Germany – The company announced that its new Thyssenkrupp Forged Technologies became operational on October 1, becoming one of the largest forging businesses in the world, with sites in the Americas, Europe, India and China. This global network will be controlled from Thyssenkrupp’s headquarters in Essen, with the aim of improving competitiveness.
Thyssenkrupp Forged Technologies comprises the previously independent Forging and Machining of Brazil and Undercarriages of Italy, both of which have been restructured in the past few months in preparation for integration. Thyssenkrupp says that the strucutre of the new business has been “streamlined”.
“Central management of our worldwide production network will enable us to use our facilities more efficiently and align them even more closely to customer requirements,” commented Karsten Kroos, CEO of Thyssenkrupp’s components business. He also said that the company wants to develop new products for different industries and markets, reducing its dependency on the traditional internal combustion engine, for which Thyssenkrupp still produces a sizeable number of forged parts.
He continued: “In recent years, our product portfolio for the automotive segment has shifted toward chassis technology. Engine components now account for only 20% of our sales. By developing new forged products for new markets and customers we aim to reduce this share even further in the future and tap into growth potential in the industrial components business.”
Thyssenkrupp Forged Technologies has 18 production locations, 50 forging presses, a distribution network covering 70 countries and a workforce of around 7,000 people. The product portfolio includes forged and machined components and systems for the automotive and construction machinery sectors, plus general mechanical engineering. Sales are worth more than €1 billion ($1.2 billion).
