Borbet aiming for 17 million output

According to Jürgen Gareis, plant manager at alloy wheel manufacturer Borbert’s Thuringia factory in Germany and managing director of Borbert Thüringen GmbH, the company’s cast aluminium wheel plants in Hallenberg-Hesborn and Medebach, both in Germany’s Sauerland region, combine to make up Europe’s largest wheel production complex. Company boss and (with a 76 per cent share) majority shareholder Peter Wilhelm Borbet points out the factories may not qualify for this distinction as they are not under the same roof. But whatever way you look at it, the figures are impressive: In 2012 the major OEM wheel supplier projects an output of four million units from these plants.

In total, Borbet’s 3,400 or so employees produced 15.5 million wheels last year, meaning the company was only beaten by a nose in the race to be Europe’s largest wheel manufacturer. This honour went to Switzerland’s Ronal. Although capacity at Borbet was, as at all major wheel makers, well utilised in 2011, Mr. Borbet believes the company’s current facilities are capable of reaching 17 million units per annum.

Borbet’s Thuringia plant, which entered service in 2003, should play a key role in reaching this higher target. When first commissioned, Borbet stated that one day it would become the group’s largest factory. Today it operates on a 24/7 basis, and in the coming year or two around 150 new jobs will be added to the plant courtesy of investments and expansion work being made there; these include a second, state-of-the-art paint facility, which entered service last autumn, and optimisations to the production flow from the smelting plant via the foundry and the heat treatment facility through to finishing, painting and shipping areas, which provides valuable cost reductions, have already been largely implemented.

Production flow follows a “u-shaped“ concept. Deviations from this design are minimal and are only carried out in specific circumstances, such in response to a customer’s particular request. Investments beginning this year and concluding in 2013 include 16 further casting machines, which will enter service alongside the plant’s 40 existing units.

The investments being carried out are not just capacity related – they also focus on developing in Thuringia a technology sought by vehicle both manufacturers and providers of the top premium products in the aluminium wheel business: flow form. Use of this production technique is gaining particular favour for larger-dimension wheels and is utilised due to its weight reduction characteristics. The technique is not new to Borbet; the company’s Solingen plant, also in Germany, has produced form flow wheels for a number of years. An advantage the Thuringia plant offers in comparison with Soligen, however, is that form flow production will not require a deviation from the abovementioned, optimal “u-shape” production flow layout.

Initially a single flow form facility will be installed in Thuringia, although space for three further units has already been identified. Bearing in mind that each facility has an annual capacity of around 250,000 to 300,000 wheels, then you don’t need to be a maths genius to calculate that the plant may well indeed become the largest wheel factory in Europe – as well as producer of the most technologically advanced cast alloy wheels.

Flow form wheels are highly sought by OEM customers, primarily premium manufacturers wishing to equip their largest saloons and sport models. It is more difficult to attract aftermarket customers to these products, notes Oliver J. Schneider, managing director of sales operation Borbet Vertriebs GmbH. This is because a flow form wheel doesn’t look any different from a conventional cast alloy wheel – the only advantage is weight. Last year flow form wheels only accounted for four per cent of the sales operation’s business. Peter Borbert states this is “not enough” and says the goal is to double flow form’s aftermarket share.