Machine factory Alfing Kessler
| Machine factory ALFING Kessler GmbH
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| legal form | GmbH |
| founding | 1911 |
| Seat | Aalen-Wasseralfingen |
| management | Managing director: Konrad Grimm |
| Number of employees | circa 1150 |
| Branch | mechanical engineering |
| Website | www.mafa-alfing.de |
| Status: 2019 | |
Coordinates: 48 ° 51 ′ 22 ″ N , 10 ° 6 ′ 18 ″ E
The machine Alfing Kessler GmbH is a metalworking company that is the leading manufacturer of crankshafts has specialized and hardening machines and Aalen's district of Wasseralfingen is established.
Company branches
The machine factory was founded on April 25, 1911 by the then managing directors Karl Kessler and Franz Dopfer jr. Founded in Wasseralfingen , today part of the city of Aalen . In 1938, a hub factory was founded as the first branch of the company, the name of which was changed in 1980 to Alfing Kessler Sondermaschinen GmbH . It is also based in Wasseralfingen. In 1950 Kessler & Co was founded . GmbH & Co. KG based in Abtsgmünd . In 1981, Alfing Montagetechnik GmbH , based in Wasseralfingen, was joined by another branch. The company branches mentioned are each legally independent companies (Kessler & Co. GmbH & Co. KG since 1950, Alfing Kessler Sondermaschinen GmbH since 1980 and Alfing Montagetechnik GmbH since 1981). In May 2018 the machine works Alfing Kessler and the Chinese company Guilin Fuda Co. founded the joint venture "Guilin Fuda Alfing Large Crankshaft Co." in Guilin (China). Large crankshafts from 1.6 to 4 m in length are manufactured there.
Business areas
The three business areas of Maschinenfabrik Alfing Kessler GmbH are divided into Large, Automotive and Hardening. The Large area, Alfing's largest division, covers large crankshafts from 1.5 to 8 m in length and an enveloping circle up to 900 mm in diameter. The raw parts supply for Large is almost exclusively provided by the Alfing drop and press forge. In the automotive sector, the focus is on the series production of automotive crankshafts up to approx. 1.0 m in length. With the use of robots, CNC turn- milling centers and production islands , several processing steps can be carried out in one clamping. The manufacture of machines for inductive hardening is the main area of activity of the hardening division of Alfing.
history
A giant's odyssey
During the Second World War , Alfing had bought a hydraulic counterblow hammer with 63 mt impact energy (630 kJ) and a weight of 450 t for forging large die shafts from Bêché. After the delivery of the largest counter-blow hammer in the world (as of 1942) continued to be delayed, it was shipped to the USA by the US military government at the end of the war and assembled by Ladish in Wisconsin . In 1973 the hammer was shut down after a serious accident and sold to the new forge of the Fiat concern. When the Alfing company acquired several devices from the Fiat factory in 1989, attention was drawn to the counter-blow hammer. In 1990 the hammer was shipped back to Wasseralfingen and, modernized, went back into use on the foundation originally intended for it .
Second World War - production relocation
The increase in Allied air strikes aimed at destroying the German armaments industry forced Armaments Minister Speer to relocate production to underground workshops in 1944/45. Since only about 5% of the machine park had space in the four specially constructed Wasseralfinger tunnels , the machines were taken out of the tunnels again in 1945 following a decision by the factory management. The machines were badly corroded by the high humidity and a train with lathes was buried in a collapsing tunnel. The entrances to the tunnels are still visible on the factory premises and in Wasseralfingen.
today
In 2015 the machine factory Alfing Kessler GmbH employed approx. 1150 people with an annual turnover of approx. 215 million euros. The Passenger Car Crankshafts division produces ready-to-install crankshafts from 0.3 to 1.5 m for automotive engines with speeds of up to 20,000 rpm. The Large Crankshafts division supplies crankshafts from 1.5 to 8 m in length for engines that are installed in generators , pump stations, rail vehicles , in large construction machinery and all kinds of ships and can transmit up to 12,000 kW . The hardening machines division develops and produces hardening systems and inductors, which are sold worldwide, but are also used in multiple shifts in our own crankshaft production.
Web links
Website of the machine factory ALFING Kessler GmbH
source
- Maschinenfabrik Alfing Kessler 1911–2011, 100 years in motion . ISBN 978-3-00-034505-0 .
- Newspaper article Schwäbische Post from July 9, 2011, p. 25.