Aug 28 2013
ThyssenKrupp today started operation of a new production plant for cylinder-head covers in Ilsenburg in Saxony-Anhalt/Germany. The new plant was officially inaugurated by Dr. Reiner Haseloff, the State Premier of Saxony-Anhalt, and Dr. Heinrich Hiesinger, CEO of ThyssenKrupp AG.
ThyssenKrupp has invested around 50 million euros in the facility. The state of Saxony-Anhalt contributed around 10 million euros of this under an investment support program. The plant has the capacity to produce around a million modules a year.
The State Premier of Saxony-Anhalt, Dr. Reiner Haseloff, said: "Over recent years Saxony-Anhalt has developed into a major location for automotive suppliers in Germany. In ThyssenKrupp we have found a reliable partner. The steady expansion of its production locations clearly shows that the company has built up a strategic position on the market with good products. I am delighted that with our targeted investment support we have been able to contribute to the opening here today of a further chapter in the growth story of ThyssenKrupp in Ilsenburg."
Dr. Heinrich Hiesinger, CEO of ThyssenKrupp AG: "The automotive industry has always been a key pillar of ThyssenKrupp. With our capabilities in materials and in the manufacture of high-tech components we play a major role in reducing CO2 emissions and enhancing car safety and handling performance."
The eastern German states and above all Saxony-Anhalt are important locations for ThyssenKrupp for supplying Germany's leading auto manufacturers. In Saxony-Anhalt alone the company employs over 1,300 people in the automotive supply sector. ThyssenKrupp has been operating automotive production sites in Ilsenburg for 15 years. With the opening of the new plant the company is creating a further 180 new jobs. Production in Ilsenburg is focused on assembled camshafts.
The company is the world market leader for this technology. Camshafts from ThyssenKrupp feature in over 100 million vehicles worldwide today. Altogether some 2,000 ThyssenKrupp employees at six production sites across the world in Germany, Liechtenstein, China and the USA turn out over 25 million camshafts a year. Two further plants are currently under construction in China and Brazil.
The establishment of the new company, ThyssenKrupp Valvetrain GmbH, and the opening of the new production site are based on a new development in camshaft technology. In the process used by ThyssenKrupp the camshafts and other components are integrated in the closed cylinder head cover. As a result, ThyssenKrupp can now supply its customers with a complete valvetrain module instead of individual drive components as in the past. As well as reducing weight, this makes engine assembly at the car plant faster and more efficient. Valvetrains and the camshafts fitted in them are essential components of an internal combustion engine. They are responsible for the intake of air for the combustion process and evacuation of exhaust gases from the engine block.
ThyssenKrupp is one of the world's leading suppliers of materials and components to the auto industry. Nine out of ten premium class cars produced by German manufacturers are fitted with components made by the company. One in three trucks feature drive components from ThyssenKrupp. Around 45 percent of the company's investment last year was spent on the automotive business, around two thirds of that for car and truck components production. In the last fiscal year ThyssenKrupp's sales in the automotive sector came to around ten billion euros. Customers include practically all the big auto manufacturers in Europe and the USA.