Smart range Frauenthal Automotive

SMART RANGE

Frauenthal Automotive is Europe’s market leader in all of its product groups: leaf springs, u-bolts, air tanks and pressed and welded components. Several months ago the company achieved yet another milestone in its dynamic development – a five-year contract with Daimler, making a huge step towards fulfilling its long-time strategy. Romana Moares reports.

Frauenthal Automotive GmbH produces suspension and air-braking system components at ten production sites in seven European countries for all leading European commercial vehicle manufacturers. Headquartered in Vienna and employing over 1800 people, Frauenthal Automotive is one of two divisions of Frauenthal Holding AG.

High development expertise

Today’s automotive world is faster-paced than ever before, applying new technologies and demanding intelligent solutions for the challenges faced on the road. Weight reduction, improved use of the chassis and total cost optimisation over the vehicle’s lifetime – those are the dictates of the hour.

At Frauenthal Automotive, absolute customer orientation has topmost priority and the company is committed to long-standing and close customer relationships. Improving existing products is just as vital as customised solutions for new products. Success is ensured through the use of excellent production processes, product design and materials, the intensive involvement of production plants and the close collaboration with customers, suppliers and partners.

Industry leader

Frauenthal Automotive offers springs ranging from 7kg to 400kg, from parabolic springs to air suspension springs, from mono-leaf and multi-leaf springs to customised spring solutions. They can be used for the lightest LCV to the heaviest-load truck, with a maximum spring thickness up to 80mm and maximum length of 2400mm.

Established in the 1890s, Frauenthal has been constantly building its expertise in spring production and development. Today the company is Europe’s market leader in terms of quantities of springs produced and collaborates with the leading European truck and trailer manufacturers. Since 1975 it has led the industry in supplying parabolic springs; since 1983, air suspension springs; since 1996,

3D air suspension springs and since 1999 front mono-leaf springs for heavy trucks. In 2005 Frauenthal produced the first high-stress 7.5-tonne front-axle mono-leaf springs and today it is Europe’s industry leader in the supply of LCV, truck and trailer leaf springs.

Pioneering products

Frauenthal Automotive air tanks have great potential to free up chassis space for the new parts, equipment and technologies driven by demanding emissions regulations. Whatever size or configuration customers need, the Frauenthal Automotive team of engineers provides the experience and technical know-how to create the steel or aluminium air tanks specified. They can rightly be called smart products, and their success is confirmed by the annual sales of more than 2,000,000 air tanks.

U-bolts carry the weighty responsibility for safety in all trucks, buses and trailers. Frauenthal Automotive produces suspension U-bolts using the most advanced technologies available, especially in the key manufacturing processes of thread rolling, heat treatment, bending and anti-corrosion protection. The company delivers these products solely to Original Equipment Manufacturers, adhering to the ISO/TS 16949:2002, ISO 14001:2004 and OHSAS 18001:2007 standards. It sells over 3,000,000 U-bolts each year.

Frauenthal Automotive ranks among the leaders in the production of pressed and welded metal components and offers state-of-the-

art technologies, including automatic presses, laser cutting, press bending, welding and many other processes. The customers in this segment primarily hail from the automotive industry (passenger cars and utility vehicles) but also from other industries.

Daimler contract

In 2016, the company achieved a major success, signing a fiveyear contract for air tanks with Daimler. This bulk order is huge, and means that Frauenthal Automotive will be supplying 85 per cent of the steel air tanks in the truck, bus and special vehicles sectors in Europe. The supply will be carried out from both air tanks sites in Elterlein (Germany) and Hustopeče (Czech Republic).

“With this contract we have succeeded in making a big step towards our long-term strategy. We are proud that from now on we will be delivering to all LKW manufacturers in western Europe with this contract,” emphasises Mr Matthias Thalheim, CEO of Business Unit Air Tanks. n