Anyone who has driven a sports car appreciates that there’s beauty in the way that every part of the creation works together to deliver an incredible driving experience. When driving smoothly down the freeway in high gear, however, most people don’t think about the hundreds of small metal pieces fitted together in an intricate web, how those pieces all work together, and the strength that is required in each and every component.
The people at Aichelin, however, which is a specialist in heat-treatment systems, think about these kinds of things every day. The company manufactures and sets up furnaces that are used, among other things, to harden metal components that are installed into cars.
Without Aichelin and its innovative furnace systems, many of which are used by large car brands, the everyday act of driving a car simply wouldn’t be the same.
Aichelin Group is part of the larger Berndorf Group, which has a turnover of €563 million per year and more than 2,500 employees. Berndorf Group is a holding company for industrial businesses in what it describes as ‘niche’ markets. Aichelin Group’s niche is industrial furnaces, induction hardening plants, and industrial gas-burning systems. The company works on every part of the process of heat-treatment systems, from production in its manufacturing plants and installation to after-sales services for the lifetime of the system.
Aichelin CEO Dr Thomas Dopler is head of the company’s site in Mödling, Austria, which is the leading site of the group in terms of technology and, with its 90 employees and a turnover of €35 million, is the biggest European manufacturing plant within the Aichelin Group.