August 2022 Volume 4

INDUSTRY NEWS

Schuler's Erfurt Location Celebrates 125 th Birthday

Schuler's Erfurt location is celebrating a round anniversary: 125 years ago, businessman Henry Pels started selling machine tools there. This was followed in 1899 by the construction of the new factory in Schwerborner Strasse, where Schuler's central production plant in Europe is still located today. The press manufacturer now celebrated its birthday last Saturday with a large summer party. The location can lookbackon a longhistory. Already at the beginning of the 20th century, the "Berlin-Erfurter Maschinenfabrik Henry Pels & Co." delivered to the USA as well as to Canada, Brazil and Argentina. In the course of the world economic crisis in 1929, press brakes, spindle presses and forging presses were added to the product range in addition to shears and punches. After the Second World War, the plant became the property first of the Soviet Union and then of the GDR. From1954,thenationallyownedenterprise(VEB)"Schwermaschinenbau Henry Pels Erfurt" produced, among other things, eccentric, crank, embossing and spotting presses, and from 1957 the typical "ERFURT" lettering was emblazoned on the equipment. Four years later, the first mechanized press line for the production of truck wheel discs was delivered to the USSR. In 1970, the name changed to "Kombinat Umformtechnik Erfurt", which also included the nationally owned companies and die makers Formenbau Schwarzenberg and Auer Werkzeugbau. With the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Kombinat was transformed into a limited liability company in 1990 and privatized in 1994. In 2001, it was finally taken over by the press manufacturer Müller Weingarten AG, which in turn was acquired by Schuler in 2007. Today, the Erfurt location can cover a large part of the product portfolio – from press lines that take up entire factory halls after assembly, to transfer and forging presses in the medium range, to automatic stamping presses.

The Erfurt plant produces many different presses for the Schuler Group today – from press lines to automatic stamping presses. © Schuler

The former "Umformtechnik" combine is thus Schuler's central production site in Europe. © Schuler About the Schuler Group – www.schulergroup.com Schuler offers customized cutting-edge technology in all areas of forming— from the networked press to press shop planning. In addition to presses, our products include automation, dies, process know-how and service for the entire metalworking industry. Schuler's Digital Suite brings together solutions for networking forming technology and is continuously being developed to further improve line productivity and availability. Our customers include automotive manufacturers and suppliers, as well as companies in the forging, household appliance and electrical industries. Presses from the Schuler Group mint coins for more than 180 countries. Founded in 1839 at our headquarters in Göppingen, Germany, Schuler has approx. 5,000 employees at production sites in Europe, China and the Americas, as well as service companies in more than 40 countries. The company is part of the international technology group ANDRITZ.

The plant in Erfurt was built at the end of the 19th century, initially producing blanking presses and shears. © Schuler

FIA MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2022 61