SCHNELLANFRAGE

EUROGUSS 2022: Heck & Becker GmbH & Co KG and Hanomag Lohnhärterei Group present ready-to-install prototype component for new Mercedes EQS

Successful cooperation optimizes production chain from casting to ready-to-install finished part

A-pillar for new Mercedes EQS_Cooperation between Hanomag Lohnhärterei and Heck & Becker is a complete success_picture source_Hanomag
A-pillar for new Mercedes EQS_Cooperation between Hanomag Lohnhärterei and Heck & Becker is a complete success_picture source_Hanomag

Heck & Becker GmbH & Co.KG and the Hanomag Lohnhärterei Group will present the A-pillar for the new Mercedes EQS at EUROGUSS, which will be held in Nuremberg, Germany from 18 to 20 January 2022. In Hall 7 at Booth 556, interested trade visitors can inform themselves about the entire innovative prototype production chain from the casting to the ready-to-install finished part for the all-electric EQS.
The joint project between Heck & Becker GmbH & Co. KG and the Hanomag Lohnhärterei Group began back in 2018. The initiator for the cooperation was the order from Mercedes to manufacture the prototypes of the A-pillar for the latest luxury electric model, the Mercedes EQS. As part of the close collaboration, Heck & Becker's casting technology experts produced the castings using the K1 prototyping process at the Heck & Becker Diecasting Technology Center (DTC), replacing the sand casting process previously used in this area. The advantages are obvious: "By using the die-casting process, which is ultimately also used to manufacture the series components, we can represent at an early stage exactly the properties that are expected in the series parts that are later installed. With the special K1 prototyping process, we create the conditions to produce the components in 12 weeks from the design freeze. With a series mold, on the other hand, you would have to reckon with a manufacturing time of four to five months until the first castings are available", states Martin Baumann, Managing Director at Heck & Becker.
After production at Heck & Becker in Dautphetal, the prototypes were solution annealed at Hanomag Lohnhärterei GmbH in Hanover using individually tailored heat treatment parameters, manually straightened and then artificially aged. The Hanomag Lohnhärterei Group is a leader in Germany in heat treatments for steel and aluminum materials that are individually tailored to the material. For the completion of the parts, the company relies on Herbst Zerspanungs- und Messtechnik GmbH in Hildesheim, which, as a member of the Hanomag Lohnhärterei Group, specializes in the mechanical machining of prototypes.
"Many reasons were decisive for the successful cooperation," says Hanomag Managing Director Karsten Seehafer and continues that the cooperation includes the entire process competence for aluminum components. "The advantage for our customer is that he receives all production steps from a single source and significantly faster," emphasize the two managing directors Karsten Seehafer and Martin Baumann, clarifying that the client has nothing to do with internal coordination and logistics. Both companies attach great importance to the fact that the customer does not have to worry about auditing the entire supplier chain - regardless of whether prototypes, replacement or series components are involved - but only has to approve the final product.

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