Lighter, stronger, better Gebauer & Griller

LIGHTER, STRONGER, BETTER

Leading Austrian cable manufacturer Gebauer & Griller has gained a formidable reputation for its forward-thinking approach to product development, particularly in the field of aluminium battery cable harnesses for the automotive industry. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to the managing director, Helmut Koelmel, to find out more.

Based in the Austrian capital of Vienna, cable manufacturer Gebauer & Griller was established over 70 years ago. The company continues to perform to its highest technical and service capabilities in accordance with the initial principles of the founders, making it a well-respected cable manufacturer in Europe.

Gebauer & Griller develops, designs and manufactures high quality cables for a range of industries, with its market-leading position in the automotive industry allowing it to work with many of the sector’s key players, e.g. Audi, BMW, Daimler and FIAT.

Managing director Helmut Koelmel told Industry Europe how the company’s strong foundation continues to enable it to build a positive future. He said, “Even though we are a long-established cable manufacturer, our key focus is always on the future. By that I mean that we make sure we keep all of our customers satisfied – both new and existing – by developing innovative products that meet the changing needs of the sectors in which we operate while delivering our existing portfolio too. It’s a strategy that allows us to have strong relationships with our customers and keeps us on our toes!”

Application focused portfolio

Gebauer & Griller manufactures cables for elevators, escalators, high-speed data communication in addition to its core

automotive applications. The company is a European key player in car antenna and data transfer cables such as those used for driver assistance applications.

Mr Koelmel continued, “Our focus on innovation allows us to stay at the forefront of what is a fast-changing industry. With practically all car manufacturers keen to reduce the weight of their vehicles whilst enhancing the performance, premium car brands need to be even more impressive than their mid-end competitors. We support that quest by encouraging our highly skilled engineers to create cable solutions for weight reduction so that our products are more attractive from a supplier point of view.”

The long-standing Gebauer & Griller promise to find the most appropriate solution to the customer’s need while keeping the highest possible production and performance standards can be illustrated using the company’s product developments.

Future perfect alternative

Gebauer & Griller also offers an aluminium cable as an alternative to traditional copper cables, as this material is considerably lighter. Mr Koelmel added, “Using aluminium saves up to 40 per cent in weight as compared to copper, which is very appealing to auto manufacturers as they work hard to reduce the weight of their vehicles for fuel-saving and environmental purposes. Cars demand an awful lot of power in their electric steering systems for example, and aluminium offers a weight and cost benefit. It’s a big advantage, especially as the Gebauer & Griller promise means that high performance comes as standard.”

At the company’s primary production facility based at Poysdorf (located 60km in the north of Vienna), it offers more than 125,000m2 of

state-of-the-art technical capability. In 2008 it installed a technical engineering centre which has promoted its considerable technical potential and also acts as a hub for its shared developments with resident engineers from BMW in Munich and Daimler in Stuttgart. Its headquarters are located in Vienna and a metal plant is operated in Linz. In the Czech Republic it has a complete site for high quality cable harness manufacturing.

In 2010, Gebauer & Griller opened the doors of its brand new production site in India, which is its first outside its European heartland. The activities are particularly focused on the manufacture of cable harnesses for the international elevator and escalator industries, including such leading names as Otis and Kone.

The total investment of the Gebauer & Griller group is about €24 million, which is a considerable sum from its annual €310 million total group turnover in 2010.

Mr Koelmel added, “We plan to add a further international site in the USA soon; the plan is to capitalise on the opportunities in the NAFTA area. We will have a sales and development centre in the auto-focused city of Detroit, with a production site in the south, perhaps Carolina. We already have a solid cooperation with Fiat. Therefore the joint-venture between Fiat and Chrysler gives us a good opportunity to supply harnesses in the USA.”

As Gebauer & Griller looks forward to the next successful chapter, the company is excited about the international possibilities with new facilities. Its work with automotive manufacturers in reducing weight is making Gebauer & Griller perfectly positioned to enjoy a solid future as a valued and reliable partner to the automotive industry and other cable-using industries. n