Over the past three years, SGL Carbon has invested a total of around 25 million euros in the modernization and expansion of its production capacities for specialty graphite automotive components at the Bonn site. The expansion project was completed at the end of last year and was inaugurated today at the site in an official ceremony. Besides the installation of partly new production facilities and a modernized production set-up, construction of a new, 2,000 m2 large hall for the production of the parts was implemented in the course of the expansion.
The background of the expansion is the continuously increasing demand for advanced solutions and products made from graphite in the automotive sector. Due to its durability, high strength, low friction behavior, and high conductivity, the material is suitable for many different automotive applications. Examples include rotors and vanes in vacuum pumps for brake boosters, bearings for exhaust gas management, and sealing rings and bearings for seals in coolant pumps. These solutions include applications for vehicles with conventional combustion engines as well as for e-mobility, thereby making an important contribution to clean driving, higher energy efficiency, and lower emissions.
“Automotive components made from specialty graphite are increasingly becoming the standard in many different applications in the automotive industry. Due to their special properties, they are more and more frequently replacing the materials previously used in pumps and seals, such as plastic and metal. By investing in the modernization and expansion of production in Bonn, we are consolidating our leading position in this market and offering our customers real added value in the close partnership with each other. Through the expansion, we are also strengthening our site in Bonn,” explains Burkhard Straube, President of the business unit Graphite Materials & Systems at SGL Carbon.
In Bonn, SGL Carbon produces a variety of customer-specific solutions made from specialty graphite for different growth markets. The main products are applications made of fine-grain graphite for the production systems in the solar, LED, and semiconductor industries, as well as the graphite-based automotive components. Various trainings and apprenticeships - from becoming industrial mechanics to cutting machine operators - are also offered at the site
Caption:
Photo 1: Meeting in the new production hall at SGL Carbon in Bonn. f.l.t.r.: Yousti Amidouch (production worker) and Michael Winter (Project lead for the expansion)
Photo 2: Ceremonial inauguration of the new production hall for automotive components at SGL Carbon in Bonn. F.l.t.r.: Alexander Böttcher (Production Team Lead at the Bonn site), Peter Zimmer (Global Head of Operations business unit GMS at SGL Carbon), Burkhard Straube (President of the business unit GMS at SGL Carbon), Christoph Schäfer, (Production Team Lead at the Bonn site), Michael Winter (Projekt lead for the expansion), Robert Michels (Site Manager of SGL Carbon in Bonn)
Photo 3: Michael Winter (Projekt lead for the expansion) thanked all employees involved for the great collaboration