1997, was one of them. But 65years would go by before Düs-seldorf would get its secondchance at hosting ALUMI -NIUM.

“The idea of launching a se-parate trade fair initiative hadbeen discussed intensively inGDA’s governing bodies since1995”, recalls Christian Wellner,who today serves as the mana-ging member of the GDA Exe-cutive Committee. That needarose because the aluminium in-dustry hadn’t been representedwith a group stand in Hannoversince 1992. The GDA, the just-founded German Confederationof the Aluminium Industry, start-ed discussing new ways of esta-blishing a trade fair presence:“Why not in the form of an in-dependent trade fair that livesup to the self-image and growingimportance of the aluminium in-

dustry?” It’s a question ChristianWellner kept asking repeatedly.Acting as the driving force for astand-alone event, he engaged intalks with Blenheim, the inter-national trade fair organiser lateracquired by Miller Freeman and,ultimately, by Reed Exhibitions.

The first draft of the ALUMI-NIUM contract listing GDA asa conceptual sponsor was signedon 20 March 1996. The biggestsurprise: the Rhein-Main-Hallenexhibition centre was designatedas the venue – and not Essen.Meanwhile, evidence was pilingup that a British publishing andevent company had been pur-suing concrete plans for an alu-minium congress and exhibition.The location was supposed to

be Essen. Two events on thesame topic, both in Germany:an agreement was reached to or-ganise a joint congress and tradefair. Reed Exhibitions wouldn’ttake over the shares of the part-ner until 2004.

1997: ALUMINIUM kickoffThe big day finally arrived on 24September 1997: ALUMINIUMwas launched in Essen. A totalof 265 exhibitors set up theirstands in Exhibition Halls 1 and2; 5,394 trade visitors came tosee them. It was striking eventhen that more than half of theexhibiting companies and nearly40 per cent of the visitors hailedfrom abroad. And it goes withoutsaying that the organisations cel -ebrating their anniversaries in2017 – GDA and Hydro – were

represented at the inauguralevent, as were renowned industrygreats such as today’s SMSGroup. A brilliant start with spe-cial guest adding an extra doseof glamour: Queen Sonja of Nor-way made the trek from Oslo toopen the first ALUMINIUM.

She probably wasn’t awareback then that she would inau-gurate one the most successfulindustrial trade fairs to hit themarket in the past 20 years. It’sbeen so successful and growingthat 65 years after the initial “No”,Düsseldorf did ultimately get itschance – and has been the siteof the ALUMINIUM trade fairsince 2012.

HistoryIn the beginning there was aluminium

100 years of VAW and Hydro Aluminium, 25 years of GDA and 20 years of the ALUMINIUM trade show: 2017 is the year of anniversaries. The fact that the historical paths of today’s anniversary celebrants have intersected and cross-pollinated each other again and again is the lesser-known side of the story.

2012Aluminium approaching Düsseldorf:

With the Ju52 over the aluminium country NRW

2004Aluminium in dialogue: The GDA talk