ALL IN THE MIX As a leading mechanical engineering and service company for the tyre and technical rubber goods industry, Harburg-Freudenberger Maschinenbau GmbH is working hard to expand its network and enlarge its product portfolio. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to sales director of the HF Mixing Group, Dr Harald Keuter to find out more.
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arburg-Freudenberger Maschinenbau GmbH has been delivering engineering solutions since it was founded in Hamburg, Germany, in 1855. Having grown to provide products and services to the global tyre, technical rubber goods, oil seed processing and food industries, today the company has representatives worldwide in order to service its global client base which includes all of the world’s major automotive tyre manufacturers. Harburg-Freudenberger is one of ten divisions of the German-owned L. Possehl & Co. mbH and it has two main business locations in Germany namely Hamburg-Harburg and Freudenberg. In Harburg, the business units 180 Industry Europe
extrusion technology, tyre building machines and curing presses mainly serve the tyre industry. These business units are known as the HF TireTech Group. Dr Harald Keuter, being located in Freudenberg, is responsible for the HF Mixing Group’s sales activities.
Bigger and better Dr Keuter explained more about HarburgFreudenberger’s activities in Freudenberg, and its commercial advantage. He said, “Since the company bought two of our competitors, the mixing capabilities at Harburg-Freudenberger have grown considerably. We bought one competitor with locations in the USA and the
UK (Farrel) and one from Italy (Pomini Rubber & Plastics), which has broadened both our geographical reach and our product portfolio.” Under the umbrella of the HF Mixing Group, Dr Keuter is focused on providing industrial-scale equipment for rubber mixing, which is predominantly internal mixers, single screw and twin screw dump extruders, mixing room control systems and auxiliary equipment such as strip cutting machines or bale cutters. “The demand for complete engineering and turn-key solutions is increasing,” Dr Keuter said, and thats why the importance of control systems and reliable partnerships with other mixing room suppliers is grow-
