Forming superior solutions
16.11.2022
The Metal Forming Division is the competence centre of voestalpine for processing nearly any metallic material. With an industry-unique combination of material and processing expertise and worldwide presence, the division is a partner for sustainable lightweight solutions in the fields of mobility, renewable energy as well as construction and storage technology.
In the mobility sector, Metal Forming Division supplies tailor-welded blanks to reduce component weight by at least 15% through the optimum combination of the material and sheet thickness. Cold- and hot-formed structural parts made of advanced high-strength, ultra high-strength or press hardening steels are used for our customers to make lightweight components and improve passive vehicle safety with assemblies made of these high-tech materials. Especially in the field of hot forming, the division has a USP in the area of corrosion protection and sustainability with galvanised steels up to 2000 MPa.
Mobility
Expertise in lightweight design continues in the body shell area with the production of doors, bonnets and tailgates, side panels and roofs made of high-strength, thin steel and aluminium. The engineering experts of Metal Forming Division develop the required tools and jigs and, together with our production experts, the most sustainable component manufacturing processes such as deep drawing, hot forming or roll forming.
Sustainability
Sustainability also plays an important role at Metal Forming Division, which is reflected in our products and manufacturing processes. We developed and produce parts of modular battery boxes made of UHSS multi-chamber profiles and pressed parts for the e-mobility sector. The battery boxes are benchmarks in terms of weight and crash performance. We are also very proud of our highly efficient rotor and stator stacks for electric motors. For the sustainable electricity required in operations, the Metal Forming Division of voestalpine develops and supplies elevated PV systems and substructures and reduces its own CO2 output at most locations (largest PV system in the Netherlands). A combination of sustainability and lightweight design is also found in hybrid structures for construction and storage with the reduced use of steel combined with renewable raw materials such as wood.
Additive manufacturing
Finally, for our costumers in every segment, we develop and manufacture 3D-printed prototypes based on metals (steel, aluminium) and plastics. In addition to the classic powder bed fusion process, this is accomplished by means of wire-arc additive manufacturing (WAAM).
About the Metal Forming Division of voestalpine
The Metal Forming Division was established in 2012 when the voestalpine Profilform and Automotive divisions merged. The headquarters is located in Krems on the Danube in Lower Austria. More than 11,500 people are employed at more than 50 locations worldwide. The division comprises the business units Tubes & Sections, Automotive Components, Precision Strip and Warehouse & Rack Solutions. The Metal Forming Division works with the following technologies: machining, cold-, hot – and rollforming, welding (for assemblies), (cathaphoretic and powder) based coating, heat treatment and additive manufacturing.
The voestalpine Group
voestalpine is a leading global steel and technology group. The company group consists of some 500 group companies with locations in more than 50 countries on all five continents. It has been listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange since 1995. voestalpine is the world market leader in railway infrastructure systems, tooling steels and special sections. As a company, voestalpine is committed to global climate goals and is pursuing a clear plan for the decarbonisation of steel production with greentec steel.
voestalpine Metal Forming GmbH
Schmidhüttenstraße 5
A-3500 Krems/Donau
Karl Radlmayr, Head of R&D / Digitalisation
+43 50 304 14-0