Mighty light MWS Industry Holding

MIGHTY LIGHT

Aluminium casting specialist company MWS Industry Holding GmbH is growing rapidly as it takes advantage of the exciting opportunities in its niche sector. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to the managing director, Josef Stiegler, to find out more.

ASa leading name in a niche sector of the metals industry, MWS Industry Holding GmbH is focused on aluminium casting, with sand casting and mould casting making up its core business areas.

The managing director, Josef Stiegler, spoke to Industry Europe about the company and its advantages. He said, “We are a partner to our customers; the metals industry is a very demanding industry and the aluminium casting element of it is especially demanding. With the high-technology equipment and knowledge we have in our plants, we are able to offer high quality, high precision casting at a competitive price.”

Following its recent acquisition of a major German sand casting company, MWS is now the largest sand casting company in Europe. This marks a renewed focus on sand casting in the MWS portfolio. Mr Stiegler explained, “We are certainly aiming to move forward in the direction of sand casting without losing any of our other aluminium casting activities. Our strategic acquisition has put us in an even stronger position in the German market and we have an excellent footprint across Europe.”

Totally private

As a privately owned company, MWS Industry Holding GmbH is owned by seven individuals, five of whom are actively involved in the operational management of the company’s sites in Germany, Austria and Slovakia. The Slovakian plant allows the company to compete with many of eastern Europe’s low-cost manufacturers, while maintaining the high standards associated with the MWS name in western Europe.

Mr Stiegler said, “We are often asked about the benefits of being a privately owned company and I say that the key advantage is that we can drive the company as we think best, seen from a long-term perspective and not a short-term optimisation. We listen to our customers and make sure we are moving the company in the direction that best suits their needs. We plan to stay this way too; we don’t want any finance investor or equity company. From the first acquisition in 2004 and the following mergers that established MWS, our plan was the same – to be a privately-owned, customer-focused company – and that will remain the case in the future.”

Primarily active in the German automotive market, MWS is also represented in the wider European industries of bicycle manufacture, engineering and electricity. The aluminium casting market is largely driven by the automotive industry and this likely to continue in response to the industry’s focus on cutting the weight of vehicles. Mr Stiegler explained, “Virtually all automotive manufacturers are focused on cutting the weight of their vehicles in order to meet environmental targets for the reduction of fuel consump-

tion. With aluminium considerably lighter than steel, it features strongly in the automotive manufacturers’ plans for the future.”

Expecting growth

Mr Stiegler expects to see a continued 2–4 per cent growth in the automotive market and, with its main customer, the German automotive giant Audi, this represents an exciting future for MWS. Even with MWS offering only part of the technology required – it does not offer high pressure die casting – its positioning in the niche part of this niche sector makes it ideally placed to utilise this opportunity. Mr Stiegler continued, “High pressure die casting is ideal for large volumes – it’s the most efficient technology for this application – but we’ve decided not to try and penetrate this market as it is already well-represented. We know our knowledge and expertise can be better utilised in the more niche areas of gravity die casting and sand casting within the aluminium casting industry, and it is in these two areas that we really flourish. As the largest producer in Europe in these two areas we have the most advanced technology.”

MWS is able to maximise the capabilities of its team and state-of-the-art facilities to offer various possibilities of production and prototyping from its in-house prototyping studio and to cope with small, medium and large runs.

MWS Industry Holding sees a number of opportunities in the short and long term. Mr Stiegler concluded, “The aluminium casting market is very Europe-focused at the moment and we expect that to continue. There are plenty of opportunities for us to increase our market share in Europe as long as we continue to be strategic and customer-focused.” n n

Josef Stiegler, managing director