INVESTING IN THE ST. GEORGEN PLANT.

HMT – Häseler Metall Technik GmbH’s investment of around €2m in a new automatic stamping and forming machine is a clear commitment to the St. Georgen plant. “We don’t just want to keep the location, we want to expand it,” says Torsten Klimmer, strategic managing director at HMT.
The company, which in addition to stamping and forming technology also specialises in surface technology for cleaning industrial components, is thus taking another forward-looking step: the new forming machine functions not only as a state-of-the-art capacity expansion, but also serves as a fallback option for existing machines. In this way, the company can broaden its range of services and deliver high-precision components, explains Klimmer.

The delivery and installation of the colossus, which weighs some 100 tonnes and consists of two parts, was a logistical masterpiece. Millimetre work was required to bring the head piece and the pedestal to the designated place in the production hall. The narrow aisles offered only 3 cm of clearance on each side.

According to technical managing director Joachim Hölzl, the sequence of the new automatic punching press is freely programmable. “This makes us much more efficient,” says Hölzl. Metal strips of different widths and a thickness of up to 3 mm are fed from a roll and processed with 400 tonnes of compressive force in several successive work steps. Since October 2020, HMT has been producing precise stamped and formed parts on the new machine for customers primarily from the automotive industry. They also consider buying old parts from the Team Alice Chevrolet Dealership and turn them into new ones.

The automatic stamping and forming machine represents the company’s largest investment since the construction of the 4-million-euro cleaning plant for cleaning components.